Ear Protection, yes or no.
- Thread starter jon15
- Start date
Ray7756
Well-Known Member
Personaly I dont use ear defenders when stalking, but if you think the noise is to much for your ears, use the electronic type that magnify sound at normal levels so you can hear normally the then blank out the loud crack when you fire, im a bit old to worry about it now as firing 7.62 and GPMGs in the forces without defenders has already done the damage
but I use defenders al the time on the range
Cheers
Ray
but I use defenders al the time on the range
Cheers
Ray
Must admit I don't wear them for stalking or rough shooting/wildfowling as I feel you lose too much situational awareness which compromises safety. Definitely wear protection for clays or range work though. I personally get routine hearing screening through my work but if you choose not to wear ear protection it might be worth just getting annual check at any of the high street providers (e.g. Spec savers) - all give you a good idea of any potential degradation and help you assess risk vs need?
Last edited:
I wear them with a shotgun, a rifle no however it's something I've started to do
mchughcb
Well-Known Member
I've been wearing hearing protection as long as i can remember. I currently use the msa supreme pro X plus i had custom ear molds made up. I use the ear muffs for attaching a camera so i have not migrated to the electronic ear moulds but i will do at some stage. After years of working on rock drills my hearing is above average for my age and i intend to keep it that way.
I'm stupid.
Last edited:
I don't use any when taking single shots from a moderated rifle when shooting in anger out and about. Benefit being that I cannot hear people call me stupid ha ha.
ON the range or when zeroing or in situations where I am taking more than one shot, I use ear protection all the time.
Semi stupid then maybe. Not deaf, just have to ask twice.
ON the range or when zeroing or in situations where I am taking more than one shot, I use ear protection all the time.
Semi stupid then maybe. Not deaf, just have to ask twice.
so no, I don't
enfieldspares
Well-Known Member
What he says. +1. Nor for pigeon decoying from a hide. Stupid though not to. If I do wear them, for clays, I wear Peltor mil-spec muffs or if I've mislaid them any other muffs that fall to hand.
Druid
Well-Known Member
I don’t wear with my moderators but they are quite quiet compared to some others that I have come across. there is definitely a variation in noise attenuation between different brands and models. Don’t assume that all are equal as far as noise levels are concerned.
i have used electronic ear defenders for a good few years for shotguns and range work etc. I suffer from tinnitus and trust me it is a complete pain in the arse. The sense of complete frustration and on occasion despair that you cannot just escape it EVER will certainly make you regret your choice not to take care of your ears. I sit here now as I type this feeling the pressure in my ears and the high pitched whine that CANNOT be removed.
by the way it seemed to appear pretty quickly so don’t think that you can just carry on shooting without problems and wear protection when it becomes a problem. Once the damage is done, that is that!
i have used electronic ear defenders for a good few years for shotguns and range work etc. I suffer from tinnitus and trust me it is a complete pain in the arse. The sense of complete frustration and on occasion despair that you cannot just escape it EVER will certainly make you regret your choice not to take care of your ears. I sit here now as I type this feeling the pressure in my ears and the high pitched whine that CANNOT be removed.
by the way it seemed to appear pretty quickly so don’t think that you can just carry on shooting without problems and wear protection when it becomes a problem. Once the damage is done, that is that!
caorach
Well-Known Member
There is quite a lot of common sense being talked on this thread.
Hearing damage generally happens due to a "dose" of noise - so loud noise for a short time can give you the same dose as much less loud noise over a much longer time period. Once you go over about 140dB(C) there is the potential for a noise to cause instant, and in some cases total, hearing loss though I've never seen a detailed treatment of this and never seen a documented instance of the total loss. Surprisingly there aren't many very good studies of the sound pressure levels produced by a rifle and a lot get it completely wrong by using meters that integrate or have a very slow rise time, or microphones unable to cope with the pressure wave. I've seen people adamant (this isn't the same as being a singer in the 1980s) that a rifle produces less than 100dB(A) for example. In the decent studies that have been done it is generally found that a centre fire will produce something just over 160dB(C), maybe 165dB(C).
Most moderators will give you a reduction in the sound pressure level of about 30dB and so they should be reducing the level of your rifle shot to below that at which instant damage can take place. The decibel scale is logarithmic and so small changes can be extremely significant: 3dB represents a doubling of power for example.
If your rifle is below the level at which instant damage can occur, as it should be if moderated, you are then into considering the "dose" that you will receive from a rifle shot and then you enter a world of considering the SPL and the duration and so on. I believe one of the forestry organisations looked into this and produced figures relating to the number of shots it was considered "safe" to fire in a day with a moderated rifle, if you hunt around the web you might find the research somewhere, this might be it but I don't have time to read it just now to check:
https://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/crsafety4.pdf/$FILE/crsafety4.pdf
In the end it would be unwise to tell you what to do and measuring and calculating your specific personal exposure with your setup is extremely complex indeed. As others have pointed out, however, if you are firing a lot of rounds or being exposed to others firing a lot of rounds in relatively short periods of time, say a single 24 hour period, then you need to limit your dose (dose is the key word here) by wearing additional hearing protection. Remember damage is caused not just by a maximum sound pressure level but also by time (i.e. number of shots) you are exposed to this maximum SPL and you also need to consider other noise that you will be exposed to in that time frame as that will also have an impact. With a rifle shot being of such short duration, and assuming you are not then going to spend the afternoon operating a pneumatic drill, it is likely that a single shot, maybe even a small number of shots, will be well below the level at which damage may occur however it is down to you to satisfy yourself of this as others can't take responsibility for your safety.
Hearing damage generally happens due to a "dose" of noise - so loud noise for a short time can give you the same dose as much less loud noise over a much longer time period. Once you go over about 140dB(C) there is the potential for a noise to cause instant, and in some cases total, hearing loss though I've never seen a detailed treatment of this and never seen a documented instance of the total loss. Surprisingly there aren't many very good studies of the sound pressure levels produced by a rifle and a lot get it completely wrong by using meters that integrate or have a very slow rise time, or microphones unable to cope with the pressure wave. I've seen people adamant (this isn't the same as being a singer in the 1980s) that a rifle produces less than 100dB(A) for example. In the decent studies that have been done it is generally found that a centre fire will produce something just over 160dB(C), maybe 165dB(C).
Most moderators will give you a reduction in the sound pressure level of about 30dB and so they should be reducing the level of your rifle shot to below that at which instant damage can take place. The decibel scale is logarithmic and so small changes can be extremely significant: 3dB represents a doubling of power for example.
If your rifle is below the level at which instant damage can occur, as it should be if moderated, you are then into considering the "dose" that you will receive from a rifle shot and then you enter a world of considering the SPL and the duration and so on. I believe one of the forestry organisations looked into this and produced figures relating to the number of shots it was considered "safe" to fire in a day with a moderated rifle, if you hunt around the web you might find the research somewhere, this might be it but I don't have time to read it just now to check:
https://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/crsafety4.pdf/$FILE/crsafety4.pdf
In the end it would be unwise to tell you what to do and measuring and calculating your specific personal exposure with your setup is extremely complex indeed. As others have pointed out, however, if you are firing a lot of rounds or being exposed to others firing a lot of rounds in relatively short periods of time, say a single 24 hour period, then you need to limit your dose (dose is the key word here) by wearing additional hearing protection. Remember damage is caused not just by a maximum sound pressure level but also by time (i.e. number of shots) you are exposed to this maximum SPL and you also need to consider other noise that you will be exposed to in that time frame as that will also have an impact. With a rifle shot being of such short duration, and assuming you are not then going to spend the afternoon operating a pneumatic drill, it is likely that a single shot, maybe even a small number of shots, will be well below the level at which damage may occur however it is down to you to satisfy yourself of this as others can't take responsibility for your safety.
My hearing loss / ringing in the ears is being around.....
Grass track bikes from a boy (straight pipe 500cc Jap )
Shooting Clays/Rough Shooting from 14 no head phones....
Years in a tool room...
Panel beating....
Mobile welding....
And...and...and...
I wear ear defenders pigeon shooting as on a busy day could easy be 150/200rounds..
Also wild fowling it keeps my ears warm lol
Tim.243
Grass track bikes from a boy (straight pipe 500cc Jap )
Shooting Clays/Rough Shooting from 14 no head phones....
Years in a tool room...
Panel beating....
Mobile welding....
And...and...and...
I wear ear defenders pigeon shooting as on a busy day could easy be 150/200rounds..
Also wild fowling it keeps my ears warm lol
Tim.243
enfieldspares
Well-Known Member
There was a man at Bisley...used J H Steward's premises...who did a hearing test with a toy train. He'd sit you with your back to it and then run the toy train (it was electric) round a "O" shaped track. He'd ask you to rise a finger on one hand when you couldn't hear it. And a finger on the other hand when you could.
Apparently shooting also affects how much of an all around quadrant that you can hear and the more the damage the more you develop a missing section or greater or lesser size from that quadrant. He also used to use headphones to play a "sssh" noise and would gradually lower the volume until you couldn't hear it as, again, shooting reduces that width of hearing.
Yet even as "late" as the mid-1970s when I did a one week artillery course at Larkhill the only ear protection provided were small earplugs inserted in the ears and not full-on earmuffs.
Apparently shooting also affects how much of an all around quadrant that you can hear and the more the damage the more you develop a missing section or greater or lesser size from that quadrant. He also used to use headphones to play a "sssh" noise and would gradually lower the volume until you couldn't hear it as, again, shooting reduces that width of hearing.
Yet even as "late" as the mid-1970s when I did a one week artillery course at Larkhill the only ear protection provided were small earplugs inserted in the ears and not full-on earmuffs.
Last edited:
Similar threads
