Earmuffs and Ear Plugs worn together

[Brubz]

There's been a lot of talk on the forum about ear protection. it seems that a lot of guys wear earplugs and ear muffs over top of them how many of you do that? is it just extra caution or overkill?

 

[trackskippy]

I just use the highest rated plugs, which are usually in the 33-34 range. Ive never found them to be lacking, even indoors with the louder guns.

Ive never liked shooting with the muffs, and they are about useless with long guns. They interfere with a good cheek weld and that usually breaks the seal on the muffs as well. They usually dont have a very high rating either and youre better off with the plugs.

 

[wayneinFL]

There's been a lot of talk on the forum about ear protection. it seems that a lot of guys wear earplugs and ear muffs over top of them how many of you do that? is it just extra caution or overkill?

I usually shoot handguns, and I use plugs and muffs indoors. Outdoors I usually have to communicate with somebody and use the electronic muffs.

 

[Rockrivr1]

I have Tinnitus from my days working on jets in the Navy so I'm very cautious when shooting as I don't want to damage my hearing more than it already is. I wear custom made plugs in my ears and then a pair of muffs over them. It does a very good job of muffling out the noise. For me it works but for some I can see where it might be a PITA if you're not used to it.

 

[Blue Jays]

I typically use both foam plugs and ear muffs together simultaneously. No meaningful downside to me.

 

[LimaCharlie]

I am an instructor and RSO at the gun club. I also work the hunting rifle sight-in-service open to the public. I wear ear plugs and electronic muffs on th range.

 

[Craig_AR]

wear earplugs and ear muffs over top of them how many of you do that? is it just extra caution or overkill?

This is extra caution and not overkill. On indoor ranges I use regular plugs (not electronic) with electronic muffs over them. MUCH more comfortable than just one or the other.
On outdoor ranges I have tried all three options: plugs, muffs, and both. Both is still the most protective option, but I have found that electronic plugs are good enough and much more comfortable on hot days or when using a rifle.
Note: when used together, the protective ratings are not additive. Muffs with 27 db and plugs with 29 db do not give you 56 db protection; it is more like 34 db.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

99% of my shooting over the last 50 years has been indoors, plugs and muffs.

 

[12Bravo20]

This is extra caution and not overkill. On indoor ranges I use regular plugs (not electronic) with electronic muffs over them. MUCH more comfortable than just one or the other.
On outdoor ranges I have tried all three options: plugs, muffs, and both. Both is still the most protective option, but I have found that electronic plugs are good enough and much more comfortable on hot days or when using a rifle.
Note: when used together, the protective ratings are not additive. Muffs with 27 db and plugs with 29 db do not give you 56 db protection; it is more like 34 db.

I also wear foam plugs with electronic muffs when at indoor ranges. I tried a lot of different types of hearing protection for outdoor ranges and I have been using electronic plugs the most lately especially when shooting rifles and shotguns, and will use my electronic muffs when shooting handguns. The exception would be if there are others that are shooting very loud firearms, then I will double up even outdoors.

My hearing got messed up while in the Army and I try my best to protect myself from further hearing loss. I have tinnitus and partial hearing loss now and the VA has gave me hearing aids to wear. This are suppose to help with the tinnitus but they don't do much to stop the constant ringing.

 

[mcb]

I wear plugs and muff for most rifle shooting and the big bore handguns. When shooting more defensive pistol calibers I often just wear electronic muff, such as shooting USPSA matches. When hunting I often wear a set of Walker Silencers in the ear electronic hearing protection, especially with my 450 Bushmaster, it just rings the ears otherwise.

 

[WoodTek]

I use plugs with rifle due to muffs getting pushed out of the way when aiming and Walkers electronics for handgun.

 

[Riomouse911]

Plugs and muffs for me, unless shooting rifles or shotguns. Like the posts above, muffs with a shoulder stock just doesn’t work for me either.

Stay safe.

 

[Double_J]

I use both when shooting at indoor ranges due to pretty bad hearing loss in both ears. I use electronic muffs when shooting pistols and ramirez rifles. I LOVE good plugs when shooting rifles, and I have a pair of muffs that aren't that bad when shooting rifles, but they get hot after about 30 minutes.

 

[DMW1116]

Both foam plugs and muffs. I don’t trust the electronic plugs and haven’t found extrinsic muffs worth it.

 

[Charlie98]

I will usually run both plugs and muffs when I'm shooting indoors... it solves a lot of problems. If the muffs don't quite seal right... because of earpieces of my shooting glasses, or a rifle stock that bumps them up, the plugs keep everything under control. If I'm trying to talk to someone, I can take my muffs off... and still have the plugs if I'm not up on the line.

That has changed a bit, recently... my brother's family gave me a set of electronic muffs for me birthday 2 years ago. They seem to work well enough. I've not tried them doubled up with plugs, however... I don't really know if that would be a benefit.

 

[slickracer]

I wear both, there is no overkill when it comes to eye and ear protection.

 

[reddog81]

Both. Using electronic muffs over the plugs makes it easier to hear noises you want to hear yet still cancels out the gunshots.

 

[Mars5l]

Both. Yesterday when shooting after packing up and waiting around for a friend to finish I only had muffs and it did hurt when the rifles were fired

 

[JDeere]

I have an older pair of Electronic Peltors I use with everything and no plugs. Never had an issue with cheek weld on any of the many rifles I shoot. I use those plugs on a rope when hunting...

 

[gwpercle]

I keep some soft plugs in the shooting box ... when at the indoor range there is always that one guy with the Mega-Boomer ... the extra noise reduction makes my shooting more pleasant /
or when I get to shoot the Mega-Boomers , the extra protection is nice .
But generally at 22 LR and 38 Special levels the Ear Muff's do a good job alone .
Gary

 

[drband]

Both when indoors.

 

[CapnMac]

Been running both with rifles, or indoors since '91, after my official diagnosis of tinnitus.

 

[GunTube]

I always wear both. Sorry, to get technical here, but this is a very important topic for me. My ears have tinnitus (ringing) from shooting, even though I've always worn earpro.

You will see NRR ratings on ear pro. This is very misleading and the whole concept of decibels is very unintuitive. Even with an NRR of 30 on my HL Impact PROs, hearing damage will occur over time. The formula for NRR is very stupid, but for some reason it's the convention. Take your NRR and subract 7, then divide it by 2. So, (30 - 7)/2 = 11.5 db reduction from the Impact PROs.

When you double up with earplugs too, you simply add 5 to the NRR total. Again, this is the formula set out many decades ago. So my inner earplugs are NRR 21, but they only count as 5 using the formula. So (35 - 7)/2 = 14db reduction.

A gunshot of 158db lessened by 14db (with double protection) is down to 140db. Every 3db reduction is roughly a halving of sound pressure. So a 140db noise is over 9x quieter than a 158db sound. I try and run suppressors as much as possible nowadays. A suppressed gunshot is typically in the 130db range. So, 130 minus 11-14db is just under the 'accepted' threshold of 120db being 'hearing safe' for sudden short sounds. Cumulative sounds over 120db will degrade your hearing over time and can cause tinnitus.

A good source for this material is here: https://www.listentech.com/understanding-noise-reduction-ratings/

 

[lysanderxiii]

Definitely not overkill. Depending on the magnitude and the duration of the exposure, double protection is recommended.

 

[TrapK80]

Been wearing both custom molded ear plugs and ear muffs for indoor shooting since the 90's. Recently found some narrow ear muffs with good protection levels that don't interfere when shooting rifles. When I shoot trap I just wear the custom molded ear plugs.