I thought adults would be smarter

[DinhRose]

here's a funny story from the range today:

Wife and I were sighting in our rifles and two older fellows were shooting next to us. They also had a wide variety of guns ranging from wwii M1A to italian police issued beretta .380 compact and so on...

Man: how ya doing young man?
Me: Good and you sir?
Man: Great! Say what's those funny doo-hickie things around your neck?
Me: my ear plugs?! :huh:
Man: yeah i never thought of bringing ear plugs when i go shooting.
Me: Never?
Man: Never.

I shot my dad's 1911 when i was 7 and from then on i made sure i wore ear protection! yet i guess these two old timers are more manly than i am.

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[Trlsmn]

Machismo. I'd rather be the wimp that can hear than the macho man speaking such cool phrases as "what? huh? what? huh? what? huh? what? huh?" because he's too macho to wear hearing aids to hear what his Machismo destroyed

 

[Cougfan2]

I forgot my earplugs one time in college when I and two buddies went out plinking with our .357's. I have never forgotten them since then. My ears rang for almost a full day.

 

[DinhRose]

It was just surprising to hear, no pun intended, that he has never considered using ear plugs. I mean .22 are loud and you can go without plugs outside but any other caliber will just ring your ears.

 

[The B]

i'm sort of shocked at the utter retardation of people who don't wear earpro.. i shoot in circles, and everyone in my circles uses earpro, to the point that they'll bubblegum and whine for months if you let one off before they all get their ears on.

i can almost guarantee you'd have permanent hearing damage after the first hour on the line at a PNW shoot. simply would never happen. rapid fire, muzzles to your left and right, SBRs with brakes... hello no.

 

[riverrat373]

What did he say?

 

[RVTECH]

I completely agree with the necessity to wear hearing protection while shooting but I was amazed when I had a hearing test not too many years ago after suffering an ear infection that resulted in having my right eardrum lanced to relieve the pressure and then having a tube inserted for drainage. The results of the test were impressive. Other than the expected hearing loss due to the tube insertion I had above average hearing in my left ear, with excellent high frequency level hearing (I always used to be able to hear the neighbor's phone ringing three houses down as a kid) and after the tube I only had about a 50% loss in the right ear which is not as bad a one may think. My point being this was after 20 + years of shooting on a somewhat regular basis with only sporadic use of hearing protection. My ENT told me he sees people on a regular basis who have that much, if not more hearing loss due to having wax buildup, debris in their ears etc. Maybe I was just lucky but now I ALWAYS use protection and encourage everyone to do so!

 

[MarkSBG]

Earplugs are a good thing and I wear them for (probably) too much. Guns, table saw, power washer, *cough*vacuum cleaner*cough*, etc...

 

[TANSTAAFL]

I experience similar when some people see my plugs at a concert. We can replace valves, dig around in brains for tumors but ear repair procedures (tympanoplasty) are still lacking and experimental.

Screw that, just wear 'em! You can even get ones that help you hear more clearly for concerts. Only $12 and Etymotics are worth every penny and more.

 

[Celtic Armory]

I am often baffled by the number of people who are supposed to be adults but either behave like children, or simply don't think at all. I have been in many situations where I wish I had hearing protection but didn't and now I have tinnitus. It sucks big time. But I always make sure my range bag has plenty of ear plugs. I get some kick butt plugs from McMaster-Carr (33db reduction) where most are 27 or less.

Then you got the people that act like jerks to others because they either have low self esteem or no honor and those that simply don't know better and do something dangerous while laughing like a tarded monkey.