Protect Your Hearing While Hunting
Although it's not a popular matter among hunters and shooters, adequate hearing protection is an absolute necessity. Regrettably, many shooters and hunters don't realize this until they've already suffered some hearing damage. Ear protection wasn't important to me until I discovered that I had suffered some hearing loss in my early 30's. Since I don't listen to loud music, and most of the loss was in my left ear, my physician attributes it to the hunting and shooting I did when I was younger.
According to the American Academy of Otolaryngology (AAO), exposure to noise at or above the 80 to 85 decibels (dB) range can cause damage to the ear. The damage itself comes about when the loud sound injures the sensitive nerve endings in the inner ear. The louder the sound or longer the exposure to the sound, the more harm takes place.
Now that the importance of hearing protection for shooters has been demonstrated, let's talk about choosing the best style of hearing protection for your needs. Since not all types of hearing protection are the same, I'd recommend basing your purchasing decision on a combination of facts and price. I wouldn't automatically go for the lowest priced or cheapest solution as some of the less expensive models of hearing protection may only offer minimal protection.
You would think purchasing some type of hearing protection would be pretty easy, but there are a number of different types of hearing protection available along with various levels of protection. The purpose of this article is to provide some background information on the various types of hearing protection, along with some recommendations.
For the most part, hearing protection for shooting sports can broken down into a couple of different categories: passive ear plugs, passive hearing protection, and electronic hearing protection.
Let's a take a moment to talk about each one of these different styles of hearing protection in detail:
Passive Ear Plugs - These are basically soft plugs that are usually made from plastic or some type of foam based material. These plugs are placed into the ear opening and they serve to dampen any loud noise that the ear is exposed to. They are known as "passive" because these plugs don't utilize any electronic technology that damper sound. Ear plugs are by far the least expensive form of hearing protection, but do they really work well? The noise is muffled a bit, but can still be quite loud. When I was younger, I can remember using ear plugs of this type when dove hunting; and I can still remember how bad my ears rang after a full day of hunting. I'm sure the plugs helped out some, but they really didn't protect my ears as well as they should have been protected.
Passive Hearing Protection - This style generally consists of ear muffs that have a cup which encompasses the entire ear. The muffs are usually attached by a headband or headpiece of some type. Like the passive ear plugs, this style won't have the electronic noise dampening device. The ear muff style design is nice as the cup has a seal that protects the entire ear from the sound versus the ear plugs which only partially protect the ear canal itself. Most ear muff models have the ability to be adjusted, although some of the less expensive ear muff models may not have this feature. Unfortunately, ear muffs of this design dampen all sound, so the wearer can't hear anyone talking or any other important sounds.
Electronic Hearing Protection - This design incorporates an ear muff style and integrates it with electronic technology that dampens the sound down to a level that isn't harmful to the human ear. The entire sound dampening action takes place faster than the blink of an eye as the suppressed sound is transferred to the wearer almost instantly. The best feature of electronic hearing protection is the power to hear everything that is going on around you while you are shooting. In many situations, such as on the range, during training, or while hunting; this can be a tremendous benefit. Of course, due to the technology required, electronic hearing protection tends to be the most expensive all the hearing protection devices. A number of the higher end electronic models may have other features such as a separate volume adjustment for each side of the ear muffs, enhanced adjustability, a battery saver feature to conserve battery use, and ambient sound magnification. The ambient sound magnification is a great feature for hunters as it amplifies sound to a level that is far greater than the naked ear can hear. At the same time, the augmented sound is immediately dampened when a shot is fired.
So how do you choose which style to buy? Evaluate your specific needs and match that up to the most appropriate above. On a personal note, I wouldn't advocate the basic passive ear plugs. Although they are certainly better than nothing, they provide only minimal protection. If you only shoot now and again or don't have the demand for the added capability of an electronic style, basic passive ear muffs will most likely work just fine. If you are a active shooter or hunter, the electronic models can be a outstanding purchase with all their added features. I changed from passive earphones to an electronic model years ago, and I've never once regretted it. At the end of the day, the decision really comes down to your own individual preferences and needs.
For more information on hearing protection for shooters, visit Electronic Hearing Protection as it's an good resource on this topic.
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