Eye and Ear Protection for shooting While using a firearm
Should you wear ear protection while shooting?
Whenever you are shooting your firearm, it is important to be wearing both eye and ear protection.
The loud noise created by your firearm when it fires can damage your hearing permanently.
A single gunshot, rated at about 140dB, can cause permanent hearing damage, according to government guidelines. Maybe it’s just a little at a time, but the damage adds up hunt after hunt.
Particles created by the firearm discharges can also injure your eyes. Wearing glasses while you shoot may also help you see better. To prevent long term damage to your hearing, wear earplugs or muffs and protect your eyes from injury by wearing safety glasses when you shoot.
Types of ear protection
Earplugs
It's probably the easiest way to protect your eardrums from the loud when taking your shot. This is the first way that many hunters start protecting their ears when using firearms. Many earplugs exist so you should inspect its strength and read over reviews to make sure that it's the best fit for your ear.
Earmuffs
Some hunters find earplugs to be uncomfortable or just really not as protective as earmuffs. These are clam-like protective headphones that go over your ears, allowing for better comfort and all over noise protection. There are a variety of different earmuffs, just like earplugs, and some of the higher quality earmuffs have special features and protect against louder firearms better than others. However, earmuffs also have drawbacks, particularly that you can't hear other people in your hunting group, a major danger if someone spots that buck behind you.
Electronic Earmuffs
This is the latest trend among hunters. These are noise-cancelling types of ear protection that detect normal speech and amplify it through each headphone on the earmuff. However, when something is louder, than say 80 dB, all incoming sound is muted. Not only are these earmuffs a more convenient way to go hunting alone or with a group, you can still protect your ears.
