Took my 4 year old to the rifle range for the first time today. Graduated from back yard pellet rifle to 22lr! Yeah!
Problem was my ear muffs were too big for his head and he couldn’t get a good cheek weld and sight picture. A good sight picture meant that his ear muffs were not ideally placed for effective noise protection. My foam plugs were also too big for his ear canal.
Ideas on low profile muffs??
My son is a little older but my ear pros had the same problem. I picked him up a pair of Winchester electronic ear muffs at Walmart and they worked for him.
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This is the set up I use for my son:
https://www.amazon.com/Peltor-Sport-Earmuffs-Black-Small/dp/B000I7NX5E
Replaced the Peltor foam with Noisefighters gel pads which are more comfortable and conform better:
https://noisefighters.com/products/sightlines1
And use them over silicone ear plugs which don’t go into the ear canal (NRR 22 db):
https://www.amazon.com/Macks-Pillow-Soft-Silicone-Earplugs/dp/B003LZQGN6
Thanks guys for the advice. He is excited and definitely wants to go again. I could tell we were going to have a problem when the guys a few benches down began using something bigger than 22lr and every report distracted him.
I have a set of these for my daughter. She was 3 when I first bought them and she’s 5-1/2 now. They work great.
What do you guys think of electronic ear muffs? That way he can hear guidance from me and commands from RO. Are the electronic muffs still too bulky?
What I plan to do with my infant son in the future, is similar to recommendations above but with Howard Leight Impact Sports and gel pads. I’ve found that first time shooters appreciate doubling up on hearing protection but have difficulty hearing verbal instructions. Electronic ears over plugs gives them the overall NRR protection but amplifies verbal instructions to a hearable level so I can communicate with them more easily.
In my experience, electronic ear muffs did not work for my son, but YMMV. I have Sordin, Peltor and Howard Leight electronic ear muffs that did not fit my son. The back of his head/neck is so skinny that they wouldn’t seal. I just talk louder and he can still hear me through the doubled-up ear plugs and muffs. I always stay close to him and when I need him to hear me, I’m talking 6 inches from his ears.
I spent a lot of time at home teaching him firearm safety, handling, how to load/unload etc before we even went to the range (progressing from dummy gun to airsoft gun to pellet gun). IMHO, the only thing that should be a ‘first time’ for the range should be firing live rounds. Everything else including sight alignment/trigger control can be explained at home where it’s quiet and distraction-free. All that prep time really paid off. The first time he was at the range, other shooters were watching him and commented on how well he handled the pistols (with a minimum of instruction from me, but me staying very close behind), and how safe he was. They were really surprised when I told them that it was his first time ever shooting a gun.
That brings up one of my pet peeves that I see at many public ranges - putting a live weapon in the hands of someone who has never even handled an empty one.
Not muffs, but these are smaller than standard.
From experience riding loud motorcycles, how you insert a foam ear plug is everything. Don’t twist it, just smash it into as thin a shape as possible. Reach over your head and gently pull up on you earlobe as you plug it. It helps if the plug is wet…and a little devil’s lube, aka spit, works wonders. Just smoosh the plug, and pop it in your mouth, then ear. Hold it until it expands.
For new shooters, especially at an indoor range, double ear pro is HUGE. Foamies and cups if possible. IME, the big problem with muffs is that eye pro will interfere with them and break the seal. I can see this being a bigger problem on kids. Finding them properly fitting eye pro will go a long way.
For what it’s worth, I wear both ear plugs and muffs that have NO sound adjustment capability. As a youngster (15) I wore no ear protection either in shooting or motorcycle riding. I kept doing that until entering military service at age 18 where we had to wear ear plug at the range. Started wearing ear plugs after that, except when motorcycle riding. At around age 53 my hearing started going south as a result of my own stupidity as a youngster and now some 15 yrs later I only have about 45% of my hearing left. So beware all…there is a price to pay if you don’t protect your hearing.
Very good point that I forgot to mention. That’s why I put gel pads on my kid’s Peltors; the firmer OEM foam pads don’t seal as well over the eye protection temples. By the way, I also come from about 20+ years of riding motorcycles, and always wore ear plugs under my helmet (molded silicone plugs - more comfortable than foamies for me).
As for myself, I always double up with plugs under my electronic ear muffs; whether shooting indoors or out. I have some tinnitus from the years of shooting in my youth with only foam ear plugs because I didn’t know any better.
I’m glad the OP cares. I have mild to moderate hearing loss in my right ear from childhood. Mostly because of a bad doctor, but that’s a different story. I’m only 27.
I’m so paranoid about my hearing, I almost gave up shooting. The first time I shot a 50 cal, the blast/movement of the rifle pushed off the earpro on my right ear. Luckily it didn’t have an impact on my hearing. Since, I started doubling up and will continue to do so. I am currently looking at upgrading my earpro setup, but custom molded ear pro, electronic? I’m not sure where to start.
With kids especially, be careful with the earpro that sticks in their ears as it’s pretty easy for kids to get ear infections.
EDIT: Noisefighter gel cups claim to help with eyepro breaking the seal of the earpro. I am waiting for a review from someone I trust like MM. I’m thinking of getting a pair myself.
Time to visit Amazon. I really appreciate everyone’s help. My 4 year old just asked when we are going out again. He wasn’t discouraged.
If you are young and don’t want to end up with profound hearing loss like I have along with the others who posted here, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS use hearing protection. And if I may, lather on the SPF 50 —this is from a guy who is social security/medicare eligible, has 2 Re-Sound aids at a not so cheap 2k EACH, had multiple sun induced cancerous and pre-cancerous lesions removed and now has religion!
When I was young you never wore ear gear and laughed at the ringing after 100 rounds of 12 gauge at the skeet range. You also used iodine in baby oil to potentiate the sun–can you say stupid.
Now we live with the consequences.
Be smarter than I was.
Order placed. Thank you!!
The Noisefighter gel cups work the same as the Peltor or Sordin gel cups, except that they have a relief at the top on which your eyeglass temples sit (if you choose). Either way, gel cups work better than foam cups (in my experience) over eyewear temples. I did a writeup on the Noisefighters here: http://www.militarymorons.com/equipment/headwear3.html#sightlines
OP - I forgot that I had an illustration in the above review (at the bottom) that shows how small the different ear muffs adjust to, and why the Howard Leights did not work for my kid.
You’re too ****ing cool.
Now, if only you could convince my wife of that…