What’s The Best Ear Protection Available For Shooting?

Trying To Decide What The Best Ear Protection For Shooting Is?

Without taking the time to try out every single pair of earmuffs on the market, it’s hard to know what kind of hearing protection is right for you. Finding the best ear protection is important for gun enthusiasts like us for a lot of reasons. Not only does it protect our hearing, it also makes the experience of shooting much more enjoyable for many people.

Comfortable, effective ear protection keeps your ears happy, while uncomfortable earmuffs can make the outside of your ear hurt while letting in loud sounds. Because of this, it’s especially important to find quality hearing protection if you intend on shooting often.

How Do Know What Is The Right Hearing Protection For You?

So how do you find the right product? I’m a big fan of field trials. If you can, try to go to a local gun store and ask to try on a few pairs of earmuffs. Alternately, if you shoot with friends, try using their hearing protection.

Pay attention to how comfortable each pair is and take notes about features you like. With a few sessions, you’ll figure out things to look for in online products so you can make an educated decision.

Before I present my personal favorite products, here are two notes to consider:

1. Decibels Are A Logarithmic Scale

If a sound gets about 3 decibels quieter, it carries about half as much energy. This means that the difference between -37 dB and -34 dB earmuffs is actually quite large, especially when it comes to protecting your ears over long shooting sessions.

Ear plugs tend to cap out at around -28 dB, which means they let through about 10 times as much sound energy as -37 dB muffs. Be sure to use them in conjunction with external protection when possible.

2. Active Features

If you shoot socially, it’s a very good idea to look at electronic earmuffs with amplification technology. These headsets block a little bit less noise (they’re usually around -30 dB) but they have a built-in microphone and headphones built into the cups.

The microphone will pick up external noise, check it’s volume level, and then play it in the headphones if it’s safe. This means you’ll hear your friends talking to you at a more-or-less normal volume level, but you’ll still be protected against the noise of gunshots.

While the speakers and wires make these earmuffs a bit more expensive, you can plug your phone or another aux device into most of these headsets and listen to music, podcasts, or other media. I know quite a few people who use them while vacuuming or doing other loud tasks around the house.

With those in mind, here are some of my favorite ear protection products for shooting:

Professional Safety Ear Muffs by Decibel Defense

This pair of passive ear muffs comes with a whopping 34 dB of noise reduction. This is one of the highest numbers you’ll find on the market.

They’re usually quite affordable, too, so you won’t break the bank getting the absolute best in protection for your ear. It’s worth noting that they’re advertised as -37 dB; the packaging indicates that 3rd party tests place them at a bit more than 34 dB NRR.

As far as comfort is concerned, these ear muffs by Decibel Defense are great. They can fit a wide variety of heads. You’ll notice that you’re wearing them for sure, but the padding means that your ears will feel fine during long shooting sessions.

If you’re looking for a set of passive ear muffs, these are some of the best on the market.

Howard Leight Impact Pro Sound Earmuff (R-01902)

These earmuffs have electronic amplification while still managing to reduce sound by 30 decibels. With 350 hours of battery life, you’ll have enough charge to shoot an hour a day for almost an entire year.

As discussed above, electronic earmuffs like these are perfect for maintaining a more normal level of hearing while still protecting your ears. The 30 dB of passive protection offered by these earmuffs is quite high for an electronic pair, making this set one of the best on the market for protecting your ears.

The electronic amplification is a bit quiet, but it still does a very good job of relaying your friends talking or range commands while you shoot.

As far as comfort goes, the Impact Pro’s are quite good for short periods. If you’re shooting for more than an hour or two, they’ll get a bit less friendly towards your ears. You’ll still do fine, but you might want to plan to take brief breaks every couple hours while wearing these.

Overall, if you want to preserve your hearing while still being chatty on the range, the Howard Leight Impact Pro’s are one of the best sets of earmuffs you can buy.

DeftGet Earplugs

These aren’t a great single solution for hardcore shooters. The noise reduction rating of 22 dB just isn’t enough to cut out the sounds of repeated gunshots.

That said, the DeftGet Earplugs great to have in your bag. You can give these to family or friends who happen to be with you who don’t have hearing protection, especially if they’re standing a bit farther from the guns.

They’re also great as an extra layer of protection — you can put these on under your earmuffs to deaden noise even further. Given that you get two sets of earplugs for a pretty low price, it’s a good idea to have these (or a product like them) in your shooting bag.

Final Thoughts

Taking the time to learn about ear protection can certainly save your hearing. By choosing the right set of comfortable earmuffs, you’ll be able to enjoy shooting without damaging your eardrums or pinching your ears.

I think the products above are some of the best and cheapest options on the market. Starting your search with these is a great way to keep your ears safe!