Hearing protection of choice (e.g., noise-reducing active or passive earplugs or over-the-ear muffs) is a must for every public safety professional while doing work that exposes you to high-decibel noise sources.
As someone who has hearing loss and tinnitus due to unprotected exposure to an explosion, I know how important it is to not lose your hearing in the first place and to mitigate any hearing loss if it already exists.
In-ear plugs provide everyday protection and can be used at outdoor ranges with most firearms. However, we hear via two different routes. The first is through our ear canal and eardrum, or via air conduction. But we also hear via bone conduction where the sound waves are sent through our skull directly into the inner ear, bypassing the ear canal completely. This means that in-ear plugs may not protect our hearing from louder weapons or explosions.
The more you can physically dampen your head to harmful levels of sound energy, the more your inner ears will be protected against acoustical trauma. Properly fitted over-the-ear muffs or helmet liners rest on and dampen the vibrations hitting the bones around your ear which are most tied to your inner ear.
Just like you can combine foam plugs with muffs, you also can combine active in-ear protection and muffs. Active in-ear plugs mitigate my hearing loss and combining them with muffs protects what’s left of my hearing while allowing me to listen to my students and hear range commands. I also maintain situational awareness that I otherwise would lose lose because I cannot wear my everyday hearing aids under my shooting muffs.
Make sure that whatever protection you choose is designed for shooting sports and not construction, travel, or concerts — the requirements are very different.
With that background, let’s look at some of my favorite hearing protection products. Read the descriptions carefully before buying, as what works for me may not work for you. And since I am giving you Amazon links, most products are returnable if they don’t work out.
In-ear passive protection
There are two general styles of passive in-ear protection: generic fit and custom fit. As a firearms instructor, I carry plenty of generic fit plugs in my range bag because I never know when a student will show up without ears. Generic plugs can have flanges that fit the ear canal when pushed inside or can be made of foam that is compressed before insertion so that it expands to fit the canal.
The Peltor Sport tri-flange corded reusable earplugs have a 26 dB noise reduction rating (NRR), come with a neck loop and are washable and reusable.
Mack’s Maximum Protection Soft Foam Shooting Ear Plugs come in a 50-pair jar and boast a 33 dB NRR. They claim to be USA’s #1 doctor-recommended brand of foam earplugs. Before using any type of foam earplug, be sure you know how to compress them properly to ensure they are working as intended: slowly roll them between your fingers adding more and more pressure until you cannot make them any smaller. Don’t just squeeze them.
Decibullz sells several versions of self-molded earplugs that work by immersing them in hot water and then pressing them into your ears. If you don’t get the perfect fit the first time, Decibullz are the only custom earplugs that are re-moldable. They come in a dozen colors with multiple ear canal tips.
This one, designed for shooting sports, has a solid shell and offers a 31dB NRR. Because of the design, they block all ambient noise, and both can be worn with over-the-ear muffs for additional protection.
A second design for shooting sports uses percussive filters to handle sounds up to 33 dB. When no damaging noise is present, the filters permit voices and ambient noises to be heard, allowing for situational awareness not provided by traditional earplugs.
Do you want plugs bearing the logo of your favorite firearms manufacturer? Those are available too, like this Browning-branded hearing protection by Decibullz.
In-ear active protection
The rechargeable 3M Peltor TEP-200 Tactical Ear Plug Kit has a 23dB NRR. They come in a waterproof box with several different tips and can be worn under muffs for additional protection. The rechargeable Li-ion battery provides up to 16 hours of continuous operation and they recharge in approximately 90 minutes via micro-USB or 3 AA alkaline batteries.
The similarly shaped and packaged OTTO NoizeBarrier Micro Earplug offers up to 40 dB of impulse noise protection with up to 15 dB adaptive noise attenuation. The Otto case has a built-in battery that is recharged through a micro-USB port, along with room to store extra earwax filters and a removal/replacement tool.
As well as protecting your ears, both can boost quiet sounds, giving you better situational awareness — even under external muffs. Since I have more hearing loss in my left ear than my right ear, I can turn one unit up more than the other to help make up for it.
A key point is that the OTTO and the Peltor lay into your external ear completely differently, and one may be more comfortable than the other (see below).
Over-the-ear
Besides being comfortable when worn, another key selector for over-the-ear muffs is whether they let you properly mount your long gun. Manufacturers have designed scallops or other cutouts at the bottom of the ear cups to facilitate a proper long gun mount.
I have been using two different muffs for the past few years and it’s hard for me to decide which is better.
First is the Peltor Tactical 500 smart electronic hearing protector with Bluetooth, replacing the foam pads with aftermarket gel pads, which this bundle has. Peltor says these muffs measure the energy in gunshot noise and automatically set suppression time for reduced echoes and increased comfort, while they also seek voice within background noise and actively filter noise for improved speech intelligibility.
The second is the Walker’s XCEL 500BT, which puts the controls on the headband and not the earcup. The wearer can select between four different listening modes: universal (for sound amplification), speech clarity (for discriminating voices and enhancing verbal communication in a noisy environment), high frequency (tuned specifically to hear steel target impact at long distances), and power boost (amplifies sound across the range of volume). Unfortunately, you need to buy the gel ear pads separately.
Carry case for in-ear plugs
If you are not wearing your hearing protection, you need to have it with you. For my custom plugs, I use the Eargasm Keychain Earplug Travel Carrying Case, which is always in my pocket or go bag.
Your hearing is precious and deserves respect. “I forgot my ears” is not an excuse to go shooting without protection. Keep spare disposable plugs everywhere — range bag, gun case, ammo box and glove box.
