I was in Nashville last week for the rollout of Beretta’s new, updated APX A1 pistol. I’ve been to more than a few of these kinds of events and the companies that put them on are always nice enough make eye and ear protection available for everyone in attendance who don’t bring their own.

I always bring my own to these things. I have custom-molded silicone passive internal plugs and very good electronic over-the-ear muffs. I also carry some plain-Jane, cheapie foam plugs.

The APX A1 event was held indoors. As anyone who’s ever shot at an indoor range can tell you, it can be brutal, sometimes even overwhelming good ear pro depending on the number of shooters and what they’re shooting around you. That’s why when I shoot at indoor ranges I almost always double up with my Peltor 500s over standard foam plugs.

Beretta provided their Off Shot Mini Headset passive earplugs, so I decided to give them a try…and was surprised to find that I could comfortably shoot indoors with lots of others around me doing the same. I didn’t need the over-ear muffs.

The Off Shot plugs come with three sizes of silicone tips to fit your particular ear. That was another surprise. When I’ve tried other in-the-ear options, I usually have to go with foam plugs to seal out the noise enough for comfort. These did the job just fine.

They’re obviously not custom molded, bu they’re nicely contoured to fit most ears.

They’re comfortable, unobtrusive, wont interfere with a long gun stock, and because they handle indoor noise levels, they now live in my everyday carry bag. I’m pretty sure they won’t stand up to some guy shooting an AK with a comp in the stall next to you, but for most situations — and virtually all outdoor use — they’re great.

The Off Shot passive plugs are rated at 32 dB NRR and retail at about $50. I’m a fan.

 

 

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

29 COMMENTS

  1. Dan, like you, I always double up inside. You used these with no other protection indoors?

    • Yeah I’d like to know that. Gonna be 68 and I always double up. And my AR is LOUD. I don’t bother with fancy wifi stuff because I know there’s a tiny delay. These look pretty good & affordable…

    • Yep. No over-ear muffs for almost three hours. We all shot the guns ourselves, zeroed our red dots, then competed in a variety of shooting drills. I was surprised that they worked as well as they did indoors. I had the Peltors in my bag, but didn’t feel the need to use them.

      • You would think TTAGs ultra-sophisticated, omnipresent, omnipient, oppressive, made in China and brought to you by Pfizer Moderation and Re-education Module would be capable of toning that down for us. I mean, might as well make it useful as well as annoying, right?

  3. If you like stuffing stuff in your ears it’s probably a good product. For me it has to be the headphone types. Unfortunately for home defense, etc. there is no time for hearing protection of any kind thanks in part to the hoops and expense one has to endure to own a can/suppressor. Nonetheless for self defense some hearing cells have to be sacrificed because one must be acclimated to shooting inside and outside without hearing protection. After a few session shots and some ear ringing from a typical self defense handgun and rifle then it’s back to hearing protection.

    • I have a little trick that “may” protect my hearing in case of home invasion. I put an earplug in my right ear when I sleep. Since I generally sleep on my left side & shoot right handed I at least won’t blow my right ear out & still hear an intruder. Thought about headphones but it seems unnecessarily tough in the dark. I killed a little hearing over the years and want to maintain some in my old age…

      • Actually, that’s not a bad idea.

        A little like keeping your night vision by keeping one eye shut if you need to be exposed to light…

    • A few gunm shots wont blow your ear drums to smithereens ruined for life.
      Ear protection is great but a little overhyped.
      I dont use ear pro unless I’m target shooting.
      I also cant hear so great, cant hear whistles, or them house fire alarms, some birds and frogs, also I hear katydids and crickets all the time, high pitched frequencies I cant hear.
      However that’s from a lifetime of gunm fire, chainsaws, cut off saws, skill saws, drills , impact wrenches,turbine powered farm equipment, lawnmowers, and blombs.
      A couple shots in your house or hunting ain’t going to deafen you for life.
      Do I reccomend ear pro, you betcha, even cigarette butts stuck in your ears are better then nothing.

  4. One note. If you follow the affiliate link in the article to the Amazon listing for these ear plugs. I highly recommend hearing protection if you choose to watch the video that is included in the listing because it is extraordinarily loud compared to most online videos.

    Actually my even stronger recommendation would be to not bother watching the Beretta video that is part of their listing for this item, because the video contains absolutely zero information about this or any other product – just loud music and a montage of useless photos (which don’t even show the product)

  5. I guess that I have to be the first to say it: I had to do a triple-take on that profile photo to convince myself that it was Dan and not Mark Levin!

  6. A writer’s failure to manage a proper headline for the topic due to a lack of information on the subject might be a genuine challenge. A thesis proposal writing service of failure arises from the pressure of processing information and perfecting writing techniques. This perplexity makes it impossible to condense the subject and write it in a logical manner.

  7. PG slot returns the loss Applying for onlyfans to spin slots on our slotxoth website is worth more than spinning slotxoth. pgThere are several games from which to pick. More valuable than actual money and bonuses from over 100 games, and certainly more valuable than onlyfans pg

  9. Hey Dan,

    As a big consumer of music, I’ve tried a bunch of different ear buds. From cheapos off Amazon to the real spendy name branded stuff. They all have one thing in common. None of them offer a good seal from outside noises. I can hear the lawn mower, a fan running at high speed when sitting inside or laying in bed, etc.
    I read your review and even with your praise for these, I looked real closely at the picture.
    They are pretty much the same design as a good ear bud. Did you feel the seal was really great? I shoot outdoors at our sportsman’s club 100% of the time. A few of my rifles have obnoxiously loud brakes that do a great job of keeping them on target in my gas operated rifles. However, the loud boom booms even with foamies and doubled up with really good muffs still leave a sting and ring at times. Are these worth a shot?(pardon the corny pun, sir)
    I’d love to find a comfortable solution, especially now that summer is here and it’s super hot out on the range. Great write up, but I’m wondering if you think these will solve my issue? Thanks

    J

  10. Your work is really good and I appreciate this information. I forever prefer to read quality and glad I found this thing in your post. Thank you for the comprehensive article.

  11. mscwin รวมความบันเทิง ไว้ทุกรูปแบบ ที่ pgslot เว็บไซต์สล็อตของพวกเราการพัฒนาระบบนั้นพาไปสู่ความนำสมัยที่เดี๋ยวนี้นั้นท่านไม่สามารถที่จะหาได้จากที่ไหนอีกแล้ว ตรงนี้ mscwin ที่เดียวในโลก

  17. They’re actually rated at 25 NRR (US rating) and 32 SNR (EU rating). When you purchase it, you also have the attenuation chart on the box if I remember correctly.

Comments are closed.