Hearing protection....

[Ivy Mike]

I am young and

I have shot a lot without ear muffs
...Worked on loud cars
...Work in a very noisy job.

My hearing is pretty bad for someone my age and I'm only 22.

I have a constant quiet ring in my ears and have a lot of trouble making out what folks are saying with background noise present. My GF gets mad sometimes when I ask her two and three times to repeat herself. Wear you hearing protection.
I always do and wish I had started when I started shooting and dinking around with cars.

 

[benEzra]

This thread was prompted by a concern a friend of mine expressed just recently. She has been shooting for a little over a year and after spending the 26th at a fun shoot with quite a few folks that had been shooting awhile (and having to say things more than once, more than once) she expressed concern about her own hearing.

I'm 34 and have been shooting firearms for almost twenty years, always with hearing protection. I have excellent hearing (good enough that it bugs my wife sometimes; I can sometimes hear both sides of the conversation when she's on the phone) and zero tinnitus. I've fired maybe five shots (all .22) in my entire life without "ears" on.

When shooting at the range (even outdoors), I always wear both plugs AND muffs. Makes the shooting much more pleasant, and better for one's ears. When the range goes cold, I take off the muffs but leave the plugs in; you can still hear range commands, etc. since you are used to the quiet.

The other thing I worry about though is for shooters that have never shot without protection... what happens when they are involved in a home defense type shooting and hear their gun without hearing protection the first time. Will the unexpected loudness disrupt any chance of quick sight reattainment?

I can't speak from experience on this, but I can't imagine that it would be a problem, and I've never heard of any such instances.

 

[Wedge]

There was a mention about auditory exclusion while hunting, not hearing the shot, actually you heard the shot you just weren't paying any attention to it, this is a well known phenomena in self defense related shootings. It is important to point out that even though your mind ignored the sound of the shot, your ears will sustain the damage from the noise!

Good point g56!

I know I stated that I never heard the shots but the pressure was still there. Unfortunately (well fortunately for my ears) I have not had a whole lot of luck with hunting so I have probably only taken about 8 or 10 shots without hearing protection. I do plan on getting some of the in the ear electronic protection at some point.

The auditory exclusion is real though and even though I have very sensative ears I don't think I have to worry about being scared by the sound if I ever need to shoot defensively.

 

[hso]

I have tennitus in my right ear from not having worn hearing protection in my teens and early 20's working with chainsaws, mowers, string trimmers and shooting. Since then I've learned my lesson and insist on hearing protection when around any "noisey" situations. I wear plugs with the maximum protection value (NRR > 28) and electronic muffs now in hopes of keeping the hearing I have left and preventing the "ringing" from getting worse.

Whenever you work with any equipment that requires you to raise your voice above a comfortable private conversational level you should probably break out the hearing protetion.

All loud sounds will cause damage to your hearing if "loud" enough and exposure is long enough. Recent studies carried out here, Australia, and Europe have shown that daily exposure at the current max regulated level of 85 dBA may not be safe and that 75 dBA may be the new safe day in day out exposure level. To give you an idea, 75 dBA is about the noise level in a large busy office.

 

[Daemon688]

I'm 19. The only times I don't wear hearing protection is when I'm hunting. At the range I only wear plugs because the ear muffs bother me. Recently I've noticed that conversations I have with people involve a lot of "huh?" or "what did you say?" or "I can't hear you". :banghead:

 

[dairycreek]

Been shooting for over 40 years!

I have always used hearing protection and now, at 68, my hearing is perfect. My vison sucks though Years ago many of my shooting buddies made fun of me wearing ear protection (sometimes it was just the filters from cigarettes jammed in my ears) but now many of them have experienced severe hearing loss. Check out my signature. It is really important

 

[ChiefPilot]

For me, I think it really depends on the weapon and the environment. A .22 in an indoor range is LOUD. My .30 carbine, out in the middle of snow covered trees, isn't. I wouldn't try it with a pistol, however, or a magnum rifle, however.