Low profile hearing protection

[Flopsweat]

The game changes if you start wearing hearing aids. So earbud types are out for me.

I've got several pair of non-electronic muffs which can be worn over my hearing aids. I've also got an electronic pair, they say Zohan on them, from Amazon. But I've seen others like them with different brand names, apparently all made in same factory. They work well enough. I can wear them with or without hearing aids.

I like the newer Zohans over a previous pair I had that got ruined in the rain. I don't remember the brand of those but they might've been Peltor. That older pair didn't seem to give me the same hearing protection as what I have now.

Oddly enough, even without hearing aids, there is some enhancement to my hearing while wearing electronic muffs Which I've noticed with the previous brand of electronic muffs that I had. And now I'm wondering if this same effect is gotten with hearing protection buds..

Some years ago, I had a non-electric pair with the crossover wire behind the head for wearing with hats. It was a good concept, but I found that with certain head or neck movement, the wire would bang into my collar or hat brim, which set off a corresponding noise that was telegraphed to the head pieces. There's always a downside to everything.

I've had my Peltors and Walkers in the rain lots of times and they are fine. Even the Caldwells I loan to guests and students seem to do OK in the wet.

 

[gmerkt]

Holy crap those Peltors have gone up in price!

Yeah, $50 seems to be a starting point for Peltor and others. The Zohans I got from Amazon were around $30 I think. They work well enough.

Problem being, our money just doesn't buy what it used to. The value of our money has gone down, so it takes more of it to buy the same things. I look around my house, think about all the objects in it that we bought over the course of 50 years and I shudder to think what the replacement cost of it all would be. And I wonder how young people starting out pay for it.

 

[gmerkt]

I've had my Peltors and Walkers in the rain lots of times and they are fine.

My bad luck?

 

[Flopsweat]

Yeah, $50 seems to be a starting point for Peltor and others. The Zohans I got from Amazon were around $30 I think. They work well enough.

Problem being, our money just doesn't buy what it used to. The value of our money has gone down, so it takes more of it to buy the same things. I look around my house, think about all the objects in it that we bought over the course of 50 years and I shudder to think what the replacement cost of it all would be. And I wonder how young people starting out pay for it.

Peltor amplified start at about $250 if I recall. You might be able to get a Caldwell amplified set for $50.

 

[Flopsweat]

My bad luck?

Maybe. I'm kind of surprised the Caldwells handle moisture as well as they do, being as inexpensive as they are.

 

[gmerkt]

Peltor amplified start at about $250 if I recall.

Peltor has a range of products, they have some low-end electronic stuff that is under $50 on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Peltor-RangeGuard-RG-OTH-4-Electronic-Protection/dp/B00UAM0MFG/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1S3IGOARQY3E8&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.hDhbaBngjp3UrzOcfJhumiOH8ENBBLBt9bSeH3x3XaMedk82vDNxXD2ScYrBSswTUPE8u7g6nWd-ruzzJFZlaP-WBfxtKTdaxDbvC9eITuUSa6M9i4-Izav86xNKCO4DImCgjyKId53YIN3pWrpxK_7L7juhmrhh4EOMvq9bVzA651SAInURkGvbMd0QB_fXPVKdth9jqX5SKw_Med5BzgFW5px9EFNG0kBB43FtSdFI0YBWwU6EHnjCPOFmrWEqidi32J2HiQ4Ln9TRKYvC-szbmOPbA41Al4JkaG-RsZM.QRE3Xbur3O9gL7RURlPeadKF_FtUWkopW8Hh7dCTjlc&dib_tag=se&keywords=peltor+electronic+hearing+protection&qid=1714941866&sprefix=peltor+electronic+hearing+protection,aps,144&sr=8-6&th=1

Walker has some in this price range as well.

For my purposes, I don't know that $500 units would be all that much better than $50. Maybe better rainproofing??

 

[Flopsweat]

Peltor has a range of products, they have some low-end electronic stuff that is under $50 on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Peltor-RangeGuard-RG-OTH-4-Electronic-Protection/dp/B00UAM0MFG/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1S3IGOARQY3E8&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.hDhbaBngjp3UrzOcfJhumiOH8ENBBLBt9bSeH3x3XaMedk82vDNxXD2ScYrBSswTUPE8u7g6nWd-ruzzJFZlaP-WBfxtKTdaxDbvC9eITuUSa6M9i4-Izav86xNKCO4DImCgjyKId53YIN3pWrpxK_7L7juhmrhh4EOMvq9bVzA651SAInURkGvbMd0QB_fXPVKdth9jqX5SKw_Med5BzgFW5px9EFNG0kBB43FtSdFI0YBWwU6EHnjCPOFmrWEqidi32J2HiQ4Ln9TRKYvC-szbmOPbA41Al4JkaG-RsZM.QRE3Xbur3O9gL7RURlPeadKF_FtUWkopW8Hh7dCTjlc&dib_tag=se&keywords=peltor+electronic+hearing+protection&qid=1714941866&sprefix=peltor+electronic+hearing+protection,aps,144&sr=8-6&th=1

Walker has some in this price range as well.

For my purposes, I don't know that $500 units would be all that much better than $50.

Wow. I searched the Peltor site for electronic muffs and sorted by price. These did not come up.

Also they're mono and the mic gets covered by the mount, yuck.

 

[lucusloc]

The game changes if you start wearing hearing aids. So earbud types are out for me.

I've got several pair of non-electronic muffs which can be worn over my hearing aids. I've also got an electronic pair, they say Zohan on them, from Amazon. But I've seen others like them with different brand names, apparently all made in same factory. They work well enough. I can wear them with or without hearing aids.

I like the newer Zohans over a previous pair I had that got ruined in the rain. I don't remember the brand of those but they might've been Peltor. That older pair didn't seem to give me the same hearing protection as what I have now.

Oddly enough, even without hearing aids, there is some enhancement to my hearing while wearing electronic muffs Which I've noticed with the previous brand of electronic muffs that I had. And now I'm wondering if this same effect is gotten with hearing protection buds..

Some years ago, I had a non-electric pair with the crossover wire behind the head for wearing with hats. It was a good concept, but I found that with certain head or neck movement, the wire would bang into my collar or hat brim, which set off a corresponding noise that was telegraphed to the head pieces. There's always a downside to everything.

Aren't there hearing aids that have a fairly high degree of built in protection? I could have sworn I saw such a thing for heavy industry workers before. . .

 

[gmerkt]

Aren't there hearing aids that have a fairly high degree of built in protection? I could have sworn I saw such a thing for heavy industry workers before. .

Very well may be. But not the Phonaks that the VA gives me. For one thing, they have an air vent hole.

 

[lucusloc]

Very well may be. But not the Phonaks that the VA gives me. For one thing, they have an air vent hole.

Will the VA cover costs if you find a set that covers your needs and is properly papered for medical use? Or do you get what they have in their inventory, and be damned if that does not work for you?

 

[Stomper]

 

[gmerkt]

Wow. I searched the Peltor site for electronic muffs and sorted by price. These did not come up.

The previous pair that I had, if Peltor brand, were low end price point. And that may be contributory to why they failed in the wet. A brand placed on a product doesn't necessarily mean it left a certain factory. Sometimes, firms contract other manufacturers to make certain lines of product. Might be the low end Peltors come from the same place as other low end stuff (like my Zohans) and the $500 Peltors are made in a higher end factory. Or not. China, in any case.

These days, I don't knowingly go shooting in the rain. If it's raining out, I find something else to do. However, there are times when you get caught in it without intention.

Oh, one other thing. It might be best to remove batteries from electronic hearing protectors if they are not going to be used for a while. Just as a precaution against leaking batteries. Most of the batteries sold are made in China. Cylindrical dry cell batteries like AAA are more apt to leakage than button or coin batteries.

 

[Flopsweat]

The previous pair that I had, if Peltor brand, were low end price point. And that may be contributory to why they failed in the wet. A brand placed on a product doesn't necessarily mean it left a certain factory. Sometimes, firms contract other manufacturers to make certain lines of product. Might be the low end Peltors come from the same place as other low end stuff (like my Zohans) and the $500 Peltors are made in a higher end factory. Or not. China, in any case.

These days, I don't knowingly go shooting in the rain. If it's raining out, I find something else to do. However, there are times when you get caught in it without intention.

Oh, one other thing. It might be best to remove batteries from electronic hearing protectors if they are not going to be used for a while. Just as a precaution against leaking batteries. Most of the batteries sold are made in China. Cylindrical dry cell batteries like AAA are more apt to leakage than button or coin batteries.

It did say Made in USA in the listing.

 

[ma96782]

I heard that 3M made some really fine ear plugs.
What?
Yeah….Military approved.



Aloha, Mark

 

[gmerkt]

Will the VA cover costs if you find a set that covers your needs and is properly papered for medical use? Or do you get what they have in their inventory, and be damned if that does not work for you?

That's beyond my knowledge. As a guess, that would have to be considered on a case-by-case basis if the need could be substantiated. I know they buy them in bulk. Phonak is made in Switzerland, they aren't cheap but I've seen lots of old veterans wearing them. Once you get them, you're up for a new set every X years. I started with a battery powered pair; when my time for new ones came up, I opted for the rechargeables. Service through the VA has been excellent. When something goes bad, you talk to them on the phone, they send out a prepaid mailing box which goes back to Colorado to the hearing aid lab for repair or replacement. Then it's mailed back to you.

Before she died, my mother had Phonaks that cost her thousands. But then again, how hearing aids have been marketed has been a known semi-racket for years. Basically, they pry as much out of old people as they can. I don't know if there is a "set" price for them; it's what the dealer pays, then whatever he can get over that.

A Look at the Business of Selling Hearing Aids — Hearing Health Foundation

As a former retailer, I think if electronic marvels like smartphones or smartwatches could be profitably sold at a fraction of the price of the average pair of hearing aids, someone somewhere had to be making a bundle while serving the needs of people with hearing loss.

hearinghealthfoundation.org

 

[gmerkt]

Here's one review of low-end Peltor (Range Guard) electronic muffs:

2 out of 5 stars.

Ok for good weather.

Anonymous

a year ago
I bought these about a year ago and they have been my main ear pro since. I shoot in all kinds of weather in competition and other scenarios. I found that this product has a major flaw with inclement weather. Any type of rain or even drizzle will seep in to the battery compartment and cause the batteries to corrode or blow the batteries in about 30 minutes. The worst was my last competition where the headphones literally popped and stopped working. I opened the battery compartment and the batteries had literally exploded inside the headset. I would not recommend these for outdoor use in inclement weather. I will be reverting back to my Howard Leights for the time being.

It's only one review but basically describes what happened to my first pair, up to but excluding the battery explosion.

 

[ODG_Chad]

Problem being, our money just doesn't buy what it used to. The value of our money has gone down, so it takes more of it to buy the same things. I look around my house, think about all the objects in it that we bought over the course of 50 years and I shudder to think what the replacement cost of it all would be. And I wonder how young people starting out pay for it.

Living in America!

 

[gmerkt]

It did say Made in USA in the listing.

Yeah, I don't believe it. Especially for a low end product. I checked another site for the same product line, Range Guard, and it said, "Imported" which in the case of cheap electronics usually means China. Other Peltor products say "country of origin China." Amazon descriptions aren't always to be believed; especially now that AI is doing some of the scripting.

 

[Flopsweat]

Here's one review of low-end Peltor (Range Guard) electronic muffs:

2 out of 5 stars.

Ok for good weather.

Anonymous

a year ago
I bought these about a year ago and they have been my main ear pro since. I shoot in all kinds of weather in competition and other scenarios. I found that this product has a major flaw with inclement weather. Any type of rain or even drizzle will seep in to the battery compartment and cause the batteries to corrode or blow the batteries in about 30 minutes. The worst was my last competition where the headphones literally popped and stopped working. I opened the battery compartment and the batteries had literally exploded inside the headset. I would not recommend these for outdoor use in inclement weather. I will be reverting back to my Howard Leights for the time being.

It's only one review but basically describes what happened to my first pair, up to but excluding the battery explosion.

Yikes. Beaten by an economy brand.

Yeah, I don't believe it. Especially for a low end product. I checked another site for the same product line, Range Guard, and it said, "Imported" which in the case of cheap electronics usually means China. Other Peltor products say "country of origin China." Amazon descriptions aren't always to be believed; especially now that AI is doing some of the scripting.

That makes sense given the price.