The Best Hearing Protection for Shooting Practice: Our Top 5 Picks

When you go out to your favorite shooting range to let off some steam or improve your shooting performance it can be a special kind of irritating to realize that there’s a possibility of your own ears bleeding profusely instead of your imagined target.

the best hearing protection for shooting

To leave plenty of space for some quality concentration needed to release your inner hitman, you might want to consider obtaining a pair of well-designed, heavy duty ear muffs, which at times can be as essential to your performance as your beloved weapon of choice.

What sorts of hearing protection are available for shooting?

Considering the fairly wide field of application for these practical utensils, it is no wonder that the different types and constructions are available to answer the needs of people who are exposed to loud, and often unhealthily sharp noises.

Whether it comes to rough industrial working conditions or some high-stress leisure activities like practicing at a shooting range or hunting, these noise-cancelling products really are a necessity without which the detrimental noise-related consequences would make the activity in question a proper nightmare.

Typically, the noise-cancelling arsenal on the market, includes preformed earplugs, also made of a special kind of foam in some cases, various canal caps, and, perhaps most widely spread, ear muffs which are usually best suited for shooting-related noise cancellations.

Ear plugs are made in such a way, as to enable first and foremost comfortable wearing, as they are specially developed to fit and expand in one’s ear so that the ear cavity is tightly sealed.

As for the canal caps, they are not as elegant a solution for noise canceling, as they are made to block off any noises right at the entrance of an ear canal, which sometimes can be uncomfortable and inefficient in general.

Ear muffs, on the other side, tend to be the most wide-spread solution among the hearing protection products, as they are, considering their overhead design, the least intrusive and the easiest to apply utensil.

They can be electronic or stock ones, without any additional equipment. The electronic ones may also include various sound-related gadgets such as microphones, radio connection, MP3 inputs to name a few.

Pros and cons of utilizing ear muffs

The biggest advantage of this means of noise-blocking protections is its universality when it comes to its wide applicability for different head shapes and sizes. They are usually quite large and with a special part which enables fine fitting and resizing of its width for the needs of a particular user.

Another good thing is that these noise-blockers may be worn even with minor ear infections.

The cons would probably include their large size and difficult management in smaller, confined areas.

Below are our top picks for the best hearing protection for shooting on the market today:

Howard Leight by Honeywell Impact Pro Sound Amplification Electronic Earmuff

These electronic heavy-duty ear muffs include directional microphones which are built-in and serve to amplify ambient sounds and range commands, thus offering more enhanced communicating and natural feel to listening.

The pressure points made of rubber are designed in such a way as to prevent scratches, and for a more comfortable and right fit, there are adjustable headbands which are padded.

The downside of these ear muffs might be that, while noise cancellation is on the point, the sounds from plugged-in audio devices also gets muffled and can seem to be of lower quality.

ION Audio Tough Sounds – Hearing Protection Headphones with Bluetooth and Radio

These ION Audio ear muffs, besides the standard features commonly found in electronic models, also feature a wireless Bluetooth option which enables connection to your tablet, smartphone and other gadgets.

It also features a radio and a microphone, which can come in handy when you need to communicate and cooperate with your colleagues, or when you simply want to relax and tune into your favorite radio station.

Another of its strong points is the rather durable rechargeable battery which will run over twenty hours of intense use.

An issue may be that it sometimes makes crackling noises which can be annoying and tricky to get fixed.

Pro Ears – Pro Tac Plus Gold – Military Grade Electronic Hearing Protection and Amplification

If it’s really some heavy-duty high-performance professional ear muffs you’re looking for, this imported model’s impressive characteristics may help you make up your mind.

Some of its features include military style advanced circuit boards, and golden connectors which enable a very high-level quality of the audio input.

For its impressive characteristics, it’s surprisingly low-weight, weighing somewhere at 9.3 ounces. It also includes input jacks for devices such as i-pods or MP3 players.

Having said all that, these attractive features do come at a price, which might put off many people who do not necessarily need professional military equipment and are mostly casual users.

3M Peltor Tactical 6S Active Volume Hearing Protector

An interesting Peltor model on this list is this 3M Tactical Hearing Protector, which was designed with specifically reduced noises related to shooting and range practicing. Being fairly lightweight and easy to use, these ear muffs boast great portability and convenient storage.

Out of advanced technical features, it has a separate receiver, amplifier , and  a microphone, all being run by four AAA batteries.

Another of its useful features presents the automatic amplification of particularly low-level ambient sounds.

As with the aforementioned model, though, the batteries don’t come in the package when you buy the product, so you have to get ones on your own.

Peltor Sport Tactical 100 Electronic Hearing Protector

This Peltor electronic ear muff has specially constructed durable microphones that are recessed and designed to reduce the environmental wind noises as much as possible.

An interesting power-saving feature is the auto shut-off built-in option which turns off this device after two hours of being unused. Run on two AAA batteries, it can go a long way when it comes to its battery life.

The headband was improved and re-designed to offer better grip and comfort while wearing, even for many hours at a time.

Unfortunately, this product doesn’t come with pre-installed batteries, meaning you’ll have to buy them yourself.

Other than that, however, the agreeable price of this device as well as its fairly strong technical characteristics which can be easily compared with some of the more expensive models, means that you would probably want to take this model into consideration.

Conclusion

And that steadily brings us to the end of our journey! We hope you enjoyed the ride and found your best hearing protection for shooting practice. It’s now just a matter of jotting down your exact needs, preferences, and spending budget in order to single out your perfect match. But you can rest assured that each of the listed items is simply a product you cannot regret purchasing within the listed price range. Good stuff!