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This review is about active hearing protection, and one set that I use as hearing aids. It's written like a blog review. If you want to get to the product comparison reviews, go to the bottom.
DISCLAIMER
Background - blah blah blah
HESITATION
PAST OPTIONS
DISCLAIMER
- I am only reviewing these as someone who has purchased each item described. I have nothing to gain and no affiliation.
- As far as hearing aids, if you don't want anyone to see these, move along.
Background - blah blah blah
For starters, I have 25% hearing loss that varies by frequency, plus a 24/7/365 tinnitus skreeee sound in my head.
It's no wonder why: lots of rock concerts, hundreds of hours grinding on steel and carbon-arcing, hundreds of hours of industrial noise, thousands of hours driving in cheap cars with loud road noise and thousands of hours riding on motorcycles with wind noise. Plus kids screaming into your ear to see if they can startle you.
Just like presbyopia, it comes on subtly with age, then kicks into high gear. At first I noticed I couldn't hear things like rain falling outside, then it was the whispered pillow-talk of my woman. Then I had trouble discerning what people were saying when there was a loud background noise. Now, with a woman speaking in alto range, I may not hear them at all. Grrr.
HESITATION
Stigma: I attached a stigma to needing hearing assistance, so resisted getting hearing aids.
Degraded hearing: Every person (and I mean *every* man and woman), I knew who, after they got hearing aids, their hearing without them degraded markedly.
Cost: have you ever priced those "in the ear canal" hearing aids? Nope, I'd rather have two Accuracy International rifles, thank you!
MOTIVATIONSeveral reasons:
- I need hearing aids, I love to go shooting, and I cannot hear a farking thing when wearing ear plugs.
- While my active hearing ear muffs work, they aren't usable on some rifles and impede the cheek weld.
- I was recently at a client site for two weeks, and could not hear some of the clients. Because I hate asking people to repeat themselves, I early on told them, "I'm deaf, haven't selected hearing aids yet because I'm too proud, so can you speak loudly please?" They all understood and obliged.
- I still want to hear stuff when I go hunting.
- I'm a cheap bastige - I want to buy something that I can expense as a "safety item" for work.
- For comparison, I had a Bose QC-35 noise canceling headset which I used for 3 years before giving to my daughter. They are for sound quality reference.
- Passive Hearing Protection: I still use these - ear muffs, ear plugs, when it's a 50-cal, double up.
- Active Hearing : Howard Leight Impact Pro electronic muffs. ~$70. Bulky, like wearing two hay bales on the side of your head. Says it has MP3 jack, which I tried once, but the sound quality is so bad, I tried only once. I literally left these behind at the range one day, and have never missed them.
BEST : Peltor EEP-100 ear plugs ~$170
- Basics : These come with a compact charging case and 4 different sets of ear insert adapters. It charges via USB cable (easy, red light when charging, green light when charged). I also bought the "skull skrew" adapters but haven't tried them because one included pair works well.
- Subjective : Ugly, fluorescent green, and obvious to anyone looking at you. But hey, some guys wear ear rings. I don't.
- Comfort : I wore them for four hours doing shotgun and rifles and did not notice them.
- Protection when Off : they work like normal ear plugs and abate sound well (provided you have inserted them properly)
- Ease of Use : easy to insert, easy to turn on, adjust volume and turn off (presuming you have a sense of feel on your fingertip). I haven't read the manual yet.
- Active Sound Abatement : this is where these shine. Four hours of use where we burned through ten boxes of shotgun shells and 40 rifle rounds, I could chat with my fellow shooters while others are shooting around me. They don't "cut off" when a shotgun or rifle report sounds, they clip the noise to a comfortable level. When someone is using a magnum with muzzle brake, with the report, you hear what sounds like knocking on wood. I put a set of passive muffs on because of this. Could still hear conversations well and no more "knocking".
- Battery life : four hours and didn't die. I'm happy with that.
- Extra Features : None. If you're looking for bluetooth, read on for the Walker Razors.
- Cons : The ear adapters seem cheesy. I think I'll like the extra "skull skrews" more.
Walker Razor XV blue tooth ear buds - ~$100
- Basics : Around the neck collar with retractable ear buds. USB Chargeable. Bluetooth capable.
- Added Note : There are multiple models of the Walker Razors. The XVs in the link above say "omnidirectional microphone" but that's inaccurate. They have microphones in each ear bud, so you have directional hearing. Lesser models just have the single microphone in the collar.
- Subjective : I would have thought these gave head motion restriction. Not at all. I worry about the longevity of the cables attached to the ear buds.
- Comfort : Longest single stint I wore them was for five hours on a plane ride. You definitely notice them, but considering the Bose QC-35 would give me a headache from the constant clamp on the side of my head, these are more comfortable.
- Protection when Off : they work as well as serious ear plugs, meaning I cannot hear a darned thing when they are off.
- Ease of Use : Like the Peltors, easy to insert, easy to turn on, adjust volume and turn off (presuming you have a sense of feel on your fingertip). I haven't read the manual yet. I wonder (haven't researched) if they can be connected to and the sound response altered using USB and a computer.
- Active Sound Abatement : Similar in reaction though noticeably louder than the Peltor earbuds. When someone is using a magnum with muzzle brake, with the report, you hear a very brief ringing like microphone feedback. Using passive muffs with these works very well too, and no more ring. If you're listening to bluetooth music, when the sound abatement kicks in, the music volume is not affected.
- Battery life : Nine hours total on a one-stop plane trip, the longest leg being five, no recharge needed. I'm very happy with that.
- Extra Features : Bluetooth sound, better sound quality than Skullcandy ear buds, not as good as Bose QC-35s. You can watch a movie or listen to music and still hear everything around you, plus converse (for those of you whose wives like to talk to you while you're watching a movie - mine does). Because they don't do "noise canceling", they're not the best for using as a bluetooth headset for talking on the phone in a noisy environment.
- Cons : The ear adapters are blocky like the yellow 3M plugs. The smallest provided barely fit into my ear canal. Pulling them out after the plane landed in Portland, the bud pulled out but the foam piece stayed stuck in my ear.
Peltor Tactical 100 Slim Ear Muffs - ~$55 at Cabelas
- Basics : These define barebones. Directional hearing (important). Uses two AAA batteries. Single power/volume knob.
- Subjective : These are thin, which I need for shooting rifles. Easy to leave powered or accidentally turn on. I've had batteries die on these 2x while shooting. I'm not the biggest fan of active or passive ear muffs alone. While they abate high frequency noise well, they don't do low too well (like mowing the lawn, etc). Hence, I usually double-up.
- Comfort : They're muffs. As long as you can tolerate a clamp on your head, you're GTG.
- Protection when Off : they work like normal ear muffs and abate sound well.
- Ease of Use : If you cannot figure these out, have someone check your pulse.
- Active Sound Abatement : They shut off when a loud sound happens, well below the 80dB range. Clap your hands, you'll hear them cut out. Ambient noise (talking, etc) is also shut off when this happens.
- Battery life : As long as you don't leave them on or accidentally turn them on, seems pretty good. After them dying the first time, I always carry a spare set of AAA batteries.
- Extra Features : None. Any color you want, as long as it's black.
- Cons : I like these, but they block my cheek weld on 1/2 my rifles.
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