I hate earmuffs

Yep i use foam ear plugs too. I don't shoot indoors. So they work fine. I do like ear muffs in the winter.

I've found the muffs interfere with my cheek weld on some rifle butt stocks. That being said, I usually shoot those rifles out of doors and don't find muffs to be all that needful and usually just use expanding foam ear plugs -- unless there's somebody in the adjacent shooting position also shooting a large-caliber rifle. I get more noise impact from my neighbor's rifle than from my own. Then I have to double up with the plugs and the muffs. I always double up indoors.

I wear a variety of muffs and they never have bothered me. Now just for shooting but before retirement several work assignments. Never bothered me. I like my electronic muffs which allow conversation but block the sharp gunfire sounds. I always keep foam plugs in my range bag just in case I forget to grab muffs.

Ron

Hate em'!! Good earplugs are adequate for most any shooting situation. The only time I wear Muffs and plugs is when the nitro burners are running at the drag strip. You drag racing fans know exactly what I mean.

I hate 'em too and use the foam plugs. When I was much younger I didn't use any hearing protection. Now I can't hear it when my wife is nagging, er, I mean talking to me. lol

It is compounded when you wear any sort of glasses. The muffs then squeeze your ears in the middle of a muff and glasses sandwich of pain. I mostly use ear plugs when I can get away with it but always carry a set of muffs JIC. I admit that most of the damage is done already though.

hso said:

... The muffs shouldn't touch your ears to make them hurt ...

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My thought exactly. I agree that they can be hot and sweaty in the summer, but mine don't make my ears hurt.

Well, I hate tinnitus worse, for what that's worth.

My ClearArmor set feels like a set of spring clamps--but, that's part of how they make rating. My old Silencios were hugely comfortable, nit were only giving about a 20 dB reduction--barely passable with subsonics.

None of mine touch the ears, but the area around the ears can feel chafed and sore after a while.

Kevin Keith said:

I hate 'em too and use the foam plugs. When I was much younger I didn't use any hearing protection. Now I can't hear it when my wife is nagging, er, I mean talking to me. lol

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That's not hearing loss but rather selective tuning.

Ron

Suppressors are your friend.

Yeah, I'm no fan of muffs. I have to put them on almost every day for various activities, but always take a break from them at every opportunity. I already have noise-induced tinnitus and hearing loss, though, which makes me (and anyone else in the same boat) more susceptible to further damage, so put up with them. For many things I do - with and without gunfire - ear plugs alone are just not adequate. C'est la vie.

I've had pairs that compressed my ears against the glasses, causing discomfort. I've since found a pair that fits properly around the ears, not against them. Still, I agree that they can be uncomfortable in hot weather.

The shape of one of my outer ear canals interferes with proper fitment of plugs, but they do work reasonably well. I use plugs only when mowing or on my tractor, and both at the range.

I do not appreciate the feeling of earmuffs. I wear spectacles, and that adds to the discomfort. I live in the great central plateau of North America, and it's running temperatures in the Nineties right now. Limited use.
However, in an article I read many summers ago in one of the better gun magazines said plus keep down the immediate discomfort but allow sound vibrations to attack the inner ear by way of the mastoid bone. That causes hearing loss, over a bit longer time, but hearing loss anyway.
Suppressors do interest me, but too much folderol and time seems to be involved. Not to mention money.

Try some gel ear cups if the manufacturer of your ear pro makes them. My last class I decided to get some gel ear cups for the muffs I was using (peltors) and it was amazing. Better seal around my shooting glasses and it was much more comfortable - definitely something you can wear all day.

3M makes a number of different brands of ear pro (including peltor) but I know there are other manufacturers that make gel ear cups too. Most of them are less than $20.

doubleh said:

I use Walker ear buds which are much more comfortable

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I'll have to look into those. I'm not familiar with them. Which ones are you using?

wiscoaster said:

I've found the muffs interfere with my cheek weld on some rifle butt stocks.

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All long guns for me. But I don't shoot ARs so theres that.

FROGO207 said:

It is compounded when you wear any sort of glasses.

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Me too.

Telekinesis said:

My last class I decided to get some gel ear cups for the muffs I was using (peltors) and it was amazing. Better seal around my shooting glasses and it was much more comfortable - definitely something you can wear all day

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Link please!

tark said:

The only time I wear Muffs and plugs is when the nitro burners are running at the drag strip. You drag racing fans know exactly what I mean.

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I know exactly what you mean. It's sound you can hear thru your chest. Too many times at the Pomona CA for the Winternationals and Finals without protection. It makes a 3rd/5th row seat at an Ozzy or Metallica concernt seem like a library. I haven't done any of those in years though.

Good times and its a valid counter to wifes claim of selective hearing

I was tested about 3 years ago and was deamed ok but I do think there some residual damage and the test was probably some minimum for 'hearing = acceptable enough to not need further evaluation'.

Guess I'm the odd ball, I much prefer muffs to plugs. Got used to them over most of 33 years working in a power plant.

Beats going deaf, though . . .

I wear ear muffs in the heat with glasses and ball cap on. Whether shootin' or running lawn equipment.

I gotta admit, I had to trim my ears to fit, though.

I wear both ear muffs and ear plugs. Unless it’s a 22 rifle then one or the other. Too much rock and roll, fireworks, airplanes, and gun fire over the year to make me back off of doubling up. I could see outside with the heat bothering the ears. Unfortunately I have cut back my shooting with the ammo being gone. Hopefully that will change soon. Not to highjack the thread but don’t forget the shooting glasses too. A cheap pair may save your vision someday.

They are no fun at all, esp in hot weather. I was forced to use them in afg (ours were coaxed into our comms systems) in temps that often exceeded 100 degrees, so I just got used to them. I wear them now at the range, but I take them off whenever I get the chance to.

And to make matters worse I’m essentially deaf and wear hearing aids. Muffs over them just adds to the torture and frequently the muffs will cause feed back from the aids.
I’ve the Walkers with the voice amplifier feature but the batteries are frequently dead. It’s not a problem at the private gun club but on the county range where one has to listen up for range commands it’s sometimes a source of embarrassment because of missed cease fire commands.

@doubleh I agree. I have sort of sensitive ears and any pressure on them for prolonged periods tends to cause me some irritation. On the other hand though, if I only wear plugs I seem to suffer from headaches and just a generalized pressure in my head and ringing, earache, etc... Not sure why, it seems to block out enough sound while I'm shooting but in the days after shooting it seems to affect me.

I wear muffs, my head is a lil on the larger side so with adjustable muffs, if they're a lil on the tight side I will just spread them out on my headrest in my vehicle to stretch em out a lil so they aren't squeezing my head so tightly. I find muffs do a better job at blocking the sound and keeping damaging shockwaves (for lack of a better term) from screwing my ears and head up. If I'm just shooting .22lr I'll just throw in some plugs though. High power rifle, most centerfire cartridges, I like muffs......

I know a guy who refuses to wear any hearing protection, is single and shoots guns from his living room out a window into his yard and says his hearing is fine. He does this often. Not sure how he can even hear, but I work with him often and he runs a palm nailer and other loud equipment all day with no ear pro, I'm usually on a completely different floor and I still put on ear pro because it's so loud. Some people are just nuts. I don't get it. I cherish things like seeing and hearing, I don't get some people. Maybe it's a macho thing, idk....