Interesting article on hearing loss among hunters/shooters. More common among republicans because of higher gun ownership rates and hunting.

https://www.washingtonpost.com...ng-loss-republicans/

>>>>Americans who have fired 1,000 rounds or more face three times the rate of hearing loss as those who have never fired a weapon, according to an analysis of 2011 and 2012 observations from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. It’s a bit lower once you adjust for age and other factors — probably closer to 1.8 times the rate. .

“If ever there was an epidemic in the hunting community, it’d be hearing loss,” begins former editor Sam Lungren in MeatEater, an outlet that embraces hunting but not the culture wars that often go with it. “When target practice is a way of life, it’s easy to become blasé about earmuffs. When that buck is about to get over the ridge, jamming in ear plugs is the last of our worries.”

I did a lot of dove hunting without hearing protection as a younger man and my hearing is definitely not what it used to be.

But Dems are against silencers

Huh? Speak up!

betwen no ac/windows-down cars, motorcycles, guns, airplanes, and construction equipment, i am happy that I still have some hearing left

that's kind of an arbitrary line, 1,000 rounds - what happens at 10k? 20?

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
Huh? Speak up!

betwen no ac/windows-down cars, motorcycles, guns, airplanes, and construction equipment, i am happy that I still have some hearing left

that's kind of an arbitrary line, 1,000 rounds - what happens at 10k? 20?

Yes, one of the other big culprits is being around heavy machinery.

These days when shooting, I use foam inserts and Walker's Razor electronic muffs.

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Mitchell:

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
Huh? Speak up!

betwen no ac/windows-down cars, motorcycles, guns, airplanes, and construction equipment, i am happy that I still have some hearing left

that's kind of an arbitrary line, 1,000 rounds - what happens at 10k? 20?

Yes, one of the other big culprits is being around heavy machinery.

These days when shooting, I use foam inserts and Walker's Razor electronic muffs.

+1

I grew up in sulphur plants, sawmills. and around heavy equipment. I shot thousands of rounds with nothing more than a cotton ball for protection, and usually not even that. I raced motorcycles, operated an old Cat, and hammered nails and steel on construction jobs. Now, at 75, I can't hear some high pitched sounds, and if my ears quit ringing, I'd wonder what was wrong. I'm probably lucky to be able to hear as well as I do. If I had known then what I know now, I might have taken hearing protection more seriously. Regards, Bill

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Leeper:
I grew up in sulphur plants, sawmills. and around heavy equipment. I shot thousands of rounds with nothing more than a cotton ball for protection, and usually not even that. I raced motorcycles, operated an old Cat, and hammered nails and steel on construction jobs. Now, at 75, I can't hear some high pitched sounds, and if my ears quit ringing, I'd wonder what was wrong. I'm probably lucky to be able to hear as well as I do. If I had known then what I know now, I might have taken hearing protection more seriously. Regards, Bill

For me, If I knew then what I know now, I’d be a Bubble boy…I know it was The Moops…

I never owned any ear protection until I shot in college and was forced to buy some. I have made my son wear them always…except while hunting big game.

We shoot a 1000 rounds every 3 weeks at my house.

I do have some hearing loss…but still hear fairly well…just zero high pitched.

I just wear Walker Razors now.

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
I never owned any ear protection until I shot in college and was forced to buy some. I have made my son wear them always…except while hunting big game.

We shoot a 1000 rounds every 3 weeks at my house.

I do have some hearing loss…but still hear fairly well…just zero high pitched.

I just wear Walker Razors now.

My hearing is so shot I can barley read your post.

Mine is guns and probably more-so, fast, loud boats.

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
I never owned any ear protection until I shot in college and was forced to buy some. I have made my son wear them always…except while hunting big game.

We shoot a 1000 rounds every 3 weeks at my house.

I do have some hearing loss…but still hear fairly well…just zero high pitched.

I just wear Walker Razors now.

I'm fine if I'm in a place with no background noise. In a noisy restaurant or something, I am like "Huh?"

I read that story. Interesting. I’ve been handling firearms since literally before I can remember, though I’m pretty sure I would not have fired 1000 rounds lifetime. Have always used ear protection over the last twenty years when shooting but still have some pretty annoying tinnitus. In my case I put it down to a lot of power tool use (various saws and grinders) as a young man without protection.
My sons have used hearing protection on their own initiative for anything like that, even a vacuum cleaner, since they were kids. Hopefully they have better hearing late in life than their old man!

I don't notice my tinnitus until I read something about tinnitus or until I am in bed trying to go to sleep.

I have to sleep with a fan or some sort of background noise.

my hearing loss range, including the high end sounds, actually (there's a joke in this, but not joking) i can only hear about 1/3 of what my wife, daughters, and granddaughters say--- count your blessings, i guess

Yes, female voices, particularly where acoustics aren’t good, are harder for me. A judge before whom I used to appear (my best friend’s wife) was so hard for me to hear that
I had my ears checked. Turns out much of that particular problem was the speaker system in her courtroom.

Female voices are hard to hear. My female law partner insisted that I get hearing aids. They helped, but I still have a hard time hearing higher pitched female voices.

Im part deaf in one ear, too much shot gunning with no ear protection in my dim and distant youth.

Everything I own except one shotgun now has a moderator on it so shooting isn't and issue any more, but I need to remember to use earplugs on my motorbikes, which isn't always easy.

I had some preexisting hearing damage documented before I was 6. They caught it when I was in kindergarten. Near as I can tell it was a combination of frequent ear infections and the result of some antibiotics.

Then as a preteen using loud headphones so I could hear music.

Auto racing and gunfire certainly didn’t help things. I didn’t use hearing protection until I started shooting trap competitively in my mid teens.

My hearing is pretty shot. I’ve always had issues with crowds or background noise. I got an amplified stethoscope to help with things.

However, having this since so young I really don’t think I’m missing much… I never knew it in the first place.

It’s a bigger issue to folks trying to tell me things than anything else. Lip reading can do quite a bit- but TV and streaming is an issue because they no longer do a very good job with syncing things due to them being too worried about a dirty word getting on.

quote:

But Dems are against silencers

it has been reported that-
the US military could suppress every M4 in the inventory for less than the yearly VA budget for hearing care
(exams,testing, hearing aids, etc)

I don't think that would change the need for hearing testing in the military.

The M4 still would be excessively noisy due to the bullets being supersonic.

A suppressor will do jack-all on cannon.

Explosives are still loud.

The vehicles are also very loud- at least most of them.

On the KDR/training the troops are using hearing protection. Its in combat with situational awareness that they start not necessarily wearing it. The folks around aircraft are obsessive about it.

If there is some tactical role for them, then get them for that... but its not a hearing protection issue for the military. Shoot suppressed weapons for a while and you find they are not a panacea for everything.

Yes, that they are considered part of the NFA is silly, but other than a .22 (with standard velocity ammo) or a gun using subsonics you still need the hearing protection.

quote:

Originally posted by DuggaBoye:

quote:

But Dems are against silencers

it has been reported that-
the US military could suppress every M4 in the inventory for less than the yearly VA budget for hearing care
(exams,testing, hearing aids, etc)

Im sure the medical advice would be to use protection even with a silencer but I have to say on anything up to a 308 (as that's my experience) the silencer makes a huge difference in noise at your ear.

I use all of my rifles and 1 shotgun without protection (I only have 2 s/g's, 1 suppressed and 1 not). You only really hear the supersonic crack and that appears to come from some distance away, not right next to your ear.

You do get a lot more noise from a semi auto, I assume leaking out around the action, so I'm only referring to bolt guns.

The upside of no ear plugs is that you can still hear what's going on around you.

quote:

they are not a panacea for everything.

no,
then again the new "Spear" is a suppressed system
the new squad weapon wears a suppressor, etc
the Germans even do tank and artillery practice through stationary suppressors-

https://d2cdo4blch85n8.cloudfr...d-image-1568x882.jpg

https://forums.kitmaker.net/up...150305cfdcfd8a6.jpeg

the point as to cost-
was not that all hearing "care" from the VA would be no longer needed-
rather , that for a moderate cost in the overall scheme of things , future injury would be greatly mitigated.

as an old man and as a former competitive shooter, aviator, farmer/rancher, auto racer, etc,
yes, my hearing is markedly impaired - even with a fairly conscientious approach to protection from my pre-teen years.

all that said,
as former military and particularly as a physician, i have advocated for suppressors for over 5 decades-
and the shame is,
we KNEW what the damage potential was,
unlike some other issues veterans now face, and we as a nation refused to engage in better practice

It’s my understanding that the reason for the suppressor on the M5 is a combination of tactical advantage for making sound localization harder and for recoil reduction.

It’s not helpful for hearing protection.

If I don’t wear hearing protection with trap shooting and use a suppressed shotgun, my ears ring afterwards- which is a sign of damage.

If I shoot .308 with a suppressor, the same.

Is it “less damaging”?

I don’t know. Logically it would seem so, but there has been no formal proof of that.

As to the Germans using stationary suppressors when doing tank qualification, that may be, but it’s more about community complaints than protecting hearing, and I would think that your training is limited if you can only fire from one spot.

Providing foam earplugs to the troops when shooting is cheaper than the suppressors, and I’m sure part of the reason they don’t provide them to everyone is that there are additional costs beyond the silencer itself (cleaning, increased wear, more armorer time in switching between suppressed and unsuppressed fire, gas blowback issues, and so forth.

They also lengthen and add weight to an already portly system while the military is trying to cut soldiers basic load as it’s very heavy as it is.

The suppressor cost is undoubtedly the least of the issues for something as big as the US DOD.

I grew up shooting without ear protection and hunt without ear protection. My preferred hunting style is stalking. All my senses are important at that time. When required by a facility, I of course use hearing protection.

The funny thing about the first time I shot a cape buffalo, I didn't hear (or feel) the shot. I thought it was a misfire and asked the PH. I was so "wired" at the moment.

I won't use a suppressor on a firearm, or night vision assistance. I'm a traditionalist. All my rifles and shotguns have wooden stocks.

I like hunting the way it used to be.

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
my hearing loss range, including the high end sounds, actually (there's a joke in this, but not joking) i can only hear about 1/3 of what my wife, daughters, and granddaughters say--- count your blessings, i guess

No joke. I have trouble hearing voices over background music from the TV, only miss it when watching PBS...

Like many, I grew up in a different time. In my 20s id go out and fire 100 rnds from my 270 in a day, then go home and load the cases and do it again the next day. At the end of a weekends goat shooting like that id go to bed with such a ringing in my ears. Id shoot ducks and again be firing anywhere around 100 plus rounds a day with no ear protection.
Nowdays I cant hear my partner talk if we are in the car and she's on my left side, and the jug boiling pretty much means I cant understand what anyone is saying to me.
Its bloody good to see the newer generations of kids and hunters understanding the use of hearing protection.