Hearing Loss

[Galeth005]

Hearing loss is a huge problem wherever you have guns going bang and a set of eardrums nearby. Police departments, the military and causual shooters all suffer permanent hearing loss over time. In SD situations in the home it is a wise decision to have a pair of good electronic earmuffs right next to your gun. This story came out just a week or two ago regards the military coming back from the mid east....read the entire story...

Um i dont know about you but when someone or something is in my house, i want all of my sense active to seek out the intruder and eliminate said threat.  so earmuffs? that's a negative,

[Hazcat]

Walker Game ears

[Pathfinder]

Badgers, I think you might have the wrong impression here. We all have varying degrees of experience, and your experience can and probably should differ from anyone else's. We do not try to make it personal but yes, sometimes it is, or at least comes across that way.

Hopefully that sets you to rights about the folks here - we can all learn from each other in so many ways. That is why I am here.

[r_w]

Walker Game ears

+1  BIONIC HEARING!  (yes I am shouting on purpose).  Anything to give you an advantage.

Who was it that said "If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck" ??  Sounds like a pretty good modern intrepetation of the art of war.

[tombogan03884]

 Always wear hearing protection if you will be shooting, Electronic ear muffs are less expensive than hearing aids and more convenient than saying "WHAT?" all the time. I started shooting when I was about 9, I never even HEARD of wearing ear protection until I got into the Marines. Then I spent 8 years running CNC punch presses even WITH ear plugs the cumulative damage of 110+ decibels has left me with 50% hearing loss in my GOOD ear, the other one is 75%.
And that constant ringing gets annoying.

[Sponsor]

[Hazcat]

Always wear hearing protection if you will be shooting, Electronic ear muffs are less expensive than hearing aids and more convenient than saying "WHAT?" all the time. I started shooting when I was about 9, I never even HEARD of wearing ear protection until I got into the Marines. Then I spent 8 years running CNC punch presses even WITH ear plugs the cumulative damage of 110+ decibels has left me with 50% hearing loss in my GOOD ear, the other one is 75%.
And that constant ringing gets annoying.

HUH? 

[MikeBjerum]

From a lifetime of loud engines, chain saws, farm equipment, loud stereos, loud farm animals, hunting, and a multitude of other assaults on my ears I feel like I'm closing the gate after the cows are out when I put on the "ears."  However, with the first word of response being "huh" most of the time I feel the need to protect what I have left.

All that aside, I'm not going to worry about going deaf over shooting a handful of shots in an enclosed space if it means protecting life ... mine or someone else's.

[Badgersmilk]

I'm not sure myself about ever using the muff's for home defense...  I happen to have ones that amplify normal sounds, and cut out anything loud (like the game ear's do).  Thinking about it, I guess they could help in home defense, but at least the ones I have throw off my depth perception of sounds.  Its harder to tell where the sounds came from and how far away it was.  A potentially deadly change when your in the dark facing a potentially armed adversary.
In just about any other civilian situation I HIGHLY recommend everyone get the best protection you can fit in the budget!  From what I've seen, brand names dont mean much, look for the stats!  Muffs OR plugs, my advise would be look for 30db reduction or better!  Some muffs over $300 still only reduce by 23db.! 

I'd bet many people will suprise themselves with the improvement in their groups at the range by wearing double protection! 

Especially when that one guy is there popping off rounds from what sounds like a cannon...  You know him!

[Texas_Bryan]

In my experience, while hunting dove every shotgun blast is ringing ears, if only for 20 seconds, I don't wear protection in the field.  But while hunting deer, even with a .270 rifle I've never experienced ringing ears, ever, I shoot get up and can hear fine.  I attribute this to adrenaline, dove hunting is so repetitive that you don't get that same rush as shooting a deer, and I don't think you can begin to compare the noise level of a 12 gauge to a .270.  Is it possible that you adrenaline level protects you from those effects, or does it just stop your ears from ringing, is the damage being done even though its not perceivable.  I wouldn't bet my hearing that it isn't, but I wouldn't be worried about firing a weapon in the house on one occasion to protect myself.  Any possibility that wearing protection hampers my ability to combat an intruder isn't worth it, what the worst that could happen, you save your family and you but you got to yell across the dinner table from then on.  Hell, I do enough yelling now that it wouldn't make a difference.

[Timothy]

Is it possible that you adrenaline level protects you from those effects, or does it just stop your ears from ringing, is the damage being done even though its not perceivable. 

The damage is done, just at a frequency that's above or below your perceived spectrum of hearing.  I get tested twice yearly because of my job and believe me, I lose hearing every year because of age, environment, etc...we can only prevent acute hearing loss by protecting ourselves.