The Armchair Outfitter

Let me begin by saying that after practicing basic gun safety, the most important thing one can do in the shooting sports is to protect one’s hearing. Eye protection is crucial as well, but with every unprotected shot the ears take a pounding. When I was younger and dumber than I am now, my friends and I used to go through a box or two of clay birds without ear protection of any kind. After the first few shots, you “get used to it,” i.e., you have enough short-term hearing loss that the gun’s report doesn’t bother you as much anymore. After all, you’re not going to be wearing earplugs when you’re hunting, right? What we didn’t realize then was that in addition to the temporary effects which were ameliorated after a day or so, we were also doing incremental damage to our hearing that might never reverse.

I have come full circle on this issue over the years, and I often wear foam earplugs when upland hunting. Yes, it is more difficult to hear if someone at a distance calls a bird that is flying my way, and it is also more difficult to hear the rustling of wings that is usually the hunter’s first clue that a bird is about to launch. That is, it is more difficult for the first few shots. If there is a lot of shooting on a given hunt, I notice that my hearing tends to be roughly equivalent to that of my friends after they’ve loosed a few rounds with no plugs. I dislike the “plugged up” feeling that comes from having the foam plugs inserted for any length of time, however, and I often try to minimize the unpleasant sensation and maintain some level of hearing protection by partially inserting the foam plugs. The results are less than satisfactory.

I have read about earplugs featuring a baffle design that purports to allow for normal conversation while blocking high impulse noises like gunfire. These are a simple mechanical design, not to be confused with much more expensive models that accomplish the same effect electronically. I have always been skeptical of the manufacturers’ claims, however, and I have never tried a pair until now. Shopping at a Mossy Oak Outlet store near my home, I saw the Radians product featured here for only $6.99. I figured that now was the time to give baffle plugs a try. If I liked them, then I’d have discovered a good product at a low price. If they were junk, I’d at least have the opportunity to tell all of y’all to save your money.

Inspecting the packaging on returning from the store, I discovered that the plugs have a noise reduction rating (NRR) of only six decibels, which is not very impressive. I read on, and discovered that the EPA noise reduction rating is only an effective measurement of a device’s attenuation of continuous noise, and did not therefore reflect how effective the plugs might be at muffling impulse noise like gunfire. I put the plugs in and wore them around the house for a while. The plastic is harder than that of the foam or silicone plugs to which I am accustomed, so I immediately didn’t like these as much from a comfort standpoint. I could still hear the television fairly well, though, and more importantly I could still hear the Sporting Wife asking me if I was trying to tell her something by wearing them. They also largely eliminated the claustrophobic feeling I get wearing a standard earplug.

At the range, I fired about a box through my 12 gauge, and the Radians earplugs really came into their own. The noise level when firing was comparable to full foam plugs, but in between shots I was able to clearly hear the Sporting Wife complaining about the hand thrower we were using. At one point, I wished I had brought the full foam plugs along for “comparison” purposes. Seriously, the Radians product worked as advertised. The plastic could be softer, but they were a good value for the money and a good introduction to sound baffle technology for me cialis super active online. Check ‘em out!