Anyone keep hearing protection by their HD gun?

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I wear high quality electronic hearing protection on a daily basis while at work. Electronic hearing protection is great for use while shooting, giving instruction or just plain carrying on a converstion while shooting. In a potential life threatening situation while at home I wouldn't want it. First off, when wearing hearing protection you lose your sense of hearing direction (where did that sound or voice come from?). I know they sell head sets that are stereo and believe me it's not the same as natural hearing. I might suggest to you that you experiment with your hearing protection while indoors. I think you'll be surprised at how difficult it may be to track noise. Good Luck.
 
I have no qualms about using my firearms to defend myself/family at a moment's notice, with or without hearing protection. I just wondered whether anyone thought about it or did it. It seems as though my question has been answered with several valid points. Thanks for your input!
 
Yes, I have hearing protection handy for home defense. If need it and have time to get to it, fine, if not, fine.

I have had tinnitus for 15 years, and it SUCKS. It amped up a few years ago and really sucks. Protect your ears. Once you get tinnitus, THERE IS NO GOING BACK.
 
Oh for God's sake is directed at the notion of taking time to put on hearing protection during a self defense emergency...

And the ridiculousness of asking if anyone does it.
 
SaxonPig, if I hear a "bump in the night" and I go to investigate, it costs me nothing to pop my Walkers muffs on.

On the plus side:

1. no hearing damage if shots are fired.
2. once shots are fired anyone without hearing protection will be temporarily deaf, giving me a serious advantage should the situation continue.
3. My Walkers are pretty damn nice and enhance my hearing. I use them when hunting and am very comfortable with them.

Yes, obviously if the door is already kicked in I won't even think of the ear muffs. I'll use them if the situation warrants, and not if it doesn't.
 
Whaddya think?
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I don't think it's as outright ridiculous as some here seem to think.

I've never experienced electronic ear protection. The idea of having enhanced hearing capabilities in an SD situation that was evolving slow enough to put them on has some appeal.

But...if in fact they interfere with directional hearing - they may not be such a good idea.
 
I have chosen to have some hearing protection available, and I think there is a place for hearing protection as long as it is planned out. I live in a small apartment in the city so I really don't want to be shooting at all due to surrounding neighbors and the small room size bouncing every shot back to my ears a few dozen times. So right now I have some simple alarms on the front door and my bedroom door, and my bedroom door has a door jam on it.

In an emergency right now my plan is to grab my nightstand gun and cell phone which are stored in the same compartment, retreat to my closet that has it's own door barricade on it. Next step is to get out the shotgun, call police, speaker phone, then put on my electronic hearing protection and sit tight. In the closet I have a small dresser that is placed to provide me some cover/concealment.

I put the hearing protection in there because the closet is fairly long but not very wide and even with the clothes hanging in there to absorb some of the sound, it would be a pretty bad echo chamber. I don't plan on clearing any rooms, I should have more than enough time to get into the safe room, and I don't think that anybody would really stick around after 2 alarms in an apartment complex and hearing the police on speakerphone.

There are a lot of other steps before getting hearing protection but if you have the time to put them on, why not?
 
I think they would be a great idea, they could keep you from hearing your own screams, your wifes screams, and your childrens screams. Of course it didn't have to be that way. If you had taken that one second that it took to put on ear protection and used it to kill the BG he wouldn't have taken control.
 
No, but I do sleep with cotton balls in my ears. It muffles loud noises but still allows you to hear what's going on around you.
;)
 
This weekend I did a blood workup on a man that had been horribly burned in Iraq. While I tried to ignore the scarring on his face he must have noticed my distaste. He told me not to worry about it because he believed his country was worth the price he had paid.
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wow..


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Hearing protection is simply not needed. I have been exposed to ton's of shots in close quarters w/o hearing protection, up to 120mm. Not to mention IED blasts. If you are really close to it, you don't even hear it, just see the flash and feel the shockwave. Auditory exclusion as was mentioned earlier. You are deaf for a while afterwards, sometimes up to a week. Still have quite a bit of ringing sometimes, but tested as having no hearing loss after about 6 months home.
 
If your mind is focused on ear protection then you are not ready for self protection.
 
If I intentionally pull the trigger on someone, it will be a situation where I'd be willing to give up my left nut to get out of the situation. I can't imagine having the frame of mind to put on earmuffs in such a situation.

I had a false alarm once. I went from a deep sleep to about 160 heart beats/minute in a matter of seconds. My first thought was "Where the heck am I?" My second thought was "What is that noise?" My third thought was "Oh crap."

After that, everything was automatic. As they say, you do what you're trained to do. I picked up my phone and dialed 911. Then, I grabbed my gun. Then, I started to calm down a bit. I've since modified my training to grab my gun before dialing 911.

If you're going to use earmuffs, your training should involve putting them on.
 
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Nope. I need my hearing at 100% until the shooting starts.

Likely the adrenaline will be pumping so hard, it wouldn't make a difference anyway.
 
If your mind is focused on ear protection then you are not ready for self protection.

This is what I was saying. On the other hand, I guess you could wear your electronic ear protection 24/7 just in case. Seems a bit out of place-kinda like sleeping in your body armor. If you are in a zone that is so hot, you need to do these things, you might consider other interventions besides ear muffs-like getting the heck outta there. For the what if once in a lifetime citizen scenario, it is just not a reasonable concern, IMHO. On the other hand, I would say your hearing is important, so protect it when it is reasonable and prudent to do so. I just think that priority would be about number 100 during SD/HD encounters. How many Cops put them on when conducting stops, raids etc.? They have OSHA oversight.

Nuff said

Shooter429
 
I cannot imagine being worried about my hearing if I was in a self-defense situation.... at least.. not until I get a UNIVERSAL REMOTE, then I can just hit pause, insert ear plugs, hit play, and resume....:neener:
 
Against everyone else's opinion, which seems blatantly biased to me, I choose to have some ear protection handy.

I don't relish the idea of permanent ear damage.
And I also do not relish the idea of being temporarily deaf in the middle of a situation. Auditory Exclusion does not stop the ear damage, and it causes temporary deafness.

Apparently some people here already have horrible hearing, because even with ear plugs, I can still hear people talk, albeit quite muffled. And they even make earplugs now that work like the electronic muffs, while being completely non-electronic. They work GREAT, by allowing me to hear fully and then blocking out gunshots. Combat Earplugs, look them up. Even a $.25 pair of Silencios are a commodity.
 
I understand that when you are in a fight for your life, the sound of a gun doesn't bother you. Later, you will be amazed that it didn't deafen you.
 
No, not a chance. No disrespect but, are you serious? You are using a weapon to defend your life or those you love. There is no time or place to worry about something so trivial as hearing protection. Not trying to be an a$$. Just suggesting that there are far more important things to worry about.
 
I wear a set of Peltor 6 electronic muffs when hunting. I have put in hundreds of hours with them. I don't know where the idea that you lose your sense of auditory direction while wearing them comes from, but I suspect it's from people who have never worn a pair. I have had no trouble distinguishing exactly where sounds are coming from while wearing them. One note: you do have to adjust them to normal sound level or it is extremely hard to judge how far away a sound is.

The only problem with using them is that the sound controls have to be adjusted individually for level every time you put them on. If I were to use a pair for HD, then I would rewire them so the volume controls could be left at the normal level and the unit turned on and off instantly with one central switch.

------------

While auditory exclusion is a real phenomenon, it does not save your ears from damage. You may not be aware of the sound, but it damages your ears nevertheless.
 
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