Hearing Protection for Clays – What Actually Works (and What Have You Learned the Hard Way)?

ModestDaniel

ModestDaniel

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Looking to dial in a solid hearing protection setup for trap and getting into sporting.

Main priorities:
  • Doesn’t interfere with gun mount
  • Comfortable over a full round
  • Something I’ll actually use consistently
For context, I’ve got some tinnitus, likely from shooting when I was young without proper protection, so trying not to make that worse.

Right now I’m using custom in-ear plugs only, which I like for comfort and consistency, but curious what others are running.
  • Anyone stick with customs long-term?
  • Anyone move away from them to electronic muffs or doubling up?
Also wondering if anyone has experience with the newer electronic plugs/muffs — are they actually worth it, or just more complexity?

Looking forward to the feedback.
Dan
 
My step-dad shot clays, trap and sporting clays as his secondary hobby after migratory game hunting for 50-ish years. He used custom fit and molded in-ear plugs his whole life. Occasionally if he was at a competition or somewhere that talking was often expected while shooting was close he would double up with and electronic earmuff (like a Walker's Razor) to slightly increase the protection and allow hearing other's talking through the in-ear plugs. He refused to use anything else.

Personally, I have moved to his method as anything else doesn't work for me. I don't shoot enough to get accustom to something else. I found the in-ear electronic not to work that well, personally, and the "rubber fin" plugs (like the Howard Leight AirSoft style) those devices use will not work in my ears (and I find them annoying): they don't encourage use. The in-ear customs and the thin ear muffs don't interfere with mounting a shotgun at all for me.

Just remember that doubling up is important in 100bd or higher environments, but it only adds 4–8 dB of extra protection beyond single-device use. NOT a product recommendation: other than custom earplugs, said to be -32Db, I keep a few Mack’s Maximum Protection Soft Foam (-33Db) and my ISOtunes DEFY Slim BT Earmuff (-21Db) from work on hand (work max expected is 90Db, so -21Db works fine).

More for other readers, not OP... Main thing is to find what is comfortable: you need to wear it, and want to. If what you choose doesn't encourage use (because they are annoying, can't mount the gun, etc) then you must change.

Just my opinion...
 
There is no way that I could wear muffs, so I went with molded plugs with valves ,close to ten years ago, after wearing foam plugs, for decades. I find the comfort excellent, and I can hear conversation well, but the hearing protection is excellent.
 
Esp America custom electronics.

I can't use muffs, they always interfere with my gun mount.

They are comfortable and because I can hear with the electronics, i dont pull them out to hear something and get blasted.

Used them for years, and my hearing tests are still excellent.
 
Aniest said:
My step-dad shot clays, trap and sporting clays as his secondary hobby after migratory game hunting for 50-ish years. He used custom fit and molded in-ear plugs his whole life. Occasionally if he was at a competition or somewhere that talking was often expected while shooting was close he would double up with and electronic earmuff (like a Walker's Razor) to slightly increase the protection and allow hearing other's talking through the in-ear plugs. He refused to use anything else.

Personally, I have moved to his method as anything else doesn't work for me. I don't shoot enough to get accustom to something else. I found the in-ear electronic not to work that well, personally, and the "rubber fin" plugs (like the Howard Leight AirSoft style) those devices use will not work in my ears (and I find them annoying): they don't encourage use. The in-ear customs and the thin ear muffs don't interfere with mounting a shotgun at all for me.

Just remember that doubling up is important in 100bd or higher environments, but it only adds 4–8 dB of extra protection beyond single-device use. NOT a product recommendation: other than custom earplugs, said to be -32Db, I keep a few Mack’s Maximum Protection Soft Foam (-33Db) and my ISOtunes DEFY Slim BT Earmuff (-21Db) from work on hand (work max expected is 90Db, so -21Db works fine).

More for other readers, not OP... Main thing is to find what is comfortable: you need to wear it, and want to. If what you choose doesn't encourage use (because they are annoying, can't mount the gun, etc) then you must change.

Just my opinion...
Click to expand...
Thanks for the feedback. This is great information.
 
Scar270 said:
Esp America custom electronics.

I can't use muffs, they always interfere with my gun mount.

They are comfortable and because I can hear with the electronics, i dont pull them out to hear something and get blasted.

Used them for years, and my hearing tests are still excellent.
Click to expand...
Wow. The ESP America Custom Electronics are no joke! Thanks for the feedback.
 
Currently i am wearing custom fit Isotunes Pro 2.0 hearing protection. They can be had without the custom fit of course. I find them excellant. I cannot wear muffs as they interfere with my mount.
I find the custom molded plugs to be a more comfortable fit for long durations. I find with the foam plugs, taper fit 2 are my preferred there, that after a few hours I start to "feel" them and need to take them out for a break. Cost is a big factor to consider as the Isotunes model i have were $330, that is a lot of earplugs even if you change them out a couple of times a day. The custom fit option pushed the total cost to close to $700.

As for the Isotunes i would still highly recommend them. You can listen to music, turn them into a complete ear plug with no ambient noise amplification or turn on the amplification for speaking between stations. When i shoot with them i leave them on all times until i get in the station at which point i turn them off to drown out any unwanted noise or chatter. If I'm shooting for score on a serious squad with no talking I turn some music on between stations and relax.
 
I have used just about every type of hearing protection. I’ve settled on Sordin Supreme with the gel cups and will never look back. They’re so comfortable and the sound quality is amazing. Have different modes depending on your activity. I use them for hunting as well as clay bustin. They’re a real advantage hunting!! I have custom moulded plugs as well but only use them if I forgot to pack the Sordins
 
osborne , how long have you had the ISOTunes?
One complaint I’ve read is they’ve not too robust and can get glitchy rather soon.

I’m not one for piped music while shooting, so wouldn’t get the BT version.
 
Twiki:
I work in an industrial setting (with very high dust levels) so my custom fit ISOtunes are used for both shooting and work. I have had this latest set about 6 months now and average about 15-20 hours of work use per week and shoot at once or twice a week.

I did have an issue when i first picked these up within the first week of use. Something went wrong with the right microphone and it kept sending a high pitched squeal into my ear. The entire ISOtunes product was sent back and replaced free of charge by the vendor i purchased through.

My father has been using a set of non-custom molded ISOtunes Advance BR 2.0 for over a year now with no issues. He shoots once a week and only uses the ISOtunes for shooting. He has had no issues.

I would think my usage is a bit harder then what a typical range set would see due to the dust/water/humidity/sweat they are exposed to. So far so good and good customer service. This is really all i have to offer on the reliability front!

One usage item anyone thinking of picking up the ISOtunes and using them outside shouldn't ignore is installing the wind protection foam. They are little foam stickers that go on over the microphones. Without them if you have the aware setting on the wind noise is picked up and sent into the headphone and it can be very loud and annoying. This is greatly reduced by the little foam protectors.
 
I've got severe hearing damage & tinnitus. I like the electronic over-ear as I can actually hear something with them on.
 
high volume trapshooter here-I went from 3M foam plugs to custom molded plugs for a few years. One day I forgot my custom molded plugs and used the 3M foam type again. I immediately noticed a HUGE difference in sound protection! The 3M plugs are cheap and protect WAY better than my custom plugs did. ( I had two different sets of custom plugs, and both were not as good as the 3M plugs). Going from memory, I think the 3M have a NRR of 32 while my custom plugs had a NRR of 26 or so. From what I have read, only a 1 or 2 number difference in NRR is HUGE. The NRR scale is not linear, but exponential? I'm sure someone here will explain the rating.
Anyhow, I have tinnitus from shooting without protection when I was young and stupid, but my hearing is still pretty good, and I want to keep it that way. Only the foamies for me when shooting 100 plus rounds a day.
 
There's good molded plugs and not so good molded plugs and I've had both. The ones I have now are great and I have to take one out if I'm to hear what people are saying but I had a pair a number of years ago that didn't work well at all, it's all in the fit.
Good foamies are hard to beat for blocking sound but I just don't find them comfortable after a while. Electronic muffs are good and sometimes I double up with molded plugs and muffs with the volume turned up high, then I can hear most conversations but still have vey good noise protection.
 
I use low profile electronic ear protection, Walker's...

Prior to that I would double up, using foam plugs & regular ear muffs.

I prefer the electronic ear protection.
 
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