Combat hearing protection

IrishCannon

IrishCannon

Fight hard.
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Is this a consideration? Do any of you have ear-pro near your HD firearm?

Anytime I shoot one of my AK's with the compact brake, the massive noise/concussion makes me think "How in the hell could I use this without ear-pro? Even if I survive a firefight I'd be deaf."
 
IrishCannon said:
Is this a consideration? Do any of you have ear-pro near your HD firearm?

Anytime I shoot one of my AK's with the compact brake, the massive noise/concussion makes me think "How in the hell could I use this without ear-pro? Even if I survive a firefight I'd be deaf."
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I think it's a lot like when hunting, you may not even hear the shot. I believe it's called "auditory exclusion"?? Some believe in it and others don't. Personally, I have never been aware of hearing the gun go off while hunting but I know it did so the damage is done whether I know it or not.... Maybe that's why I have tinnitus in my left ear....
 
It's a concern of mine too. It's one of the reasons a 7.5" 9mm AR pistol is my inside HD weapon. I can put a can on it too but it's not typically wearing one.
 
Bailey Boat said:
I think it's a lot like when hunting, you may not even hear the shot. I believe it's called "auditory exclusion"?? Some believe in it and others don't.
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Firm believer in this, though I'm not sure that an actual combat situation would be the same. When hunting though I can't ever remember a time when a gun going off bothered me
 
I have my impact pro by howard leight right next to my bedroom pistol.
You can hear if somebody is outside the bedroom door.
Foam ear protection is a good idea.

update: I have whole home central station alarm system, very loud,
I will know if somebody gets inside before making it up to the second floor bedrooms.
I'm staying put in master bedroom with wife as she calls 911 as backup to alarm co.
I will let the threat come to me, the police can clear my house.
 
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I may need my sense of hearing in an emergency and picking up hearing protection may be pretty low on the priority list at a moment as such..... but I see your point. I couldn't imagine the noise from an indoor gunshot.
 
In any situation where seconds count I'm not going to be worried about my hearing.

The extra second or two it would take to put on hearing protection would be better spent assessing the threat and either moving toward it or my family away from it.
 
Back in 1969 while on the range in the military with 30 or so other guys firing at once, I never had a problem with ringing or pressure on my ears. Even when I got the chance to shoot a 50, no problem. There were those who had complaints of excessive pressure and ringing. Our drill instructor told the guys with problems to pre-pressurize their ears as they shot. WTH is that? Well I found out later that its similar to the thing you do to pop your ears after coming down or going up into the mountains or on a military plane. @Bailey Boat stated, when things get real, sounds, especially loud ones, just may happen and so can damage, but it will never cross your mind when the guy shooting at you pays no attention to it. :) Learning how to pre-pressurize without blinking as you do it, takes a bit of training. I learned to do it when shooting my M44 Mosin. I still get reminded every now and then.
 
I understand the "life over hearing" argument, but just wondering if a second or two didn't make a difference, is it a consideration? - Let's say you're aware of a threat, but it may be 30 seconds out, it sounds like most of you would prepare your ears accordingly.
 
With ear protection on, you may not be able to hear things you probably want to hear.... such as a door or steps creaking, footsteps, peoples voices, etc.
 
My HD rifle

o82JqUV.jpg



I also keep a set of earplugs stuck in the stocks of my other ARs
 
I've gotta figure this out. Wearing ear pro doesn't affect my ability to pick up sounds in an otherwise quiet environment. I do have trouble in general hearing what someone has to say in an environment where there is ambient noise (aka a public place) but for this convo... I can hear just fine albeight muted in a quiet environment like my house at night with ear pro in? I keep it by my HD choice at home. If I have time I'll put it on. As I feel it doesn't encumber my detection of sounds. But if I'm worried something is eminent, I wouldn't think twice to skip it to save time, hearing loss or not
 
All my HD pistols and rifles have their hearing protection attached to the muzzles. It's just the couple shotguns that don't, and the pistol on my hip.
 
tarheelxd said:
I would love to see a picture of this pistol.
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Mine is an SBR instead of a pistol, but it's a 7" 9mm as well. Here is it with an Osprey:

IMG_9687.JPG

Now it has a Octane instead as seen in the bottom left:

IMG_9685.JPG

(The 10.5" 5.56 at the top is what travels with me in the truck most of the time)

The PS90 now has an Omega attached and stays within reach at home as well:

IMG_9686.JPG
 
Cr
tarheelxd said:
I would love to see a picture of this pistol.
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Crappy cell phone pic but here you go.

20161211_212153r.jpg


The light is on a dual 45° mount, the other side holds a SeeAll backup sight. The TRS-25 sees between them. It runs Glock mags, I prefer the 17s to the 33s. I keep some loaded with premium SD rounds, some with my own HP subs to use if I'm running the can.
 
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Flashpoint said:
Cr

Crappy cell phone pic but here you go.

20161211_212153r.jpg


The light is on a dual 45° mount, the other side holds a SeeAll backup sight. The TRS-25 sees between them. It runs Glock mags, I prefer the 17s to the 33s. I keep some loaded with premium SD rounds, some with my own HP subs to use if I'm running the can.
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Nice! Thanks for the pic!
 
Count me in the 9mm Suppressed SBR Club for HD. Just makes too much sense all around.
 
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I keep my PTR PDW, SBR next to the bed with a suppressor attached.

9 inches of .308 goodness for any fly that steps into my web.

I don't want to have to worry about them finding cover inside my house.
 
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Chdamn said:
I keep my PTR PDW, SBR next to the bed with a suppressor attached.

9 inches of .308 goodness for any fly that steps into my web.

I don't want to have to worry about them finding cover inside my house.
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I saw a suppressed 12.5" .308 AR10 that was the best looking rifle I've seen in a long time. Love some .308 SBR...
 
BowWow said:
With ear protection on, you may not be able to hear things you probably want to hear.... such as a door or steps creaking, footsteps, peoples voices, etc.
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Just the opposite with my Howard Leights cranked up. Walking thru the woods with them it's amazing what you hear.
 
SCshooter57 said:
Just the opposite with my Howard Leights cranked up. Walking thru the woods with them it's amazing what you hear.
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Somewhere.... I have a pair of these, I quit wearing them because they weren't as comfortable as my others. I must dig them out and try them out, minus the gunshot in the house of course.
 
BowWow said:
Somewhere.... I have a pair of these, I quit wearing them because they weren't as comfortable as my others. I must dig them out and try them out, minus the gunshot in the house of course.
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If you're scared...say you're scared. :p
 
SCshooter57 said:
Just the opposite with my Howard Leights cranked up. Walking thru the woods with them it's amazing what you hear.
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When at a training class at the range I can hear people on the instructors cell phone, are you open? Hello? I can hear people driving up the gravel covered road.
 
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If life and death is involved, I will not have time to put on hearing protection. The only way to plan for that is to keep a suppressor on your home defense weapon or sleep with ear plugs in(then you won't hear the intruders).
 
BowWow said:
Somewhere.... I have a pair of these, I quit wearing them because they weren't as comfortable as my others. I must dig them out and try them out, minus the gunshot in the house of course.
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$40 hearing protection less expensive then a suppressor.
 
You may not hear the shots in all the excitement, but your ears will and will probably sustain some permanent damage. The ears does have some small muscles in them that tighten when exposed to loud sounds to minimize the harmful effects of the loud sounds, but those muscles do not do much for sudden loud noises such as a single shot.

I have some hearing protection readily available when hunting but do not have any near my home defense firearms. I want to hear everything I can and am quite willing to sacrifice a little more of my hearing to have a better change of coming out of a life threatening situation alive.

I am surprised I have any hearing left at all since I had a shooting range in my bedroom when I was a teenager in which I shot my 30/06 Springfield at a grape crate stacked with Life magazines.
 
I use these with my HL ear pro. They have a patented relief cutout so your eyeglasses don't press into your head.
noisefighters.com

SIGHTLINES | Gel ear pads with a relief cut for glasses

Compatible with hearing protection earmuffs from 3M™, Howard Leight®, Invisio®, Ops-Core®, Peltor™, Sordin®, TCI®, Walker's Game Ear®, and many more.
noisefighters.com noisefighters.com
 
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put another 2 checks in the tally box for "suppressed HD AR pistol or sbr" on my behalf. Both have lights attached, as well as no-fuss optic ready to go.
 
Not all suppressors are the same. Some reduce noise only 'that' much, and are still quite loud (looking at you, Surefire on a 308).
 
BowWow said:
With ear protection on, you may not be able to hear things you probably want to hear.... such as a door or steps creaking, footsteps, peoples voices, etc.
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Electronic ear pro can be more sensitive than your ears, but I think you lose some of the depth and directional qualities which could be of extreme importance if you are clearing your house, but probably not so much if you are staying put like BP. That is my plan as well, let that turd come to me.
 
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Flashpoint said:
Electronic ear pro can be more sensitive than your ears, but I think you lose some of the depth and directional qualities which could be of extreme importance if you are clearing your house, but probably not so much if you are staying put like BP. That is my plan as well, let that turd come to me.
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The brands differ in directionallity and is one of the things I look for. I have a pair of Walker's I like. They have 2 mic's, but they do not amplify individually, so you can't determine direction. I also have a pair of 3M that amplify the mic's separately and you can determine direction. I like them more and bought the gel cups @Button Pusher mentioned.
 
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My hearing is pretty much shot. Back when I was a kid nobody even thought about hearing protection. I shot and shot a lot.

I won’t take the time to apply hearing pro. I’ll just take care of the problem and worry about it later.

I need to carry a pair with me on the trapline and when hunting.
 
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