Active hearing protection (or amplified ear muffs)

[Derek Zeanah]

I was pretty happy with my Peltor TAC-6s muffs until I dropped them on the asphalt one too many times. Now I'm looking for a replacement, and it seems there are more competitors in the market, at more price points, and I have no idea how they rank.

I'm basically looking for something to wear to the range. I'd like to be able to hear range commands and maintain a conversation while people are shooting, but I was a mortarman in a prior life and I'm not interested in any more hearing loss.

I'm mostly thinking about pistol shooting here. I'd love something that reduced noise enough to be good around magnum rifle calibers as well.

So, what do you use, and what does hindsight imply you should have bought instead?

 

[jdub3]

I don't have an answer, but am also in the market for something similar. Glad you asked the question.

 

[DickM]

I'd be inclined to look for the ones that have the highest NRR. I have the Peltor TAC-7s, which work very well in terms of responding and shutting off loud noises, but only have an NRR of 24 db. They also don't have an auto shut-off feature, which some muffs do. I can only assume that Duracell is a subsidiary of Peltor - I'm certainly doing my part to sustain the profits of their 9V battery division.

One very good option with any brand of electronic muffs is to wear foam ear plugs underneath and crank up the volume for hearing range commands and the like - then when the muffs shut down electronically you get the NRR of the muffs and plugs combined (it doesn't add up to the sum of the individual NRRs, but it's still higher than either alone).