Electronic ear muffs: are muffs costing 2-3 times the Peltor 6 worth the extra money?

[RM]

I'd be interested in getting opinions from those of you that use electronic ear muffs on this question. Thank you.

 

[Standing Wolf]

I bought some Peltor electronic muffs some months ago. I use them with rather than instead of plugs. They advantage they deliver is that I can hear the range commands better.

 

[Jonathan]

I've heard wonderful things about Sordin, if that's what you're referring to. No one yet to comment on them has regretted the purchase.

 

[DonNikmare]

For $19.19 (on sale) ...Electronic Ear Muffs from Harbor Freight

These do the job fine. I see them at gun shows often for $39.99-55.00. They are not stereo ie only one ear has a microphone/speaker but do work well. They are more sensative than the label states and will go quiet even when I rack the slide or slam a mag in (if I slam it in hard.)

If the electronic mechanism fails one day I will still have some pretty good muffs for less $ than I would have paid for regular ones at a gunshow/store.

Nik

 

[RoyG]

For $19.19 (on sale) ...Electronic Ear Muffs from Harbor Freight

+1

I ordered a pair from HF also. Letting the slide close will cause them to go quiet. Put them on in my truck just to see how them fit when I first got them. Turned the radio up and they kicked on a little over half way on my radio volume.

 

[Taipei Personality]

I own four pairs of electronic ear muffs; the Harbor Freight model, a pair of Peltor 3s, a pair of Peltor 6s, and a pair of Pro-Ears.

I like the Pro-Ears the best but, if I could have only one pair, it would be the Peltor 6s. The Pro-Ears are sensitive to moisture and the batteries will fall out if you drop the muffs. The Peltor 6s are more rugged.

 

[RaggedClaws]

I have both the single-ear Guide Gear ones and the sterio Peltor ones, and I currently only shoot at an outdoor range. The GG ones sucks, the Peltor ones are great! I can hear range commands and chit-chat just fine and the speakers don't cut out when a loud noise occurs, like they do in the GG ones. I highly recommend them. If I were shooting indoors, I might consider wearing them with ear plugs, but outside they're fine by themselves.

 

[fecmech]

I have the Pro Ears and am happy with them. I tried a pair of I think Peltors (not sure) but what ever brand they were there was a noticeable lag before they came back on after a shot. The Pro Ears are intantaneous and there is no delay between the cancelling of the noise and resumption of audio afterwards. My $.02 Nick

 

[Taipei Personality]

Actually, the Pro-Ears and Peltors use different types of circuitry, which is one of the reasons the Pro-Ears are more expensive. The Peltors clip the loud noise, i.e., they shut off completely when the threshold is reached. The Pro-Ears attenuate the loud noise, i.e., they lower the volume of the noise until it is below the threshold.

The result is that you can still hear noises with the Pro-Ears while gunfire is going on, just at a reduced level. With the Peltors, it is as if they are turned off completely during the instances of gun fire.

 

[RaggedClaws]

I don't know what model Peltor ones I have, but they don't shut off completely during the rifle shots (like the GG ones do). I can smoothly listen to conversation with rifle shots going off left and right, and the noise from the shots is merely attenuated while the conversation-level noise is unaffected.

 

[Taipei Personality]

Interesting. Perhaps Peltor has changed their circuitry since I bought mine. The Pro-Ears lose their only advantage, if that's the case.