Hearing Protection
Along with eye protection, proper hearing protection is a
must for shooting sports. Without proper hearing protection, the repeated
loud noises associated with shooting sports will certainly lead to long term
hearing loss. Hearing protection is typically available in two different versions:
Passive Hearing Protection - Has no electronic
sound dampening technology. Passive hearing protection uses traditional earmuff
or earplug designs to muffle the sound to an acceptable level. Passives tend
to be less expensive, but offer less protect versus electronic hearing protection.
Electronic Hearing Protection - Combines traditional
earmuff design with sound damping technology to minimize the sound to an acceptable
level. Electronic hearing protection typically has an external speaker that
picks up the sound, measures it, and then dampens it to a non-harmful level
in a a fraction of a second. Most electronic hearing protection units also have
the ability to filter out non-harmful sounds so that the shooter can typically
talk and hear people with the unit engaged. Another advantage of electronic
hearing protection involves sound enhancement. Select electronic hearing protection
units serve to protect the hearing, but also have a feature that enhances sounds
around the shooter. This is especially helpful for various types of hunting.
For obvious reasons, electronic hearing protection tends to be more expensive
than passive protection, but offers many more features and advantages.
Take a look at some of the passive and electronic hearing protection
units that we offer below.
