Over the last while I've been looking for a reasonable hearing protection solution, because of my occupation I can't risk any hearing damage at all and so must be most careful. Most of my shooting, as a new shooter, is at the range but I get to shoot at game (deer) maybe 3 - 4 times in the year.

With this in mind my focus was initially on the range and I concluded, both from experience and from what figures I could find, that to be safe it was necessary to wear both muffs and ear plugs. Getting a pair of suitable muffs was easy and I found the Peltor Optime III to offer significant attenuation at a very reasonable price while being comfortable to wear:

http://www.peltor.se/int/Product.asp?PageNumber=154&Pro..._Id=55&Product_Id=66

Getting ear plugs proved to be a somewhat less simple process. I found that many of the larger plugs quite simply did not fit me very well and so I ended up, generally, going for the smaller plugs on offer. These people do a great trail pack which allows you to try all the foam plugs they offer at very little cost:

http://earplugstore.stores.yahoo.net/?gclid=CIbtzMal0ZICFRcS1AodxFSvGQ

After some testing I found that the 3M 1100 plugs worked well for me but, as with all plugs, they can be a bit of a pain to insert. Sometimes they seemed to just slip right in but other times I had to mess about to get them correctly positioned. The 1100 plugs are somewhat more stiff than many and this helped a little with insertion. After trying all the options I have come to recommend the Peltor Next No-Touch plugs. They have a little tag and appear to be built around a little plastic shaft so it is very easy to push them into your ear and to get an effective seal. They appear to be somewhere between the smaller and larger sized plugs and so will probably fit most people. They are also easy to remove and reinsert and because you don't need to roll them between your fingers all the time they don't get dirty. I also found that the little tag was small enough that it didn't catch on my muffs. A picture can be seen here which shows what I'm trying to say:

http://earplugstore.stores.yahoo.net/penenofoea1p.html

In view of how quickly the No-Touch plugs can be inserted I suspect that they may also be useful in a hunting situation as some circumstances may allow the hunter to use them. Clearly plugs are only effective if inserted correctly and I suspect that the No-Touch plugs score on this front by making it simple to insert them to form an effective seal.

As discussed previously I have also fitted a moderator to my rifle and, at least in theory, this should bring the SPL produced down to below the 140dB(C) maximum recommended for an impulse noise. With this in place I would be happy to take the very occasional unprotected shot at game. Of course a moderator doesn't protect me from what others do at the range.

As a new shooter I don't have a lot of expertise to offer on this forum and so have more questions than answers but hopefully this might lead to some paying more attention to hearing protection. I hope the links and suggestions are also useful. In particular I think the earplug trial pack is an absolutely great idea and I would encourage anyone concerned about their hearing to give it a try.

What ? Speak up man I can't hear you !.


Wearing hearing protection is a smart Idea .

Custom made ear plugs for field use work very well . Hang them around your neck with those elastic straps used for glasses . There they will be handy quick and you will likely calm yourself before taking that shot .

Shoot Straight Know Your Target . ...

The range is the biggest problem, but easy to fix.
In the field, your own blast gets away better.
There is the earplug with the valve in it to allow normal hearing, and also electronic earmuffs that actually increase hearing for light sounds yet cut out the blasts.