What is the best hearing protection ?

Question

My daughter has cerebral palsy but has hunted with me and her brother for years. Her condition causes her to be startled by sudden loud noises very easily. She hate the gun range and refuses to go. She shoots a bb gun with a red dot scope at home and is ready to move to a 22 but I need the best thing to muffle the sound thats available. She jumps so bad at loud noises that she nearly jumps out of her chair when I shoot from our blind. We currently use earplugs plus and muff type protection. Is there anything better?

Answer 1

The BEST ear protection you can get is using BOTH ear plus(foam works best, or 3 flange type) and ear muffs.

If that doesn't work, maybe a beanie or some extra head gear?

Answer 2

A combination of ear muffs and plugs give better noise reduction than either alone. When you are shopping for hearing protection, look for the NRR (Noise reduction rating). The higher number, the better it quiets the sound.

There are custom-fitted earplugs available. Basically, they are soft, moldable material that takes the shape of the ear canal, and blocks out a lot of the noise. Check with an audiologist, or a place that sells hearing aids.

Answer 3

Hearing protection is annoying, but theres some good headmuffs out there.

Answer 4

The best hearing protecton for when you are shooting a .22 would be the foam ear plugs.  They are comfortable and they provide about 15 decibels of protection.  The NRR (Noise Reduction Rating) printed on the box is about 30 but this is a laboratory derrived number.  To get the real world NRR, you divide the published NRR by 2.  It has been my experience that the flanged plugs are a bit less comfortable than the foam plugs when worn for long periods of time.  I do not recommend the custom moulded plugs because of the cost.  They provide very little more protection thatn do the foam plugs but cost many times more than the foam plugs.  Over time, the custom moulded plugs are subject to becoming misshapen and do not fit as tightly as when they were new.  When this happens, you loose almost all of the hearing protection.

Muffs are another hearing protection device.  Muffs do not provide as much protection as will the foam plugs.  When properly fitted and properly worn, the muffs will provide somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 to 12 real world NRR.  They are best when worn with ear plugs.  The combination of ear plugs and properly fited and worn muffs will give you the maximum protection.

As an addendum, for an ear muff to provide its maximum protection, nothing must be in the sealing area.  The muffs must seal completely around your ears.  If such things as long hair or glasses ear pieces are in the sealing area, the wearer will not get the maximum protection.  For plugs to work, they must be rolled as small as possible and quickly inserted deeply into the ear canal before they expand to normal size.  If not used properly, they will not provide the hearing protection they were designed to provide.

These devices will protect against the noises that enter the ear canal.  Noise can also be conducted into the inned ear by a means called bone conduction.  As sound waves strike the skull, they can be conducted through the bone to the inner ear.  To protect against bone conduction, usually ony a problem with very loud noises, you need to cover the head with a sound absorbing material.  If you could find something like an old world war II insulated leather aviators helmet, that would be a good means of protection against bone conduction.  I know this would be almost impossible to find but I gave it as a means of illustratingf the kind of protection that works well for bone conduction.  Perhaps some kind of insulated winter hat could be found that would do the job could be readily found.

Good luck and my The Lord bless your daughter.

Answer 5

.22 isn't that loud of a calibre so if ear plugs are comfortable they are the best choice because if u are shooting properly muffs get in the Way (unless u are shooting a hand gun) the best thing would be to go and buy a pair of high grade shooting type muffs they need to be shooting not work style there is a difference u should be able to get them at a local gun shop if not cabals or SIR or hole-sale sports would have them in there fall (hunting shooting) catalogue

Answer 6

You may have to go to a specialist, and have custom ear plugs specially made to fit her ears.  This is the best hearing protection available, but it is costly.  Your insurance may cover the cost?

Maybe she just hates our sport altogether.  That's ok.  It's not for everybody.  I don't care for golf myself.

I wish you and your daughter the best of luck.