3M Peltor Sport RangeGuard Review – 2024

Our Comprehensive Review Of The Peltor Sport RangeGuard RG-OTH-4

Nowadays, it’s not hard to get good quality electronic hearing protection without breaking the bank. There are a lot of manufacturers making very similar sets of hearing protection nowadays.

Because of this, it can be tricky to figure out which one you should buy. While many sets of hearing protectors are very similar, there are a number of important differences between each pair. Consider the Sport RangeGuard by 3M Peltor.

Features And Benefits At A Glance

*21 dB Noise Reduction rating (NRR).

*Ideal for both indoor and outdoor shooters and hunters

*Suppresses gunshot noise to protect hearing while amplifying voices for clear communication

*Low profile cup design proven to work with shotguns & rifles

*Easy-access battery door with tether (Runs on 2 AAA batteries)

*Re-engineered headband for comfort and fit.

*Single On/Off/Volume control balances volume levels in both cups.

*Durable, recessed microphones prevent damage and reduce wind noise.

*4-hour auto shut-off and low battery warning.

*3.5 mm Audio Input Jack compatible with most MP3 players and 2-way radios.

Detailed Operation And Features

The Peltor Sport RangeGuard is one of my favorite sets of electronic hearing protectors. It’s lightweight in terms of both actual weight and noise dampening.

It offers low profile ear cups that won’t interfere with your shooting. Most importantly, however, it’s the most comfortable set of low-cost electronic earmuffs I’ve tried lately.

Batteries And Battery Life

The Peltor Sport RangeGuard operates off of two AAA batteries, are nestled in a single compartment in one ear of the ear cups. It’s got a 4-hour auto-shutoff feature, meaning that the headset will auto shut off when idle for a certain period of time. This, in turn, conserves battery power.

The battery life seems comparable to other sets of earmuffs on the market today, which is to say that you’ll hardly ever have to change out the batteries. This is always a plus when it comes to any portable electronic device.

Noise Reduction, Sound Features, And Sound Quality

Regarding the noise reduction, the RangeGuard is on the low end. 21 dB of noise reduction is often not enough for high caliber or indoor shooting. That said, it’s not a big deal to put on some earplugs under the RangeGuard, giving you more protection than you’ll need.

The internal speaker system will still work to help increase your situational awareness, although it won’t be quite as effective. If you’re shooting smaller guns outside, however, the Peltor RangeGuard should be adequate on its own.

The electronics in the RangeGuard aren’t as fancy as the ones in Peltor’s other earmuffs, but they still have better sound than at least one other leading brand. There’s a recessed microphone in each earmuff to give you true stereo sound.

While you can’t adjust cutoff levels or suppression time, these still operate off of a compression circuit rather than one that simply clips. This means you’ll be able to hear more things in more detail more quickly after a shot is fired.

Actual audio quality while at the range is impressive. I’m not sure if these Peltors are better than other low-cost alternatives or if I’m still not used to being able to hear things through my protective gear.

Regardless, it’s easy to have a conversation or listen for noise cues while you’re wearing these. Because the microphones are recessed, you don’t have to worry about accidentally bumping them into things or breaking them.

Like most of the competition, the Peltor Rangeguard’s have a line-in jack so you can plug in a mp3 player or phone. Unfortunately, the compression circuit isn’t automatically disabled when you plug one of these in.

This means you’ll experience a duck in your music or podcast if someone shoots a gun nearby. Personally, I only use the mp3 jack when I’m doing chores around the house, so this isn’t an issue.

Comfortability

The best feature of the RangeGuards is definitely how comfortable they are. There’s a remarkable difference between wearing these and wearing a set of Howard Leights

The ear seals are made out of a soft material that seems to block sound extremely effectively while cushioning your head. Coupled with a well-designed band and a very low overall weight, you’ll hardly notice that you have your RangeGuards on.

When not in use, the earmuffs fold down to a small package easily and seem to be pretty durable.

Overall And Final Thoughts

So should you buy the Peltor Sport RangeGuard over a set of… let’s say, the Howard Leight Impact Sports? Personally, I’d say yes. While the Peltors can be a bit more expensive (depending on where you purchase them), they’re much more comfortable if comfortability is important to you.

I’ve been told by many range instructors that the best set of hearing protectors isn’t the set that blocks the most noise, it’s the set you’ll always wear. I certainly don’t mind wearing these Peltors for several hours at a time.

They’re certainly not worse than the Howard Leights. In fact, most of the features (battery life, mp3 plug in, noise reduction rating, cup design, etc.) are almost identical.

Overall, I think the Peltor RangeGuards are a great choice for most shooters. They’re perfectly adequate for most outdoor shooting and shooting smaller calibers indoors on their own, and you can pair them up with some ear plugs whenever you need to.

The electronic features help you stay in touch with your surroundings while you shoot. Most importantly, they’re extremely comfortable, meaning you’ll keep your head and ears feeling great while you shoot.

 

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