Pros & Cons Of HD Shooting Using Ear Protection

I have followed the advice of others and gone ahead and purchased the Howard Leight Electronic Impact Pro Hearing Protection Earmuff NRR 30. I tried it with my original test and it was very successful as I could hear footsteps when somebody is walking around the main floor and up the stairs. I tried it at my local range as well and I could have a normal conversation while receiving protection from the gun shots or report. I am yet to try it with my 12GA and see whether the protection will be the same as the pistol rounds. ( I believe it would). Anyway, I bought two so my wife can have one for herself. I paid $75 for each at optics planet and I believe it was a worthy purchase. Thanks
 
Very cool. Mine are quite simple and inexpensive Caldwells, but have proven themselves to be a worthy addition to my HD suite. My testing of these has proven their worth, especially in directional hearing, good for me as I suffer from some hearing loss. They are not, however, rated at 30dB, but, I believe, 24. No so good in that respect, but they will offer better protection than not using any ear pro. The Leights sound promising and I'll give them a look as well.

ETA: I have not read all the replies, as I'm quite sure there are many espousing not using ear pro, as "you probably won't hear the shot anyway," which is the normal claptrap and I'd rather not see it again.:rolleyes:
 
I make fun of family members for being deaf all the time. They aren't born that way. They made the foolish error of shooting regularly without hearing protection. I have protected my hearing from a young age (refused to shoot without protection even at like 8). I am the go to guy for finding out which direction a turkey gobble comes from.

That said. In home defense, I won't be taking the time to put on the hearing protection. I also won't be concerned with tinnitus or whatever else I may have to go to the ENT doc for. My concern is whatever made me grab my gun. There is no reason to handicap yourself in the situation by not being able to hear every little normal sound around you. Even the electronic hearing protection is a bad idea. It is omnidirectional. That means 1 mic per ear and you lose all sense of what direction a sound is coming from. I use them to duck hunt. Even gun shots are hard to determine the location of.

For training? Wear hearing protection. Put on eyesight limiting goggles (safety goggles). Make the lighting limited. Play ridiculous annoying sounds and loud music tjat you hate. Never shoot in "perfect" conditions for self defense training. But always be safe...and obviously that part includes the hearing protection. If you ever have to defend yourself with a gun, the odds are you won't be all that concerned about your hearing. Heck odds are you won't even have it near you anyway.
 
Doublea A said:
So I did a testing today using my Field & Stream Sportsman Ear Muffs in which the goal was detect whether I could hear i.e. an intruder footstep when they are walking around the house. Using my wife who weighs approximately 120lbs and me 200lb as rotation we put this scenario into action. My house is over 55yrs old and we have the original hardwood floor therefore even when you are upstairs you can easily hear somebody walking on the main floor. This is a benefit because you can hear somebody coming up the stairs as well because of the squeaky noise. Anyway, here is our conclusion.

Pros of wearing ear protection:
Preventing hearing loss when discharging a firearm in a closed area like a house, room etc.

Cons of wearing ear protection
It was very difficult to almost impossible to hear the footsteps of the i.e. intruder even for a 200lb person walking on a squeaky flooring. I had to really concentrate to hear a little bit.

My question is that have others done this testing? If yes, what were the results?

Obviously I am not saying this is an empirical study but I wanted to share my results and see if others have tried this testing with different ear protection devices.
The best solution is to be able to hear the footsteps and at the same time offering ear protection during the discharging of the firearm.
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I got to thinking about this more. I think your test should have been enough. I have an appropriate quote. It is from Sherlock Holmes. "You see but you do not observe. The distinction is clear."

Holmes goes on to ask Watson if he could tell him how many steps he must walk to a room he has been in a hundred times. He couldn't do it.

Well. Subconsciously something similar happens with sounds that Holmes does regularly with out of place objects. We get accustomed to sounds in the night. When something sounds out of place we take notice. You hear a noise at night? Maybe it is your ice maker? But subconsciously you know it doesn't make that exact sound and something is different. Really think about it. How often do you notice a sound you hear every day? What about when that sound stops or changes?

Why handicap one of your biggest home field advantages? Little sounds can make a big difference.
 
Even the electronic hearing protection is a bad idea. It is omnidirectional. That means 1 mic per ear and you lose all sense of what direction a sound is coming from.
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False. You don't want to use them-fine, don't. But don't spread misinformation in the process. I've already said mine are an inexpensive pair and are highly directional. Maybe your hearing isn't as great as you think.
 
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