If you shoot alone at a noisy indoor range, your hearing protection choice is easy. Stuff a pair of 25-cent foam plugs in your ears and cover them with a pair of $10 muffs. But most gun owners shoot with an instructor, friends, kids or a spouse. They want to hear what their ballistic BFFs are saying. That means active hearing protection.
ProSounds has some experience here. Their M-Series muffs do a great job of preserving your cochlea while letting you hear conversational tones between gun blasts. Their latest effort: the new H2P in-the-ear hearing protection. It’s active hearing protection in a smaller, more comfortable package.
The H2P’s come thoughtfully packed with a handy little zip case and a variety of tips. The foam plugs provide the most protection (30 dB rated). ProSounds includes silicon tips (25 dB NRR) as well as something they call a “tulip” tip that lets some ambient sounds in . . . not something likely to appeal to most shooters.
When it comes to shooters’ ear pro, there are three main considerations: 1) noise attenuation 2) comfort and 3) price.
With the foam tips installed, the H2P’s 30dB rating protects your hearing as well as any rental counter pair of plugs. As for noise attenuation, they’re all you’ll need for shooting outdoors. And if you’re hunting, they will magnify ambient sounds up to six times so you’ll hear Bambi before he hears you.
The electronics’ active compression reduces gun blasts over 85dB, blocking the damaging spikes while letting you hear normal levels of sound. Indoors, however, your mileage may vary. Until The Range at Austin opens, the closest indoor range to me is a concrete box that I won’t walk into without both internal and external ear pro. If your indoor venue is better designed, you may be good to go sans muffs.
The H2Ps run on standard hearing aid batteries you can pick up in any corner Walgreens. A tiny dial on each unit functions as an on-off switch and volume control. They’re easy to adjust with a finger or nail edge.
The H2P’s are perfectly contoured to fit your ears (they did mine, anyway). Compress the foam plugs, insert and forget. You can shoot all day without the slightest discomfort.
In-ear electronic options typically run about the cost of a case of .45 range ammo. The ProSounds H2P’s will set you back . . . wait for it . . . $299. Some shooters will consider the H2P’s a luxury they can do without. Not me.
Specifications:
Protection method: variable electronic
Noise Reduction Rating: 30 dB with foam tips
Levels: up to 6X amplification
Price: $299 via Indiegogo campaign, shipping in November
Ratings (out of five stars):
Design * * * * *
Extremely comfortable design, easy one-dial volume adjustment.
Comfort * * * * *
They’re obviously light weight, but their shape conforms nicely to your ear anatomy. You won’t have any trouble wearing them all day long.
Noise Reduction * * * *
Shooters will likely want to confine themselves to the foam tips. With these, you can comfortably shoot outdoors and talk to your friends between magazines. While the silicone options are super-comfortable, they provide less protection.
Overall * * * *
Top-notch in-ear active hearing protection doesn’t come cheap. The ProSounds H2P’s are an ultra-comfortable solution that lets you shoot without the sweaty ears and longer-term discomfort of over-the-ear electronic muffs. The sound quality could be a little better, but the H2P’s give you the ability to hear — or even enhance — the non-damaging sounds around you while you enjoy your favorite eine kleine bang bang music.
“Until The Range at Austin opens, the closest indoor range to me is a concrete box that I won’t walk into without both internal and external ear pro.”
Oh, yeah.
*Hard* indoor ranges are physically punishing environs when popping off large cal magnum rounds.
So, is this a preliminary review then? I’d like to hear how the sound-amplifying part works out…
I tried a pair of their X-Pro plugs.
That product was horrible. More relevantly, the customer service response was abysmal, to put it politely.
So, thanks, but no thanks. I’m glad they’re working for you, but I’m not putting out that kind of coin without some guarantees and in-person testing. Especially not from these folks.
I like the 3M TEP-100 plugs with the foam-tip Skull Screw tips.
http://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/~/3M-PELTOR-TEP-100-Tactical-Earplugs-Kit-1-Kit-EA-Case?N=5002385+8709320+8709345+8711017+8713720+8720539+8720540+8726539+8729299+3292682142&rt=rud
I dunno, a good pair of active muffs is only about 50 bucks. Seems if I was really desperate to just use ear plugs I’d use cheap Peltor rubber ones instead.
Actually, a bad pair is 50 bucks. Good pairs are more expensive.
For me, I can’t justify the purchase of hearing protection that costs the same as a used gun in good condition. I’ll take the inability to talk on the firing line and my $50 protection. Others may disagree and have other priorities.
They can serve a double purpose. Not only do they cancel noise and allow you to talk at the range but they give you shall I say a “tactical” advantage in you home. If by some miracle when you hear the bump in the night if you have enough time to get your gun and put this hearing protection in, you can hear with super power capabilities. My electronic earmuffs that I use allow me to hear my dogs nails on the tile floor in the kitchen some 25 yards from my bedroom. That can allow you to hear a burgler coming in a certain window or door that you may not otherwise hear.
And if you’re hurting, they will magnify ambient sounds up to six times so you’ll hear Bambi before he hears you.
I hate amplified sound when I’m hurting, because it hurts.
I can image they would be *torture* under the effects of a screaming hangover…
Actually Dan,
If I’m shooting alone, my choice is clear and its different from your choice. But you should try my choice. I use a set of custom made ear inserts made from a $20 DIY Radans kit. Once you try custom, you will never go back. I can wear these for hours on end and they never itch or make my ears sore. I can pop them out just a crack to break suction and allow me to hear conversations.
And when I need to double up, I cover them with a set of amplified muffs and I get double layer hearing protection and the ability to hear spoken words. Simple and quick.
Nope, I don’t think these electronic ear plugs are very useful on the range.
But you have missed where they may be most useful. Hunting. Most hunters don’t use ear protection because it affects their ability to hear game and communicate with their hunting partners. Most won’t use muffs because it looks goofy and can get in the way of a proper shotgun mount. These change all that. You effectively have no hearing protection. . . until you do. Perfect.
“Most won’t use muffs because it looks goofy and can get in the way of a proper shotgun mount. These change all that. You effectively have no hearing protection. . . until you do. Perfect.”
*Exactly*
Some of the high-end in-ear earphone companies are discovering this and coming up with their versions of this that have an emphasis on high (-er than standard) fidelity.
Lots of folks don’t get anything much from the high end in audio, and that’s fine, but for those that do… 🙂
One other thing. Any piece of hearing protection that can take a standard insert, can also be fit to a custom insert. These things combined with a custom DIY Radans insert would be a nice cost effective alternative to a $500 set of etymotics or similar.
One other thing. These are identical to the SportEAR GhostStryke product on Midwayusa.com
Don
Silicon tips? Doesn’t sound too comfortable. I would much prefer silicone.
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