Hearing protection when shooting/hunting

billt460 said:
This ^^^^^^^^^

It is also a major reason for tinnitus. Back in the day when I hunted, I never wore ear protection. Many times if you catch a gunshot just right, it will make your ears ring. Usually from someone else's gun near you. (Shooting with others in duck blinds will cause this easily).

The ringing will subside in a few minutes... Then a few hours... Then after a few days... Then you notice one day it doesn't go away. Today you have devices like Walkers Game Ears that help a great deal in preventing this. The problem is most guys don't know about them, or else don't want to spend the money for them.

Not protecting your hearing is a bit like smoking cigarettes, or excessive drinking. You only start wishing you hadn't done it, after it's too late, and the damage is already done. I quit smoking and drinking years ago.

I wish I had taken better care of my ears back then as well. Tens of thousands of rounds later I now deal with it sounding like every smoke alarm in the house is going off 24/7.
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Agreed. Tinnitus can occur on its own but it usually accompanies hearing loss. It's like this - as they lose their hearing many people get tinnitus to make up for it.

I have age related hearing loss - with tinnitus. I now miss a few words in conversation. And I have trouble hearing my grandchildren who have very soft voices. My audiologist says I would benefit from hearing aids but I'm still borderline. Nonetheless I plan to get hearing aids in the new year.

No-one can do anything about age related hearing loss. If they live long enough, many people will get it. But you don't have to put yourself in this situation at a young age simply because you didn't take care of your hearing.
 
The problem with hearing aids, (at least from what I've been told by people who have spent a great deal of money on them), is they not only amplify the spoken word, but also all of the background noise around.

If you're in a quiet room and only one person is talking, they're great. But if you're watching TV, and 3 people in the room are all talking at the same time, forget it.

I don't mind spending the money on one....... If I knew they would help. But the guys I have talked to who wear them, seem to have as much trouble, sometimes even more with them, than before they bought them. I would like to try one for a few days and see. But I don't know if there is anywhere that offers that long of a "trial run" before purchasing.

My mother wore one in the 80's, and it really didn't seem to do very much, as far as improving her hearing. But technology has vastly improved since then. But I just don't know.
 
Protecting your hearing is extremely important when using any loud equipment.

I find it hard to watch anyone operating loud equipment without earplugs or earmuffs.

I never thought I would ever own a ( extremely loud ) snow blower until last week and my ears are still ringing ( even with ear plugs ) after using it and ear plugs are not enough so I bought the best ear muffs possible and will use both from now on.

Flying , shooting ( used to have a guns , lots ) , etc took a toll on my hearing and I wish I had been more careful when younger.

Airlines and pilots today are much more aware of hearing damage but that wasn’t the case previously. Even the Airbus A320 ( older ones ) cockpit is noisy until cruise and we never had adequate, company supplied, headsets until about 10 years ago.

When the FO goes outside to the walk around on the jet, I turn the APU bleed off to Reduce the noise outside until they come back ( sorry, I don’t do walk around anymore, too noisy outside ).

Protect your hearing or get used to tinnitus and hearing aids one day.

Edit: corrected spelling ( loud versus load ). Does help to read over what you write before sending it.
 
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billt460 said:
The problem with hearing aids, (at least from what I've been told by people who have spent a great deal of money on them), is they not only amplify the spoken word, but also all of the background noise around.

If you're in a quiet room and only one person is talking, they're great. But if you're watching TV, and 3 people in the room are all talking at the same time, forget it.

I don't mind spending the money on one....... If I knew they would help. But the guys I have talked to who wear them, seem to have as much trouble, sometimes even more with them, than before they bought them. I would like to try one for a few days and see. But I don't know if there is anywhere that offers that long of a "trial run" before purchasing.

My mother wore one in the 80's, and it really didn't seem to do very much, as far as improving her hearing. But technology has vastly improved since then. But I just don't know.
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Hearing aids in the past just amplified sound. So they increased the background noise too.

But modern hearing aids are better than that. I'm not an expert on hearing aids but my understanding is that they only amplify the frequencies that are missing and then only as much as required. My wife (who has had hearing aids for a couple of years) says she doesn't have a problem hearing in groups. But then her hearing loss was not severe. Her hearing aids were expensive but in my opinion worth it. She now hears better than me. She has an excellent audiologist who guided her through the whole selection and adaptation process.

One of our friends bought lower cost hearing aids and doesn't use them. That would be one definition of expensive.

One of the disturbing things is that people who lose their hearing start to get out of touch. Hearing loss is even considered a major factor in the development of dementia. https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2021/h... you have,strain to hear and fill in the gaps.

So for heaven's sake guys - protect your hearing.
 
Noone ever gives a noise reduction rating when you must wear glasses. Either safety or prescription. It was the leading factor in my moving to ear plugs. I just did not notice much noise reduction if there was any gap. I understand that there are some silicon replacement pads that do better but I have not seen them. And the fact that most adjustable head bands will press the glasses ear stem into that bone behind your ear and give you a splitting headache in just an hour or 2.
 
Late on this one but I always did ear plugs. Want to say, when I looked they had a higher advertised reduction in noise?

I did pick up a set of electronic headphone things, not anything expensive, and I think I got cheap results. I mean they work and all, but I've never used headphones when listening to music, only earbuds, and often wear a hat, so these just sit. Was in a gun store today and was talking to the salesperson, and she said her family liked them, great for the kids, and great for the adults who sound like they are on the verge of needing hearing aids (or outright do need them).

FWIW I've never had an issue holding a conversation while having earplugs in. I install into the canal and AFAIK am using correctly--it's not like I'm completely deaf with them in. Just a good 20-30db down, and apparently the impulse noise of gunfire is more attenuated? Not sure, and besides, I avoid loud guns anyhow, at some point it's just uncomfortable to me. Am getting to the point where I just buy the large bag of earplugs and leave a bag in the garage, one in the basement, and that reminds me, I should buy another one for the range bag (usually I remember to grab some before going out).

*

I do wonder, how many have had their hearing checked as the years go by? I had severe hearing issues as a kid, and got tested several times back then, and was able to score a free test while in college. Was able to get tested again recently (new doc) (no idea what this will cost me but it'll be worth it), but do not have any of my old records, and made sure to print off the graph. Idea being, I like the idea of a baseline, makes finding trends better. [Am resisting getting an aid at this time, one ear has moderate loss, but I get by with the other.]
 
ecotourist said:
But modern hearing aids are better than that. I'm not an expert on hearing aids but my understanding is that they only amplify the frequencies that are missing and then only as much as required.
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This is completely correct. My five year old hearing aids were pretty good, but did amplify some of the ambient sounds that didn't need to be amplified and also some white noise.

My new hearing aids are astounding examples of engineering. They are so good at only amplifying the correct sound range that I need (higher tones) and not amplifying the tones that I don't, that I forget I have them in. They also are very good at not amplifying white noise. My audiologist did such a great job of setting them up correctly that there are times I have to touch the top of my ear to see if they are there. They do wonders for my tinnitus. For anyone with hearing loss, I highly recommend to see an experienced audiologist, their skill makes all the difference in your experience. You couldn't pay me to buy a pair of hearing aids OTC, it's just not the same.
 
I double u most of the time. I got a pair of those active Howard Leight ones and I like the ability to talk more, but their nrr isn’t as high… ok for .22s though…

I may pick up some of those x5a units for shooting rifles.
 
wwillson said:
My new hearing aids are astounding examples of engineering.
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What brand?

My wife uses Widex hearing aids and is very happy with them. Hers are step 3 (of about 6) on the Widex model and price range. The most basic ones are probably for the most budget conscious customers. The most expensive have all the bells and whistles. The number of adjustable ranges increases through the model (and price) range. We bought a bit more than necessary to future proof them a bit. We also bought one with rechargeable batteries.

Our audiologist offers somewhere between 4 and 6 brands and recommends the one she thinks will best solve your problem. My wife doesn't have tinnitus but I do. So I may end up with a different brand. I understand one brand is really good at tinnitus suppression.
 
ecotourist said:
What brand?

My wife uses Widex hearing aids and is very happy with them. Hers are step 3 (of about 6) on the Widex model and price range. The most basic ones are probably for the most budget conscious customers. The most expensive have all the bells and whistles. The number of adjustable ranges increases through the model (and price) range. We bought a bit more than necessary to future proof them a bit. We also bought one with rechargeable batteries.

Our audiologist offers somewhere between 4 and 6 brands and recommends the one she thinks will best solve your problem. My wife doesn't have tinnitus but I do. So I may end up with a different brand. I understand one brand is really good at tinnitus suppression.
Click to expand...
My wife sees the audiologist annually for a minor adjustment. Hers work so well she hardly ever turns them up or down, except in crowds where she may turn them up - or down. She puts them in when she gets up and only takes them out for showers or at bed time (when they're being recharged).

Her hearing aids were a bit expensive but I think we've gotten good value.
 
I used to shoot a lot years ago but don’t have any guns today.

That said, I just bought the Worlds loudest snowblower that makes the APU on a jet seem not too loud.

I use double protection and the 3M Peltor X5 A earmuffs.
 
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