Doubling-up

T

TheGoldenState

New member
I had a mandatory hearing test today. First was bad, second was good enough.

Im in my twenties and have been shooting since I was in the single digits.

I am looking to add further protection to my hearing.

Typically, I use traditional headphones (couldn't tell you name of brand.)

I am wondering if anyone regularly doubles-up and uses the in-ear protection foam ones AS WELL AS headphones over that.


I am going to be getting some new over ear headphones. What is a top of the line brand?

Is there any Pro's or Con's to using regular headphones that block everything out vs the headphones that allow you to hear low sounds (talk) while blocking out the loud (the shot)??


Thanks,
TGS
 
I think youre going to find the plug type offer the most in sound reduction.

They also make shooting/shouldering long guns a lot less aggravating.

I shoot shoot a lot, as well as work in construction around a lot of heavy equipment and annoyingly loud tools, and I always have a couple of pairs of the throw away ear plugs in my pocket. You just never know when you might need them, and they are nothing to have with you.
 
I've always been a big fan of double hearing protection. In the plane, it's disposable "foamies" and my helmet. Same thing on the motorcycle. When I'm shooting, it's a pair of Peltor earmuffs and some custom-fitted silicone plugs.
 
I almost always double-plug ... I really like the amplified muffs that cut out above ~80dB ... If I turn them all the way up, I can still hear range commands through the foam plugs, but when they cut out, the benefits are additive and they really make the noise stay away.

Saands

ps ... I also try to do this same thing for anyone I am introducing to the shooting sports ... it really helps them not get turned off when the magnum with the muzzle brake goes off two stalls down :eek:
 
I use the Howard Leight L3 muffs which I believe have a Noise reduction Rating (NRR) of 30 and a set of their foam plugs which have a NRR of 33.

Now, I could be mistaken, but I was told to calculate the combined NRR by adding 10 to the highest rated of the two. So, the NRR of the combined muffs and plugs would be 43.

Can anyone confirm the total NRR and the proper way to calculate this?
 
I use the Howard Leight L3 muffs which I believe have a Noise reduction Rating (NRR) of 30 and a set of their foam plugs which have a NRR of 33.

Now, I could be mistaken, but I was told to calculate the combined NRR by adding 10 to the highest rated of the two. So, the NRR of the combined muffs and plugs would be 43.

Can anyone confirm the total NRR and the proper way to calculate this?
Click to expand...

That's a good question, but there's no good way to calculate an answer. If protection devices attenuated all frequencies equally, then you could just add the ratings together. But we know that's not the case - that's why listening to your stereo with earmuffs on doesn't sound the same as listening to the stereo at a lower volume without earmuffs. Some of the sounds that make it through the muffs will be the harder-to-attenuate ones, which throws off the NRR rating of the earplugs. Basically, what makes it through the muffs isn't just a softer version of the outside noise.

I've heard the "add 10 dB to the higher rating" method, but I've also heard rules of thumb as low as adding 6 dB or even just 3 dB to the higher rating.

Even those lower values would still make double protection worthwhile, though. A 3 dB reduction beyond single protection means that you've taken the noise energy that made it through the single protection and cut it in half. A 6 dB reduction means you've reduced it by 75%.
 
Last edited:
And if that weren't enough complications, you also have transmission through your soft (and not so soft) tissue that isn't attenuated by muffs or plugs ... so it really is unknowable. Anecdotally, however, double plugging makes a difference, so as ScottRiqui says, it is worth it if you want enhanced comfort.

Saands
 
Thanks guys, I will definitely be doubling up.

Are silicon inserts better than the regular cheapy foams?

I will check out the Howard Leight.

I no nothing about decibels or ratings, nor what is good/bad or what levels result from different calibers.

The more info. the better.

Much appreciated.
 
Those are pretty wide ranges and it really depends on what the sources of the noise are ... if you are shooting rimfire out in a field, pretty much any protection will serve you well ... same is probably true for mild loads out of pistols in an indoor range. OTOH if you are shooting outdoors with a buddy who has a brake on a magnum center fire rifle and you are standing off to the side, you will want all the protection you can get ... and it STILL might sound loud!

I've been very comfortable with these behind the neck muffs paired with some 30 dB foam plugs ... even though the muffs are only good for 19 dB of attenuation. This setup is nice because you can still hear relatively well if you turn up the speakers on the muffs all the way and you still get the benefits of being double plugged when the shot goes off and the speakers go silent. The other thing that I like about them is that I can still wear whatever kind of hat I like, since the muff support is behind the neck, not over the top of your head.

Saands
 
Can anyone confirm the total NRR and the proper way to calculate this?
Click to expand...

Wrong on your calculations. Using muffs and ear canal plugs together will give a NRR of 4-6 db more than the higher of the 2 devises.
Example: muffs 30 NRR plugs 30 NRR will give a NRR of roughly NRR 36
There is a sticky on this topic and you can also use the search function on the forums tool bar.

That's a good question, but there's no good way to calculate an answer
Click to expand...

It can be and has been calculated, OSHA has plenty of time to do such things,
What can I gain from wearing dual protection (plug + muff)? And by the way, can hearing
protectors block all sound?
Dual protection is normally recommended for noise environments with exposures exceeding a timeweighted
average level of 105 dBA, or for users who simply wish to block additional sound for extra
protection or reduced annoyance.
When using dual protection, especially for low-frequency noise, the earplug you select is the key. We
suggest a high-quality foam plug like the E•A•R® Classic® or E•A•RSoft® foam earplug together with a
small and comfortable earmuff such as the Peltor® H6 or E•A•R® Model 1000 earmuff. Once you have
properly inserted the earplug (see E•A•R® Plug Instruction Booklet for details), the selection of a
particular earmuff is essentially unimportant. Therefore, smaller, lighter, less-expensive choices make the
most sense. Alternatively you can select from any of our foam or premolded earplugs together with an
E•A•R or Peltor muff of your choosing (see EARLog 13 for additional details on attenuation to be gained
when products are combined). In general, combined protection provides approximately 5-dB gain over
the more protective of the individual devices at most frequencies.
As for "blocking all sound," that is not possible. Even when noise is effectively stopped from entering the
earcanal, it can "get around" the hearing protector (technically called bypassing the hearing protector) by
vibrating the bones of the head and neck to directly stimulate the inner ear. See EARLog 5 and
EARLog 13 for additional details. Also, if you place your head on a vibrating object while wearing a
hearing protector (for example lean your head against the exterior cabin wall of a jet while wearing
earplugs during flight), you will often notice a substantial increase in the sound level, since you are
coupling your head more effectively to the vibrating object and thereby increasing the efficiency of the
bypass process.
NOTE: When wearing an earmuff and an earplug, OSHA gives credit for 5-dB of additional protection
above that of the higher attenuating device. See the OSHA Technical Manual.
Click to expand...
 
It can be and has been calculated, OSHA has plenty of time to do such things,
Click to expand...

And yet the quote you reference (from E.A.R., BTW, not OSHA) mentions that there is acoustic bypass ... which is an unpredictable quantity based on an individual's physiology and, as your quote mentions, affected by the interaction with the environment. I believe that OSHA can (and apparently has) taken a SWAG and come up with 5dB as a figure of merit ... but I would argue that they have not calculated that amount ... serial attenuators add on the log scale, but the fact that simple logarithmic addition doesn't work here means that something unpredictable is happening in parallel ... and that is the aforementioned "bypass" thing.

Saands
 
No one's saying that 3 dB, 5 dB , or 6 dB aren't reasonable and accurate numbers - it's just that because of the non-linearity of attenuation and the "bypass effect", you can't analytically calculate the cumulative effects of multiple layers of hearing protection directly from the individual NRR values - those effects had to experimentally determined.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top