I need some recommendations for the most effective passive muffs. I always double up ear pro but still manage to leave the rifle range with my ears ringing more than than usually do(tinnitus sucks kids).


Hearing damage is cumulative and I'd like to do everything I can to mitigate against it short of not using my rifles. I'm 43 and can't fall asleep without the tv, radio, fan... anything to drown out the ringing. I'd like to not be a sleepless zombie if I get to be an old man.


I'm currently use 3M E-A-Rsoft FX 33nrr foam plugs and Pro Fo Sho passive muffs from Amazon. I tried a set of electronic muffs but they don't seem fast enough to tame the initial crack of a round.


TIA

I use Walkers and silencers.

In for a good pair with Bluetooth. To hunt and cut grass with. I use Walkers electronics currently.

You get what you pay for with electronic muffs. Most people are happy with Howard Leight Impact Sports but most people aren’t in your situation.

I have moderate to severe tinnitus in both ears at different frequencies, along with idiopathic hearing loss of 27% in one ear and 33% in the other ear. I’m over ten years younger than you too. I was equally concerned and wanted great protection but also needed comfort as I RO at times so wear them up to 8 hours at a time.

I decided on Axil Custom 360 in ear. I bought mine a few years ago and now they offer Bluetooth as well but mine don’t have that. They do have tinnitus masking which is awesome. You can hear folks perfectly fine and they cut out noise instantly anything over 86 decibels I think. I wish mine had Bluetooth but they are still great. I’d buy them again in a heartbeat.

If you don’t need the same level of comfort they make Bluetooth models that look very similar to around the neck headphones, and they are very reasonably priced.

No one else with tinnitus? On a shooting forum?

These are the ones I was referencing to. If I wanted a cheaper pair with Bluetooth, I'd go with these:

Thanks!

I just learned to live with it. Use the natural stuff to sleeping pills to get some sleep. Seems the more tired you are, the worst it gets.

I suffer from tinnitus bad.  What you need is some sort of white noise or some sound to off set the EEEEEEE.  I have a set of Howard Leight electronic ear muffs I use with ear plugs.  It amplifies the ambient noise so I am not stuck in complete silence to hear the EEEEE and cancels the rounds being discharged.  Same thing when I sleep I need some sort of white noise in the background or all I hear all night is EEEEEE so I have a Dyson fan that I run at night that is just loud enough that I do not hear the EEEE but quiet enough it does not disturb my sleep.

I have tinnitus that is bad enough where I will have a hard time hearing high end sounds.  Stupid younger days playing rock music LOUD and playing with firecrackers in enclosed spaces.  I normally double up on the hearing protection.  Ear plugs and electronic ear muffs.  I would love to have those Axil ear plugs another member mentioned earlier in this thread.

I’ll be honest...they were worth it. If you sign up for their newsletter they run some really good deals. For instance I paid $1,699 for my Custom 360s that have a regular selling price of $2,799 I think. Granted that’s a ton of cash but the 360s and above qualify as hearing aids with some insurance so you can look into that. I figure the cost of them, while high, is an investment in my future quality of life and when compared to how much I spend on my gun hobby as a whole, is a rather small investment in the absolute.

Another neat feature is you get an audiogram free when you buy and they tune them to fill in your hearing gaps. For instance if you have 12db of hearing loss at 4khz in your right ear, they will amplify that frequency by 12db in the right earplug.

I also have a pair of their XT2 electronic muffs and they were designed such that they don’t cause interference/feedback issues so you can double up and STILL hear whispering. It’s incredible. I got those free as well with a promotion when I bought mine.

If they died today I’d buy another pair immediately. They were worth every penny.

Ratings alone don't take into account the frequency response of the different units. Shooting and some kinds of noise that are heavier on the low frequencies aren't weighted very much in the ratings so just the NRR number isn't always a good indication.

I've tried numerous different models and IMO these were the most effective. They show unavailable now on Amazon, dunno if you could find them somewhere:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005ERRM4G/

This looks like the same thing under a different brand name:

https://www.amazon.com/Walkers-Range-Shooting-Folding-Muff/dp/B00AW5YFOK/

These are also very good on attenuation for shooting, they are a larger fit with larger earmuffs which may or may not work better for you.

https://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-1010927-Blocking-Earmuff-Multiple-Position/dp/B0078S3OUK/

Doubling up with plugs is a good plan.

It's my opinion based on long experience that no matter how good of hearing protection you use, that it's impossible to be truly hearing safe with a centerfire rifle without sound suppression on the firearms.

The foam ear plugs are quite effective IF inserted properly- roll up very small insert in canal and HOLD in place to allow expansion and sealing of canal.
Looking at a wearer from the front the ear plug should not be visible, and it should be fairly difficult to remove from the canal. People very often do not insert them properly offering limited effectiveness
If you have not been frequently in the position of thinking wow this plus is really in there and I am having trouble getting it out, you probably have not inserted them properly

Walker noise cancelling over ear muffs
Also foamies underneath
Mouth closed

Since 2015, silencers

I was planning on severely limiting my shooting until silencers got passed, as I still got ringing after shooting.