Who makes the best earmuff

D

debebjo

Inactive
I am in the process of buying some earmuffs. I am leaning towards electronic noise caneceling but I am not sure. Who can recomend both a good pair of non electronic and a good pair of electronic earmuffs.

Thanks
 
I am not familiar with electronic muffs.

I am happy with:

Remington 31

and

Howard Leigh "Thunder 29"

I actually SLIGHTLY prefer the Howard Leigh. They seem to reduce noise as well or SLIGHTLY better than the Remington despite their lower rating. They seem to fit my head a bit better and they fold up better (smaller) and therefore fit into my range bag better. Both are fine though.

YMMV

Logistar
 
HEAD IS PERSONAL, SO IS MUFF

But back to hearing protection..............

I and my head prefer Peltors, fold-ups and "Ultimate".

I use the "Ultimate" for testing (natch), and the fold-ups for competition and defense (yes, we keep a pair in the house for possible extended encounters. Oh, and crows).

Regardless, I use foam plugs underneath.
As I'm slightly hard of hearing (natch) I have no use for the electronics.


Your results may vary; your head is different.
 
Debebjo:
I have 3 different muffs..
Leightning 31 (non-electronic): very comfortable, very good muffs.

Peltor 7s (electronic): very good (NRR 24?). I like them when I go to the shooting range so I can hear whats going on around me, but they do "clip" or shut off when there is a loud bang. If your talking to someone it makes it difficult to carry on a conversation in the presence of continuous fire. (I got'em for about $155).

Pro-ears Magnum: very good (NRR 25?). Compresses sound and does not clip, slightly easier to hear during live fire. This was the most recent purchase and I use these the most. Cost about $200
on the internet. I now double plug with all muffs (thanks to helpful advice from fellow TFL'ers) and having the electronic muffs makes it easier to hear when double plugged.
 
Just finished researching electronic muffs. Objective is to hear range commands better without having to lift up muff.

If you have no need to hear conversation while wearing the muffs, you probably don't need electronics and can get better protection cheaper with non-electronics.

Pro Ears seem to be the best electronics because of the non-clipping as noted in a prior post, but quite expensive.

Peltor 6 and 7's are not as expensive and do have the clipping effect which may or may not be a problem depending on your usage.

A TFL'er replied a few days ago to my Want To Buy post here, offering to sell a set of Pro Ears Dimension 1 for $140 which is a great price (I had already done a prior deal), so if you want Pro Ears, let me know and I'll try to get you in touch with this person.

Do an archive search for "hearing protection" here and you'll find lots of prior opinions.
 
I don't have any experience with electronic ear muffs but being a pilot I can tell you that Dave Clark makes some of the finest aviation headsets available. Dave Clark makes a version of their headsets without any communications wiring to be used as hearing protection. You can get them with either the standard foam ear pads or their gel ones. I have a pair and they are great. You can also order their cushioned head pad for them. I use my Dave Clarks on the range and they are comfortable,but they are bigger than most of the other brands that I've seen. I think you can reach them @daveclark.com
Good Luck
 
I can't speak to the electronic hearing protetors, but the Howard Leigh and Peltor muffs mentioned are both reliable names in the hearing protection fields. I advise the use of plugs and muffs since a good pair of disposable foam plugs will provide a Noise Reduction Rating of 25-30 dB while most muffs will provide 15-25 dB. If you combine them remeber to only take "credit" for 5 dB of protection from one of them.

Be sure that foam plugs are inserted properly (not just stuffed in your ear, but rolled and inserted into the ear canal) and that the muffs are worn properly. Improper use of either reduces their protection amazingly.
 
I have some Gentex Wolf Ears that I bought after a firearms class and these are just great. Got rid of the Pro Ears I had.
 
I have a set of the Wolf Ears as well. good muffs.

As for David Clark headsets, they provide the shells and foam for many of the headsets out there on the market.
 
see http://thefiringline.com/forums/sho...92303&highlight=electronic+hearing+protection for some considerations.

Most electronic muffs are 24 db nrr or below. Peltor ComTacs (my favorite) are rated at 25. There is one other pair I recently saw in a catalog rated at 27, but they would not fold up like the ComTacs. The ComTacs have a very long battery life, use 2 AA batteries, are comfortable, fold up, have an auto shut off, and are generally nice muffs except they are OD green.

With any hearing protection, it is best to double up. As hso noted, double protects against improperly seated muffs or poorly fit plugs. I use plugs and muffs. I find that with the volume on full and wearing plugs, I hear about as well as having the volume on low and not wearing plugs.
 
In my opinion, there are lots of good reasons to invest in electronic hearing protection. From ordinary considerations such as conversation on the range and clearly hearing range commands, to the unusual but vital such as catching a squib load, I consider electronic hearing protection to be almost essential for a serious shooter.

For what it's worth, my 2-year old $140.00 Peltor Tac 6's died during a recent week-long Gunsite course. The electronics in these aren't sealed, allowing sweat to permeate the batteries and circuit board, and this causes corossion (always needed to clean the terminals even when using only occasionally). I was able to fix one side, but that's intermittent, and the other side is completely dead. I'm out of luck on the warranty- 90 days.

Gunsite instructors all seem to use Pro Ears, and Gunsite keeps a supply of these to loan to students (quite important to be able to hear range commands, especially when in the tactical simulators) and I picked up a set of Pro Ears Dimension 1 slim lines from Impact Tactical for about the same price as the Peltor Tac 7, $170.00, which is a heavier-duty model than the Tac 6- only about $30.00 more than the Peltor 6. In addition the Pro Ears have a 5 year warranty.

The Pro Ears also definitely function better than the Peltor 6, in that they don't completely cut out during impulse noise as the Peltors do, so one can still hear a conversation.

As I found in an indoor range, they also completely cut down on echoes (not sure how, but they do) and this makes a substantial difference over the Peltors as well. In cases where you want to double plug, (50 BMG on the point next to you comes to mind) they still can help you hear much more than the combination of plugs and muffs would allow.

The interesting thing I found is that you can increase the sensitivity of the normal unit to that of the "stalker" model (made for amplifying sounds for hunting) by switching a jumper on the board. It seems the normal models are factory set for "medium" sensitivity, at least mine was.

Because of the highly accurate and directional aspect of the setup, you can tell both direction and proximity of a sound.

Good stuff, try some if you get a chance.
 
I've got a couple of different types of Peltors including an electronic set I received as gift recently. Extremely pleased with the electronic pair. The other pair is great at noise reduction but are too big to use with long guns. I use them in my shop all the time when I run the tabel saw, arm saw, and or the dust collector.
As much as I don't like inserting something into my ear, the ear plug type work best for me for long guns.
My .02
CAP
 
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