Training Without Hearing Protection
- Thread starter BarryLee
- Start date
Maximus856
New member
The only time aside from overseas that I didn't use hearing protection was as a teamleader in squad+ size trainig exercises. It wasn't to prepare our hearing, but when you have to communicate down a line in order to keep everyone firing when and where they need, it's good to be able to hear.
By no means am I recommending this, but it's what a lot of us did.
By no means am I recommending this, but it's what a lot of us did.
Glenn E. Meyer
New member
Anybody post this:
http://www.stripes.com/news/despite...amage-hearing-of-thousands-of-troops-1.145733
Anyway - doing a touch of medical lit searching and there is little out there to recover lost hair cells. Cell replacement and gene therapies are very far away.
The issues are stopping the tinnitis and then repairing damage. Both are a neurological bear.
I worked for a bit on a team doing similar research on retinal damage. Monkey fetal cells, human fetal cells, stem cells, etc. I did behaviorial testing. It's a monster to crack.
There are all kinds of problems. For example, let's say you have been suffering from such damage for a long time and we do come up with some way to regrow hair cells. Guess what - the parts of the auditory cortex that used to connect may have lost the ability to process sound. That depends on a bunch of things.
Maybe we can't replace the receptor space for human speech.
Taking off my gun hat and putting on my work hat and reading about visual protheses problems indicates that auditory ones have similar complexities.
Bottom line - use hearing protection.
The analogy - would you not use eye protection to acclimate yourself to getting hit in the orbs by some blast or flying crap?
http://www.stripes.com/news/despite...amage-hearing-of-thousands-of-troops-1.145733
Anyway - doing a touch of medical lit searching and there is little out there to recover lost hair cells. Cell replacement and gene therapies are very far away.
The issues are stopping the tinnitis and then repairing damage. Both are a neurological bear.
I worked for a bit on a team doing similar research on retinal damage. Monkey fetal cells, human fetal cells, stem cells, etc. I did behaviorial testing. It's a monster to crack.
There are all kinds of problems. For example, let's say you have been suffering from such damage for a long time and we do come up with some way to regrow hair cells. Guess what - the parts of the auditory cortex that used to connect may have lost the ability to process sound. That depends on a bunch of things.
Maybe we can't replace the receptor space for human speech.
Taking off my gun hat and putting on my work hat and reading about visual protheses problems indicates that auditory ones have similar complexities.
Bottom line - use hearing protection.
The analogy - would you not use eye protection to acclimate yourself to getting hit in the orbs by some blast or flying crap?
Stressfire
New member
Once intentionally, with a P3AT, about 25 rounds at a coffee can on a fence post.
Right ear rang for 3 days, won't be doin' that one again.
Prior to that, was taking turns with FiL on coon-watch for some critters that had been harassing their chickens (raccoons had killed-slaughtered, really, they ate none of them-the entire brood the previous year).
About 5-10 shots of 22LR a night (shot from the kitchen table through a screen window) for a week. There were a lot 'o coons in them there woods-we got 1 almost every shot.
No hearing issues, from that one, but much longer barrel and very small cartridge.
Right ear rang for 3 days, won't be doin' that one again.
Prior to that, was taking turns with FiL on coon-watch for some critters that had been harassing their chickens (raccoons had killed-slaughtered, really, they ate none of them-the entire brood the previous year).
About 5-10 shots of 22LR a night (shot from the kitchen table through a screen window) for a week. There were a lot 'o coons in them there woods-we got 1 almost every shot.
No hearing issues, from that one, but much longer barrel and very small cartridge.
Empty-headed pontificators
One round can cause hearing damage. I have mild tinnitus in one ear from a single "Treasury load" out of a 2" Dick Special. LE never practices without hearing protection and we required double hearing protection (muffs and plugs) on indoor ranges. I'm also a Vietnam veteran and we never once trained without hearing protection.
One round can cause hearing damage. I have mild tinnitus in one ear from a single "Treasury load" out of a 2" Dick Special. LE never practices without hearing protection and we required double hearing protection (muffs and plugs) on indoor ranges. I'm also a Vietnam veteran and we never once trained without hearing protection.
Tinnitus can drive you crazy
"Rock Fan Kills Himself After Concert Left Him With Tinnitus"
I don't do anything to risk my hearing anymore.
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/...cert-left-him-with-tinnitus/?intcmp=obnetwork
A friend of mine invited me to see a Chicago cover band. It was really loud, so I put in my earplugs
Ya, I looked silly, going to see a band and them putting ear plugs in, but I don't want to lose anymore of my hearing.
"Rock Fan Kills Himself After Concert Left Him With Tinnitus"
I don't do anything to risk my hearing anymore.
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/...cert-left-him-with-tinnitus/?intcmp=obnetwork
A friend of mine invited me to see a Chicago cover band. It was really loud, so I put in my earplugs
Ya, I looked silly, going to see a band and them putting ear plugs in, but I don't want to lose anymore of my hearing.
WildBill45
New member
I am an old school hunter, from Africa to Canada, and I shot all the time without ear protection. I know the blast in my face, and in my ears. I also shot some without ear protection fooling around doing police stuff, and for real without ear protection.
When scared, it doesn't make much difference anyhow, trust me.
stonewall50
New member
My time shooting shotguns my dad dropped these old fashion spray painted green hearing protectors. They had cotton stuffed them to help muffle the sound, and they were probably the most ungodly uncomfortable things I have ever worn(next to the baffle plugs). Being a duck hunter in tight Florida swamps or in a boat right next to someone, you really start to understand how loud a shotgun can actually be. I was so protective of my hearing that I wouldn't hunt without them. Of course this got me made fun of by cousins and family members. I even hated the idea of turkey hunting or deer hunting without protection (because I "didn't need them" for firing 1 shot).
Over the years of being made fun of, and going through some different types of hearing protection (plugs, headphones, electronic headphones, etc), I started to figure something out. I was always the person confirming if that sound was a turkey, a deer blowing, whislting wings, or what that sound was way out there. Gradually those mysterious sounds grew closer, and now it is to the point that that mysterious "turkey" we hear gobbling is a dog barking or a wood pecker making a sound lol.
Don't try to be macho. Don't try to prepare for something that won't be a factor in the 1-10 seconds you might deal with.
Over the years of being made fun of, and going through some different types of hearing protection (plugs, headphones, electronic headphones, etc), I started to figure something out. I was always the person confirming if that sound was a turkey, a deer blowing, whislting wings, or what that sound was way out there. Gradually those mysterious sounds grew closer, and now it is to the point that that mysterious "turkey" we hear gobbling is a dog barking or a wood pecker making a sound lol.
Don't try to be macho. Don't try to prepare for something that won't be a factor in the 1-10 seconds you might deal with.
WildBill45
New member
Bottom line ... WEAR PROTECTION!
Not doing so is tantamount to having someone break your nose before a boxing match for training!
Not doing so is tantamount to having someone break your nose before a boxing match for training!
compglock17
New member
To touch on the auditory exclusion, studies show that, during a lethal force encounter, you will not "hear" the shots. Yes, the DBs will still cause damage, but you would not be "startled" by the firing gun. So, perhaps his time would be better spent in preparing to put rounds on target as quickly as accurately possible, and looking for good hearing aids. For more info on this, and other physiological responses to expect during a fight for your life scenario, may I suggest Lt. Col. Dave Grossman's books "On Killing" and "On Combat". Great stuff in both books!