In-Ear Hearing Protection

[Thread Savage]

I’ve already got several nice sets of over-the ear muffs, and I’m sure they’re rated appropriately for what I do, but with the advent of ear buds for hearing protection, I feel like my Sordin’s are bulky overkill most of the time. I’m wondering what you’d say is the latest, greatest, “Cadillac” of ear bud style in-ear hearing protection.

Price is not an issue. I’m looking (or “hoping”) to find a respected brand that offers the following features:

>Ambient pass-thru + adjustable amplification of environmental sounds
>Suitable for “low volume” target practice with unsuppressed high powered rifles (typical whitetail hunting loads). Will not be used in an indoor range or with full auto’s or even semi autos with dozens of rounds going down range in a hurry by any means.
>Suitable for use inside of a deer blind (with the muzzle outside of the blind of course)

Now I’m gonna get greedy with these next features, but I’d really like to also have:
>Bluetooth connectivity
>Rechargeable with standard USB connections
>The ability for the case to hold a charge similar to Apple air buds would be another big plus

If all of these are limited to pistol ratings by nature, and what I’m searching for is inherently unsafe, just let me know.
Thanks

 

[Nine Banger]

“Cadillac”

Price is not an issue.

ESP Apex

 

[Bluefish]

I’ve already got several nice sets of over-the ear muffs, and I’m sure they’re rated appropriately for what I do, but with the advent of ear buds for hearing protection, I feel like my Sordin’s are bulky overkill most of the time. I’m wondering what you’d say is the latest, greatest, “Cadillac” of ear bud style in-ear hearing protection.

Price is not an issue. I’m looking (or “hoping”) to find a respected brand that offers the following features:

>Ambient pass-thru + adjustable amplification of environmental sounds
>Suitable for “low volume” target practice with unsuppressed high powered rifles (typical whitetail hunting loads). Will not be used in an indoor range or with full auto’s or even semi autos with dozens of rounds going down range in a hurry by any means.
>Suitable for use inside of a deer blind (with the muzzle outside of the blind of course)

Now I’m gonna get greedy with these next features, but I’d really like to also have:
>Bluetooth connectivity
>Rechargeable with standard USB connections
>The ability for the case to hold a charge similar to Apple air buds would be another big plus

If all of these are limited to pistol ratings by nature, and what I’m searching for is inherently unsafe, just let me know.
Thanks

In ear protection tops out in the mid 20 db range. So 25-27 db of protection. That just gets most rifles down to under 140 or 1-3 shots per day noise dose. You need something that seals the ear canal and then electronically amplifies the sound. Active noise cancellation doesn’t work for impulse noise like gunshots. It has to be low frequency and repetitive for the active noise to work.

I use Westone defendear, aka cens. They use hearing aid batteries which last 2-3 day. Also don’t have any of the features you want other than amplify ambient. Also not cheap. About 1k as they are custom They do not provide enough protection for me for indoor range use or standing next to an AR doing a mag dump. For those cases I wear double protection, electric muffs and solid plugs underneath. With that said, I do like them for hunting.

 

[wapitibob]

After losing my hearing I now use electronics and plugs at the range if rifle is braked, plugs when hunting.