Blackhawk30
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- Jun 7, 2010
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I started in wearing muffs in 1980.I didn't before then.I don't hear too good.
When did ear and eye protection become common place?
- Thread starter leadcounsel
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Dionysusigma
Member
I have only been shooting twice without hearing protection. First time was five shots from my dad's .243, and I was in pain--this was at age 18. Second time was about a year later, I'd forgotten them and was shooting an AK and Mosin. The pain returned, but not as bad.
The real eye-opener was a Slayer concert about three years ago. I had noticeable hearing loss for about three days afterward, and my left ear still isn't what it used to be. I'm 26.
I hate muffs, though, as they're hot, uncomfortable, and whenever I use them for rifle shooting, I have to choose between either a good cheek weld or sound dampening--never both. Must just be the shape of my head or something.
Instead, I use plugs exclusively, specifically banded ear plugs, for great noise reduction and quick on/off. Got my first pair when I worked as an aircraft refueler, and they work so well your head can be two feet from a running jet engine and it won't bother you at all (except, of course, that your head is two feet from a jet engine).
The real eye-opener was a Slayer concert about three years ago. I had noticeable hearing loss for about three days afterward, and my left ear still isn't what it used to be. I'm 26.
I hate muffs, though, as they're hot, uncomfortable, and whenever I use them for rifle shooting, I have to choose between either a good cheek weld or sound dampening--never both. Must just be the shape of my head or something.
Instead, I use plugs exclusively, specifically banded ear plugs, for great noise reduction and quick on/off. Got my first pair when I worked as an aircraft refueler, and they work so well your head can be two feet from a running jet engine and it won't bother you at all (except, of course, that your head is two feet from a jet engine).
Cosmoline
Member
My sense is, back in the old days shooters and hunters fired far fewer rounds than we do now. Expense was a major factor. So you might fire enough to qualify in the military or you might shoot up a box of 20 .32-20's over the course of a year's hunting, but you would not be going to the range with 500 or 1,000 rounds as many do now.
Plus, the barrels were generally longer, the rounds less powerful and nobody had porting. Standing next to someone with a ported magnum rifle necessitates both plugs and muffs. If you were without protection, you wouldn't get ringing you'd get real and immediate pain.
Plus, the barrels were generally longer, the rounds less powerful and nobody had porting. Standing next to someone with a ported magnum rifle necessitates both plugs and muffs. If you were without protection, you wouldn't get ringing you'd get real and immediate pain.
Dulvarian
Member
I entered the service with bad hearing from shooting guns with no ears, and blasting music too loud.
I've worn eyes when doing anything due to a corneal scratch when I was about 4 or 5. Buddy, you wanna talk about hurt, get a scratch on your eye.
I have about ten pairs of safety glasses, and boxes of 'foamies'. 33db redux vs 30db from most earmuffs. Also, I find that muffs don't always seal due to wearing glasses, which reduces their effectiveness.
I have had brass leave marks on the lens of my glasses before, shooting at an indoor range and the brass bounced off the stall and would have hit me right in the eye.
And standing watch in enginerooms for over a decade, all the time using power tools, and all the time shooting... my hearing has actually gotten slightly better over the last 15 years or so.
Wear your PPE. It is a whole lot easier to replace that stuff than body parts.
I've worn eyes when doing anything due to a corneal scratch when I was about 4 or 5. Buddy, you wanna talk about hurt, get a scratch on your eye.
I have about ten pairs of safety glasses, and boxes of 'foamies'. 33db redux vs 30db from most earmuffs. Also, I find that muffs don't always seal due to wearing glasses, which reduces their effectiveness.
I have had brass leave marks on the lens of my glasses before, shooting at an indoor range and the brass bounced off the stall and would have hit me right in the eye.
And standing watch in enginerooms for over a decade, all the time using power tools, and all the time shooting... my hearing has actually gotten slightly better over the last 15 years or so.
Wear your PPE. It is a whole lot easier to replace that stuff than body parts.
killchain
Member
I have to wear protection when I fire my AR. I have a pinned Izzy on the end of it, it's like being smacked with a sandbag if you are near the muzzle when firing. I actually scored a hood on a truck from firing supported from it... through three layers of carpet padding! I would hate it if it didn't shoot so accurately.
adobewalls
Member
I remember shooting .38, .22 and .45 pistols as a teenager in the mid '70's without hearing protection and having ringing ears for a day or two afterwards.
I also remember shooting .22 rifles, and shotguns (while dove hunting) without hearing protection in the early '80's, but by then I was using at least ear plugs for the handguns. About that time if we shot the deer rifles more than a few times, we wore earplugs, but never did while hunting.
By the mid-80's when I started reloading I also started wearing safety glasses and ear protection. By the early '90's I started wearing ear plugs and eye protection while small game hunting (dove, rabbits, squirrel.)
Now days I am pretty cautious about eye and ear protection, and still have decent hearing although I know its not what it was.
I also remember shooting .22 rifles, and shotguns (while dove hunting) without hearing protection in the early '80's, but by then I was using at least ear plugs for the handguns. About that time if we shot the deer rifles more than a few times, we wore earplugs, but never did while hunting.
By the mid-80's when I started reloading I also started wearing safety glasses and ear protection. By the early '90's I started wearing ear plugs and eye protection while small game hunting (dove, rabbits, squirrel.)
Now days I am pretty cautious about eye and ear protection, and still have decent hearing although I know its not what it was.
sniper5
Member
I didn't start wearing muffs regularly until I got a Remington XP100 in .221 Fireball in '77. It was physically painful on the eardrums to fire. Been using them since. Until then, decades without.
AND I WISH SOMEONE WOULD ANSWER THAT DAMN PHONE!!!!!!!!!!
AND I WISH SOMEONE WOULD ANSWER THAT DAMN PHONE!!!!!!!!!!
Deckard
Member
I never wear either when I'm just shooting my .22s. I always wear both with anything bigger (I'm a wuss when it comes to the noise and I'd like to visually confirm the number of fingers on my hands in the event of a kb).
DHass
Member
When did eye protection and hearing protection become the norm?
When Americans became sissy-fied.
When Stan Mikita started to wear a helmet and ruined the NHL.
During the Alan Alda, Phil Donahue era.
When Americans became sissy-fied.
When Stan Mikita started to wear a helmet and ruined the NHL.
During the Alan Alda, Phil Donahue era.
Quoheleth
Member
I never wore them when I was a kid. We shot anything and everything sans muffs or plugs. I was also employed as a lawn mower, farm hand, and later a car garage with my bay where the dual air compressors ran. No employer offered hearing plugs and I was too tough to admit I wanted them. After thousands of hours of shooting, running engines, air tools, and various wood working tools, my hearing suffers greatly - and I'm 36. I occassionally get ringing in the ears. If I work in the garage - say sharpening a lawnmower blade (by hand!) or driving a couple nails or making more than one cut with a power saw - I can feel my inner ear tighten at each successive loud noise (hammer blows are most noticable). If I am in a room with a TV or radio playing, I lose conversations in the background noise. If a dishwasher, washing machine, or even the shower is running - fuhgettaboutit: I won't understand a thing.
It sucks when you can't understand your 9-year old while driving home from school. My car has so much road noise I completely lose her words - it's just garbles.
I wish I knew NOW what I didn't know then about hearing loss. Doc says my damage is irreversible, but if I continue using plugs I can probably sustain where I am at. I don't know when it started, but I wish it had been a concern 20 years ago like it is today.
Q
It sucks when you can't understand your 9-year old while driving home from school. My car has so much road noise I completely lose her words - it's just garbles.
I wish I knew NOW what I didn't know then about hearing loss.
Doc says my damage is irreversible, but if I continue using plugs I can probably sustain where I am at. I don't know when it started, but I wish it had been a concern 20 years ago like it is today. Q
fireman 9731
Member
I have the same problem. I don't mind wearing muffs at all but a cheek weld is definitely sacrificed when I do. I didn't wear any hearing protection until I started shooting center-fire and shotgun. Now I wont shoot without it.
Safety glasses are another story though... I never have worn them. I have tried but wearing safety glasses over prescription glasses is a major pain and lets not even talk about trying to see the sights.
I know, shame on me, but until I can afford a pair of prescription safety glass my regular glasses will have to do.
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