I'm looking to get some electronic hearing protection just for use at the range. I was looking at something like this. Howard Leight by Honeywell Impact Sport Sound Amplification Electronic Earmuff, Classic Green (R-01526) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001T7QJ9O/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_ZGBpxbKMBB3MR Does anyone have experience with this or something better. I would like to be able to have a conversation but not go deaf.
My concern with those is that the NRR is only 22. Do you think that is all the protection your ears deserve? Wow, those have an NRR of only 18. Same question to you, and do not answer, "What?"
My thoughts here, which links to an earlier post. https://www.georgiapacking.org/forum/showpost.php?p=2681362&postcount=9
I have the Howard leights as well as the Peltor Sport 100s. The amplification is great on both, but the Howards are easier to turn on and adjust, especially when wearing gloves. With the standard earcups (as supplied in box), I find that the Howards also work better at sealing around safety glasses and/or eye glasses and also seem to be less "sweaty". As Malum pointed out, if you're using them on an indoor range you probably want to consider the addition of a set of foam plugs or something like the surefire filtered plugs with the filter port open, especially if you plan on shooting a rifle or anticipate someone may be firing a rifle near you. The low profile of each has worked well firing rifles or pistols. As far as being in relatively the same price range, I would recommend the Howards over the Peltor Sport 100s.
I always wear plugs with my earcovers at indoor ranges. But when I plink in the great outdoors I enjoy having suppressors and not wearing hearing protection at all. Az
I have and use the howard leights. I use them outside at my range. I have no experience with them inside. When taking classes, I also use ear buds incase they get knocked. around, I supposed you could do the same for an indoor range. The only issue I have is with muffs in general. I like to wear hats. If you have the "button" on top of your hat, it will not be very comfortable. You gotta find a hat without it. I am currently wearing a Daniel Defense hat, it does not have that thing on the crown of the cap.
If you use electronic muffs to hear normal conversation and range officer commands, you wouldn't want to wear ear plugs under those muffs, right? BUT the problem with wearing muffs alone is that none of them are good enough, ever, if you wear glasses. And everybody wears safety glasses at the range, right? The temple-pieces of your glasses seriously interfere with a proper fit of the ear muffs. The best answer to this is to get ear muffs that have safety glasses attached to them, with NOTHING between the sealing pads of the muffs and the side of your head. I've seen such rigs being used by logging crews operating chainsaws. Is there such a thing on the market for shooters, with an electronic muff instead of a regular muff?
The electronic muffs can also amplify outside sound; enough so that an air conditioning vent can be distracting even though they'll cut the sound once it reaches their threshold. You could think of it as 'dressing in layers' except for fighting hearing loss instead of fighting the cold.
All I can say is I use them outdoors and indoors and have never had to add ear plugs. I've never experienced any hearing discomfort with them. Some companies base their NRR ratings on internal company tests while MSA Sordin bases their NRR on independent tests. So there appears to be no real standardization for coming up with your NRR rating. Personally, I think the Sordins work so great because of the little Swedish trolls inside the electronics!