Hearing protection?

When I started shooting, almost no one wore hearing protection for 22. I would be in a firing line with 50 kids at camp firing 22s without even having the option. That was a bad idea. Different times.

I shot my Sig P220 one day after forgetting my muffs. Big mistake. Not only did my ears ring for months but I had a crackle sound in my ear. I thought I was going to lose the hearing in that ear. It eventually got better than goodness. I get my hearing tested and I've always been in the normal range but then normal includes people who worked in factories, worked construction, shot guns and went to rock concerts. I've done all of the above so maybe "average" isn't what average used to be.

I keep muffs with me at all times for what I might need my gun for SD. I don't know if I'll have time to put on the muffs or not but I will have them ready if I do have time. Of course I'm not going to hold up my hand and say "time out" while I put on my muffs. If push comes to shove you do what you have to do.

That's what active hearing protection is for.

I expect it to eventually be fielded for the US Armed Forces too as the technology gets better/cheaper. Look at the trends for eye protection on the modern battlefield.

http://www.amazon.com/3M-SV-Tactical-Hearing-Protector/dp/B0006968YM/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1432579613&sr=8-4&keywords=peltor+hearing

Want to hear real crickets? Wear the best hearing protection you can find.

Cee Zee said:

I shot my Sig P220 one day after forgetting my muffs. Big mistake. Not only did my ears ring for months but I had a crackle sound in my ear. I thought I was going to lose the hearing in that ear. It eventually got better than goodness. I get my hearing tested and I've always been in the normal range but then normal includes people who worked in factories, worked construction, shot guns and went to rock concerts. I've done all of the above so maybe "average" isn't what average used to be.

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Here are my graphs. 25 to 40 db is only considered mild hearing loss but I still have trouble hearing conversations in a noisy environment. The good thing is that it hasn't changed in the past 7 years from my first test to today. Wear that hearing protection!

On a funny note, I'm 37 and get all sorts of advertisements for senior citizens.

fire a round at an indoor range to get an idea what it might sound like if you had to fire the weapon inside your home.

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Strongly, strongly disagree. In my experience, once the adrenaline is flowing, noise is very muted anyway. Balance that with the very real possibility of having the wrong load in the wrong indoor range and getting permanent hearing damage and it just isn't worth it.

When the adrenaline is flowing the noise is muted but the hearing damage still occurs.

I wore plugs at work and while shooting. It seems that even with those precautions that backround noise has taken its toll. Now I wear plugs while duck hunting and a headset at work.

Huh?...wha?...

Loud music when I was younger did a job on my ears. Constant ringing. I always wear hearing protection when I shoot, except when hunting. I took 5 shots in the turkey woods this past month (had to shoot 1 bird twice), I don't even remember hearing any noise. Just guessing that a HD situation will be similar.

I think all my years hunting hurt my hearing worse than range time. I always wear/wore protection when target shooting, but never when hunting. That nice "sizzle-ringing" I hear all the time is a reminder of all those hunting trips! Conflicting memories!

Mark

Only time I don't wear ear protection is when shooting suppressed.

Outdoors, shooting .22 is one thing. Not a smart thing, but one thing.
The only time I've fired a gun without protection was an ND in a closed car. I sure got used to the noise quick. Noise didn't bother me at all, the rest of that night.
Now if someone would have picked up that dang phone sometime during the next couple days...

.22 rifle decibel level is right at or just crossing over the hearing damage threshold and folks don't seem to realize .22 pistol decibel level is over the damage threshold by an unhealthy margin.

Back in the 1980s I used to snicker at the security at the concerts who wore hearing protection; boy was I wrong, and boy did they have the right idea.

The other day someone made a statement (or recommendation) that when training (any firearms training) I/you/everybody should not wear ear protection. They said this is "to get your ears used to the noise."

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I got bad tinntinnus in my left ear from a 1992 car wreck with multiple skull fractures; I guard what's left of my hearing. When shooting at the range, weedeating the property, attending a stockcar race, watching planes land and take off at the airport, attending an airshow, any activity that exposes me to noise, I wear plugs or muffs, sometimes both. Recouperation is slow, decades; on a good day now, I can catch the high organ notes on the opening to "In the Garden of Eden" but for years all I could hear was the rhythm parts.

Accepting hearing loss as a cost of staying alive should I have to fire a gun in self defense is bad enough; deliberately sacrificing part of my hearing "to get my ears used to the noise" sounds stupid. Being able to hear before shooting in SD can make a lot difference in outcome; it is part of your "identify friend or foe" toolkit fer cryin out loud.

Knew a guy who operated a rock crusher for years without ear protection; none was required in those days. He was quite hearing-impaired by the time he figured it out. My brother, now 78 years old, has some hearing loss from years of coaching a shooting team in the Army about 40 years ago. Hearing loss from chronic exposure to loud noise is very real. Heed the warnings!!

I am 57 & have worn hearing aids since I was 35; (I needed them much earlier than that!). Too much trap, target & hunting when I was in my teens with out hearing protection. I do not sleep with my aids, so I must rely on my dog to wake me if something goes "bump" in the night. (He works pretty good!)

Discharging a firearm used for personal defense once or twice without hearing protection may be a good idea, to familiarize yourself with the report of the weapon.

But I wouldn't recommend doing it in an enclosed area, nor doing it with any kind of magnum round, as it won't take too many such experiments to cause hearing loss.

Discharging a firearm used for personal defense once or twice without hearing protection may be a good idea, to familiarize yourself with the report of the weapon.

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sorry....but no it isnt.....it is a horrible idea....intentionally doing permanent damage to your hearing is always a horrible idea......

as stated before, those that have used their firearms in a SD scenario barely even recall hearing the gunshots....there is no need to "familiarize" yourself with the giunshots...

as stated before, those that have used their firearms in a SD scenario barely even recall hearing the gunshots....there is no need to "familiarize" yourself with the giunshots...

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Just because they do not remember hearing the shots does not mean that damage wasn't done. One shot may all it takes to do permanent damage. I have had "ear crickets" for decades. between loud music with headphones to gunshots, somewhere along the way, that snare drum hissing never went away.......

Just because they do not remember hearing the shots does not mean that damage wasn't done. One shot may all it takes to do permanent damage. I have had "ear crickets" for decades. between loud music with headphones to gunshots, somewhere along the way, that snare drum hissing never went away.......

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i never said damage wont be done....as it most likely will be.....but in a SD scenario ill take a little hearing damage if it means im otherwise safe...

the point i am trying to make is that it is uselsss and/ or stupid to take "practice shots" without hearing protection to "get use" to hearing that in a potential SD scenario....

I think the best response to anyone suggesting shooting without hearing protection is a loud, "What?"

I have hearing loss from work related noise and have been wearing hearing aids for a few years now. Wish I knew then what I know now.
Ask your friend if he could function better after having a frontal lobotomy.

The other day someone made a statement (or recommendation) that when training (any firearms training) I/you/everybody should not wear ear protection. They said this is "to get your ears used to the noise."
I have never heard such a thing.
Am i just the idiot here? If so, can someone on here please explain to me what I don't seem to be able to understand?
Thanks in advance for answering what i believe to be a "stupid question."

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B1, the only idiot is the fool who made the statement, "to get your ears used to the noise."

That has to be one of the most reckless, foolish, and harmful statements I've heard in years.

Rodregier said:

That's what active hearing protection is for.

I expect it to eventually be fielded for the US Armed Forces too as the technology gets better/cheaper. Look at the trends for eye protection on the modern battlefield.

http://www.amazon.com/3M-SV-Tactical...peltor+hearing

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Are Howard Leight Impact Sport good enough? I think I have three or four sets. What does the Peltor do better? I've not tried them, but will if they're that much better.

I've got a pair. They work very well. I still double up on them with in the ear plugs when shooting indoors, though. Especially on ranges that allow rifles.

do guys that hunt slip on protection before making the shot?