hearing protection

[ezgprophet]

A debate that always comes up at the range is the hearing protection. Hearing protection is a must at the shooting range but to hear some of my buddies that are hard core military nuts they state that the hearing protection is going to make your ears more weak in a sense to the blast during a combat situation and therefore making you always have it in the back of your mind that this shot is going to be loud. I personaly think that the hearing protection is good when not in combat but I dont think it will affect me in a combat situation due to adrenaline and soforth. Any thoughts

[foxx]

My Brother says something similar. Wear protection at the range, when shooting most times. But once in a while, it's important to remind your ears what the gun(s) really sound like.
As a kid, we never wore hearing protection when dove hunting, never even crossed my mind. It was open field situations, and occasional firing.
I would not like to be in a house, alley, staircase, or car without protection. It happens in movies all the time, shooting a gun from inside a car has got to be painful. I would think it would leave you temporarily deaf, and cause serious long term damage.

[ezgprophet]

I agree to that aswell I wouldnt like to fire a AK47 from a enclosed space such as a hallway or staircase without proper hearing protection. I personaly like my hearing and dont want to be deaf by the time im 30. But if youo forget your hearing protection while shooting and someone fires it gets nerve racking.

[phil_in_cs]

My ears have been ringing for 25 years. You don't want that, trust me. I can't hear high frequency sounds, and if the background sound level is high I have trouble following the conversation.

Get quality hearing protection.

[Chase The hero]

My ears have been ringing for 25 years. You don't want that, trust me. I can't hear high frequency sounds, and if the background sound level is high I have trouble following the conversation.

Get quality hearing protection.

Agreed. I wizened up and got some decent Howard Leight electric hearing protection. I didn't want to end up like my dad who is almost deaf in one ear and the other is not too much better. 60$ trumps a lifetime of hearing damage.

[ezgprophet]

Still in the situation where there is a gunfight will the sound bother you since you keep your ears protected now?

[rjm]

I have to agree with Phil and Hero. Just like only having two eyes, you only have two ears. It's a lot easier to protect what hearing you have than to deal without it when it's gone. And all due respect to your military buddies, but exposing your ears to damaging levels of sound every once in a while to remind them what it feels like makes as much sense to me as stareing at the sun every once in a while to remind your eyes what muzzle flash is like, or sticking your finger in a wall socket every once in a while to remind your heart what stress is like.

[painiac]

A stressful situation that gets your adrenaline pumping can definitely decrease your awareness of loud noises: it's called auditory exclusion. However, it can't physically protect your sense of hearing from intense sound waves. Gunshots definitely do cause a permanent and cumulative decrease in your ability to hear the full range of frequencies that the ear can normally detect. Don't be stupid: wear hearing protection.

[AKFTW]

make your ears more weak

Dude, the only thing that is going to make "your ears more weak" is permanent hearing loss. Tinnitus is no fucking joke, and hearing loss is both cumulative and permanent. Wear some fucking earpro, electronic ones especially. They will save your ears and keep you combat-effective.

[phil_in_cs]

make your ears more weak

Dude, the only thing that is going to make "your ears more weak" is permanent hearing loss. Tinnitus is no fucking joke, and hearing loss is both cumulative and permanent. Wear some fucking earpro, electronic ones especially. They will save your ears and keep you combat-effective.

Fucking this. If you need to shoot some motherfucker, shoot the motherfucker. If you're practicing, save your hearing. There's no recovery for tinnius, no repair for damaged ears, and no 'toughening them up'. What hearing you have now is what you have and exposure to loud noises reduces it.

[Kommander]

Once a year or so I will shoot a mag with no ears just so I remember what to expect if I have to shoot in self defense. I do wonder if even this small amount of unprotected shooting could cause damage.

[Black November]

Shooting without ear protection will cause hearing damage. Plain and simple.

The odds that you will ever be in a gunfight as a civilian are slim. The odds that you will survive a gunfight solely because you fired some rounds without ear protection is even slimmer.

If you are that concerned, I would recommend taking some defensive firearms training classes, instead of harming your ears.

[ancient_serpent]

Yes, any high impluse noise, even once can cause an amount of hearing loss. There is no such thing as "toughening" up your ears. The reduced sensitivity to loud noises? Yeah, that's called going deaf.
FWIW, I use Surefire ear pro in conjunction with electronic Peltor's.

[Makarov]

Did your buddies talk about the ways earpro would "weaken you ears" right after they had "toughened up the lungs" with some cracksmoking? Cause that's some of the stupidest shit I've heard regarding the use of earpro.

Listen to what the others are saying. Use proper earpro at the range, and by proper I mean earmuffs. I've got tinnitus + reduced hearing due to doing some stupid shit in the army, and now I use electronic Peltor earpro(I've got several models), with custom plugs(with mechanical dB filters) under. That way I don't need to remove them until there's an all clear at the range. Hopefully I can live without hearing aids a few more years.

[AKFTW]

I usually double plug with regular plugs and electronic muffs, but lately I've taken to putting earbuds in and putting the electronic muffs on Makes loading mags less boring when you've got some music

[Niblick]

The one positive thing about tinnitus is that women speak in the frequencies that are hardest to hear. But seriously not worth it. The ringing sometimes keeps me up at night.

[Arkane]

For the love of moses wear hearing protection. I've been around firearms my entire life and didn't start wearing anything until about the last five years I was in the Army. That damn test pattern noise that's always there called tinnitus will drive you absolutely freaking nuts. And shooting once without those plugs in still ain't wise. Impulse damage can happen from one time exposure. Don't like the plugs then get muffs but "conditioning" yourself for a loud noise is absolutely stupid. Take it from someone who has been there: The adrenaline rush from a gunfight is going to make that noise either sound like nothing or amplify the living shit out of it - all depends on you.

[Jeriah]

Steph and I have been using plain, cheap earmuffs, which kind of suck. I mean, they protect our hearing, but they're old and beat up, and sometimes come off at inopportune times, and they're not electronic so we have to remove them to converse. I'm looking at picking up some electronic ear pro. Placing an order with Midway right now for a range bag, and I see they've got some for about $20. Any idea if these are any good?

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/774928 ... 23db-green

[kaligaran]

I've been shotting since I was 12 and always worn ear protection. I don't wear muffs b/c I have a small head and they bump the rifle stock when shooting which breaks the seal so I use ear plugs.
About 3 weeks ago I went to an outdoor range with my AR and they made you remove your hearing protection every cease fire. I had a problem getting one of my foam plugs to get back into my ear and expanded correctly after the last cease fire.
Long story short, I didn't realize it was a big problem while shooting, it was still in and blocking sound. I could tell it wasn't in perfectly though. About 100 rounds later I leave the range and take the plug out. It sounded like the plug was still in, kinda like hearing underwater on that one side. I totally fucking freaked out. Took about a week for the underwater weirdness to go away. Now 3 weeks later, I noticably have more ringing in that ear than the other. Lucky me.

So yeah, toughening up your ears means going partially deaf so you don't notice how loud the gunshots are because you can't hear as well anymore!!!

On the same topic: I'm looking for recommendations on custom molded ear plugs as I don't want to use the generic foam ones ever again. If you have any recommendations, please post them here: viewtopic.php?f=34&t=95902.

[Kutter_0311]

'Toughening up your ears' with gunfire = going fucking deaf

just like

'toughening up your lungs' with smoking = fucking lung cancer...

Your friends = gawdamn idjits, don't shoot with them anymore!

[Jeriah]

Steph and I have been using plain, cheap earmuffs, which kind of suck. I mean, they protect our hearing, but they're old and beat up, and sometimes come off at inopportune times, and they're not electronic so we have to remove them to converse. I'm looking at picking up some electronic ear pro. Placing an order with Midway right now for a range bag, and I see they've got some for about $20. Any idea if these are any good?

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/774928 ... 23db-green

Decided to roll the dice. Under $20 each, so I ordered 'em. 2 pair. Was ordering a range bag anyway.

[jeepinbandtrider]

I usually double plug with regular plugs and electronic muffs, but lately I've taken to putting earbuds in and putting the electronic muffs on Makes loading mags less boring when you've got some music

Howard Leight

http://www.amazon.com/Howard-Leight-R-0 ... c+earmuffs

I have a set of those and a set of Peltors. I wear the Howard Leights way more often. If you want to be really cheap Wal Mart sells a set of Winchester branded electronic muff for 25 bucks.

Did your buddies talk about the ways earpro would "weaken you ears" right after they had "toughened up the lungs" with some cracksmoking? Cause that's some of the stupidest shit I've heard regarding the use of earpro.

Listen to what the others are saying. Use proper earpro at the range, and by proper I mean earmuffs. I've got tinnitus + reduced hearing due to doing some stupid shit in the army, and now I use electronic Peltor earpro(I've got several models), with custom plugs(with mechanical dB filters) under. That way I don't need to remove them until there's an all clear at the range. Hopefully I can live without hearing aids a few more years.

Everything he said is correct. I'm military and I think those guys are morons for saying that. I work on a flight line everyday and am a Range Coach (firearms instructor) and I can tell you I spend a good portion of my time at work in a set of ear pro. You only get one set of ears and hearing aids don't replace it.

My dad was a grunt for 11 years (went in for Operation Just Cause) and a combat engineer for 11 years. He's getting hearing aids from the VA in a few months because his hearing is totally fucked. You have to practically yell at him sometimes and he's just a hair over 50 now.

[Crimson Phoenix]

This sounds like the same guys that keep telling me shooting at the range with one eye closed is going full retard. Like your eyesight, save your hearing, you only get it once.

[Kutter_0311]

This sounds like the same guys that keep telling me shooting at the range with one eye closed is going full retard.

Yes, there are experts everywhere, and most are worth just what you pay them: nothing.