Made this public service announcement style video on hearing protection and thought I’d pass it along.
Thanks. I’m all about double plugging. I wish I had when I was younger as it will catch up to you!
One of my deepest regrets is a failure to more carefully protect my hearing when I was younger. Now, I never, NEVER fire a shot without muffs at least and better plugs. Beware, muffs may not be enough for sustained shooting of loud guns.
Yup, and I should have mentioned that if you are shooting at an indoor range, this is even more of a concern and problem.
Anyone shooting with only muff is making a big mistake, and if that is all you have on at an indoor range…
Well, like I said, start saving now for the hearing aids you are going to need when you get to be in your forties or fifties.
I’m glad you posted that. Among all the great advice you can get here on this forum, it seems like hearing protection is given little concern.
New shooters need to understand that they will ruin their hearing without protection. I don’t understand why some here suggest it’s ok to shoot without it ( such as screw on a suppressor and let 'er roll ).
Then it occurred to me that those making that claim have probably already lost a significant bit of their hearing.
Here’s a basic hearing test if anyone is interested.
http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/hearing.html
At 30, my hearing of conversations in crowded rooms is crap. My guess is years of loud music in a confined space…my car. I pay close attention to use ear pro when I go shooting. Good tip on the double plugging.
I’m going to start double plugging. The PWS brake on my SCAR17 has caused (so far) permanent tinnitus in my right ear. I’ve had it for several months now, and it shows no signs of abating.
Excellent advice.
I suffer from tinnitus (ringing in the ears) which is unrelated to shooting but, nonetheless, makes one appreciate good hearing and the need to protect it.
I had a scare this past summer due to standing next to some guy with a SCAR 16 with the PWS comp for two days. I didn’t even realize it had hurt my ears, just that it was annoying as hell. I went in for a normal check up, and had my doctor check my hearing because two days prior I shot Grants suppressed MK18 without earpro. Said I had some serious hearing loss in my left ear. Recommended me to an audiologist.
Last week I went to the audiologist and he told me I’m fine. Needless to say I’m definitely going to be more careful from now on.
During my college years, all those nights spent boozing at clubs, dancing with the throngs of young ladies to the sound of Ultra high volume dance music has given me tinnitus that is permanent. Total regret on my part. Now that I am older, I work in an environment that can be extremely loud (jet engine noise) and therefore I wear moldable ear plugs ALL the time. The plugs I use have an NRR of 29db and they work very well. I want to save what I have left. Indoor shooting=moldable ear plugs plus muffs. Outdoor shooting= one or the other except when the range is crowded, then its time to double up. Great video, thanks for posting.
I still live with ringing in my ears being around a Abrams Main gun going off with out hearing protection big mistake on my part:suicide2:
Me too and it sucks.
I’ve been using the surefire EP3’s and electronic muffs together. Since the ringing started a couple years ago I’ve been MUCH more proactive in hearing protection. Wish I would’ve been more concerned years ago.
Two comments. First, not all ear protection is the same. I rely mostly on muffs, but I have NRR 29db muffs from Howard Leight - vs. around 20 NRR for typical muffs. Every bit helps. Some earplugs are only in the low 20’s while the best foam ones are up at 33db NRR. The decibel scale is logarithmic so a 10db difference means 10 times more noise, and a 3db difference is twice as much noise. In other words, 33db NRR is twice as good as 30db NRR, and 23db is only one-tenth as good as 33db.
Second, hearing loss does not primarily come from direct physical damage, but from cell death caused by chemical changes from the noise exposure. There are studies indicating that keeping your body topped up with certain vitamins and antioxidants can largely prevent hearing loss related to short-term exposure. See:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070328111138.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090212093704.htm
I believe there was also a US Army study on the same thing but I can’t find it right now. Let me emphasize, THIS IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR HEARING PROTECTION. However, for someone who’s doing a lot of shooting, every bit helps, and I would include good vitamins and/or good diet in your hearing protection list, along with plugs and muffs.
Ever since I stepped-up my anti-oxidant vitamin consumption, my hearing loss stopped. I have an annual physical.
If you see me popping pills at a class, you now know what I am doing.
Exact same thing happend to me. They called the range hot on the radio and did not bother to tell the range support.
I’ve suffered hearing loss from my time in service (firefights, being mortared) Needless to say, I never shoot with out earpro now.
Too easy to protect it. too easy to lose it.
I had a Russian M44 go off next to my head at a range once. I had a ringing in my ear for a solid week. Needless to say hearing in that ear is at 10% now. This is what happens when you remove your protection for a second to hear a conversation during live fire. I regret it over and over again.
This has been a big deal for me with my two boys (7 & 9) when we go shooting. No firearms are fired without eye and ear pro on. They are very good about wearing their protection now, but did give me some grief early on. I remember my 9 yr old complaining about wearing the eye pro and on the very next round the spent casing hit him in his safety glasses. I couldn’t have planned it any better.
If you had only popped a few of the right vitamins in the following 24 hours. If I had known on that tank range in 1994 what I know today.
I’ve got permanent tinnitus in my right ear from shooting my AR with only surefire plugs in. When I was out in the open they worked fine but as soon as I was shooting in any sort of enclosed area they didn’t seem to work very well.:suicide2: I now double up on ear protection and wish I was smart enough to do so from the beginning.