I use only foam expanding plugs at the range, but a friend recently
> told me that you can still do ear bone
> damage by the sound hitting right behind the ear . True?
I'm not sure about shooting, but I wear the full blown headphone style
hearing protectors around the airplanes, mostly jets, at work. Word
around a/c is that the earplugs aren't as effective as the headset
style. Makes sense they won't be around guns either.
I think so, yes - it's called "bone conduction", if I'm not mistaken.
When you're working (or playing) around loud noises, you want as much
hearing protection as you can get, as a general rule...
Huh?
I did my damage with single session firing a Bersa .380 pistol. Never
thought about hearing protection.
Twentyfive years later and my right ear still rings all the time. I don't
know how guys who have been in battle
can hear anything.
Doug Wagner
i did my damage with 2 12" JL Audio subwoofers powered by 2 400 watt Planet
Audio amplifiers.
Sean Neilan
Peace leads to strength. Strength leads to war. War leads to weakness. Weakness
leads to peace.
Imagine what we will learn when people are not afraid to ask whatever they
wish?- JH
If sense is so common, why do so few people have it?
Actually, you will not suffer any damage because of bone conduction. Bone
conduction attenuates sound traveling through the air by approximately 60 dB.
This is more than enough reduction to prevent any acoustic trauma. What you do
want to be concerned about is the protection you are wearing in or over your
ears. Check the NR value of the plugs you are using. A good foam plug will
give you 30+ dB of noise reduction and in most cases will do the trick. But
plugs work the best for steady state noise while gunfire is actually a spiked,
impact noise. By far, shooting muffs are superior and muffs in combination
with plugs are superb. For larger caliber weapons, consider the muffs or
combo.
Mike
if your desperate, do what we do when we go out hunting, take ciggarette butts
and stick them in you ear (the filter side) they works allright as an improv
solution.
Sean Neilan
Peace leads to strength. Strength leads to war. War leads to weakness. Weakness
leads to peace.
Imagine what we will learn when people are not afraid to ask whatever they
wish?- JH
If sense is so common, why do so few people have it?
My hearing was badly degraded from a 105mm short round that landed within 20
feet of me and killed one of my Recon Marines along with the noise and
vibration from firing the M-60 with the right side of my head/ear against the
buttstock most of the time.
I remember once during my first year as a police officer when I forgot my ear
protectors on the range. I stuck a fired 357mag casing in each ear (back end
in) and it worked OK at reducing the noise but I would not recommend it as a
regular substitute for a set of proper ear protectors ;~)
"The world would be a much simpler place if every one could pick
and choose their obligations, but we can't and we shouldn't."
Major Charles W. Whittlesey
I seem to have gotten by just wearing foamies for the last 20 years...I
particularly prefer them when shooting a long gun.
Maybe I'm just lucky, or not old enough yet...
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