Electronic Earmuffs

[Frankingun]

I've been thinking of getting a pair. For those of you who have used them, which do like or dislike, and why?

[Aglifter]

I have a pair of Howard Leichts which are an improvement over my old Peltors, but I have no idea about new ones - TMK, its an area where there are rapid improvements. My old Peltors are OK, they just clip out more, and make it harder to hear in a match.

I now use a pair of custom molded ear plugs from my audiologist and electronic muffs - but I also shoot open... (If you haven't heard of them, there's a band called "Sleigh Bells" which sounds just like shooting open - loud and happy.

[Ben Rumson]

I don't care much for my Peltor's but I have nothing to compare them against..

They produce a lot of background hiss that I once thought was water running in the bullet trap until I shot outdoors with them.

[HTRN]

There are lot of other brands too - Pro Ears, Dillon, Altus..

Overstock.com has alot of them - Notably the Harold Leight Impact Sport for 52 bucks - see here

[Denis]

With electronic earmuffs, you get what you pay for.

I have some no-name ones that were on sale for $19.95 at Midway. Meh. Much clipping.

My Howard Leight Impact Sports were $59.95 on sale a few years ago, and they still sell at that price. They're not bad outdoors, but quickly get overwhelmed by reverberations in an indoor range.

Now I wear MSA Sordin Supreme Pros. No problems indoors. Outdoors, turn up the volume, and you can hear the gnats fart and the deer stalking through long grass.

I'm seriously considering getting some moulded to the ear ones for hunting. I love the Sordins, but it's inconvenient to wear earmuffs and a hat and a scarf in the cold. With the fitted ones in the ear, you can wrap up normally.

Here's a review of a few brands.

[Netpackrat]

I have a set of Peltors, and I found that they are great for shooting, but no so good for working on the ramp around aircraft, because of the way they amplify everything below a certain decibel threshold. The air conditioning packs on a 747 are below that threshold... Not pleasant.

[Erik]

I have the MSA Sordin Pro-X. If I turn up the volume I can hear .22 casings hit the ground at over 15ft away. I was recommended the Pro-X since some people have had problems with the regular Pro version when it rains a lot. I've heard that Peltors and MSA Sordins are pretty much the same quality, so it's mostly just personal preference between them. The MSA Sordin is supposed to work better with glasses on, but I really dont know since I havent tried Peltors.

I highly recommend them. They might not be perfect for all situations as described by others, but for most shooting they're great. And it's easy to turn them off when you want it more quiet, and turn them on when you want to hear better. Great when you're at a busy range with several people shooting at the same time close by.

[Combat Controller]

I like my Peltors except there is no auto off after 4 hours and the knobs can get knocked on pretty easy, my batteries die frequently so I don't always have amplification.

[Denis]

I do miss my custom ear mold comset. When I got out of the AF I priced a new set... and then looked elsewhere.

You had to give those back? It's not as if someone else could use them...

[blackeagle603]

With electronic earmuffs, you get what you pay for.

I have some no-name ones that were on sale for $19.95 at Midway. Meh. Much clipping.

Amen. Preach it. They're useless for me. I have to take out my hearing aides to wear earmuffs or they whistle like crazy. I paid up for a better pair on a Camofire deal. What's the brand with the stylized duck's head? Anyway they actually amplify to a useful level for me (I esp like finally hearing a bit on the trap range).