Are you going to wear ear protection when the SHTF?

[Caliburn]

Derek:

What was it that Sergeant Eversmann forgot to do when exiting the blackhawk, as he'd done on every other mission to date, because he was wearing headphones for the first time (according to Bowers?)

I think the headphone was so he could talk to the pilot over the engine noise.

VNgo called it - no military that I know of uses them for combat (though they do for training) which would imply the disadvantages outweigh the benefits. But the electronic ones might be perfect for combat. How much do they cost?

 

[Al Thompson]

Interestingly, I've been in a car when six rounds of Remington .357 158 JHP's were fired with the muzzle in the car, one .30-30 ND inside a room, .45 ACP in a room, .38 in a room, 7.62x39 in a kitchen.

Brief ringing in the ears with the rifle loads, severe ringing with the .357. No permanant hearing loss though.

YMMV -

 

[fix]

No permanant hearing loss though.

Says who? You, or the doc looking at your audiogram?

 

[tyme]

caliburn, I suspect eventually troops will mostly all use some sort of flip-away electronic muffs built into the helmets. There's no reason not to, besides cost. Of course they require batteries, which is why they should flip away so they're only turned on when needed. They could really improve quality of life for soldiers in their later years, not to mention maintain their future combat effectiveness. And when batteries run out, so what? They're still muffs, which is better than the amount of hearing you'd have after many hours of shooting without them.

Al Thompson, doesn't ringing = hearing loss? It might not be much, and those all sound (ha!) relatively unavoidable, but I wouldn't want to voluntarily be in any of those situations because they would reduce hearing capacity a small amount.

But there's always that antioxidant pill that was talked about here a few weeks ago. Best keep electronic plugs and some of those pills around if you suspect SHTF happenings will occur.

 

[Al Thompson]

Fix, when I left the Army, there was some high freq loss in the left ear, but not much. Reconfirmed the issue with two industrial physicals and two more Army physicals over the years. All of these events were prior to my Army days.

Despite what my ex wife says, I can hear just fine.

 

[airborneranger]

Al like you I got some high frequency loss in my left ear also (so says the VA) but i dont think hearing protection is feasable in combat, unless like others have stated some sort of electronic device that amplifys normal sounds and muffles rifle and such sounds. The only time we used hearing protection was on the rifle range. During live fire training and then in real world we didnt use them. When in a real world fire fight the noise dosent seem to bother you (at least it didnt me) kinda like deer hunting when I shoot a deer it dosent phase me but on the range with the same rifle i have to wear protection im not a medical doctor but id pretty much bet its got something to do with all the adrenalin and my hearing was the least of my worries when the SHTF but now at my older and wiser age i think it did affect my hearing somewhat there again like you al so my wife says but for the most part if u use hearing protection (like plugs or muffs) you would be greatly impared in a real world situation.

 

[Caliburn]

Summarizing

Summarizing for SHTF or regular combat:

Electronic ear muffs:
Excellent. No drawbacks.

Regular sound-deadening muffs or plugs:
Wearing them will prevent hearing loss in your old age.
Not wearing them just might help you reach that old age.

 

[zahc]

For example, you have a shot at a trophy animal, raise your rifle, take aim, press the trigger and the animal is down. You are so excited that you don't even realize the shot was that loud and your hearing is certainly not affected in the sense that you have any diminished hearing. Maybe on a medical scale you might, but not for practical purposes. You carry on with the day with no after effects at all.

Handguns are way louder from the shooter's perspective than most rifles IME.

Anything indoors will be a billion times louder than anything outside.

I really think there's a world of difference.

 

[entropy]

'buck fever'

Yes, the effect of barely hearing rounds go off in a high adrenaline situation does happen, but the damage still occurs whether you hear them or not. That said,I don't wear earplugs or muffs while hunting 4 or 2 legged beasts. I have tinnitus from various jobs, and military service, and do wear plugs at least, and somtimes both while target practicing. I would love to try the amplified muffs, just haven't pushed them up the scale of things to get, yet!:banghead: I don't seem to mind my own muzzle blast, but touch off a high-powered rifle next to me and

 

[yzguy]

If I have them, I'll use my electronic ear muffs. They actually make very small sounds louder and easier to hear, as well as cutting down on loud sounds. After all remember that after that first shot, your just going to be hearing a lot of ringing, but if wearing the electronic muffs, I'll still be able to hear exceptionaly well....