Electronic hearing protection and hearing game - whats best?

[Louisiana Deerman]

Wanted to get thoughts here. I grew up duck hunting without hearing protection and am convinced that my hearing is poor relative to my peers today. I have spent the last few years using Walkers game ears and quad muffs while bird hunting to protect my hearing, but this has resulted in many missed opportunities because I have not been able to hear incoming birds very well.

This being said there are some very expensive options out there for amplified hearing protection, has anyone else gone down this rabbit hole and have experience you can share? Are these expensive options really worth it? Can you hear a duck flying through the air 50 or more yards away, for example?

 

[OneGunTex]

Following. Would love to hear if someone has a good option between $50 Walkers (which I use) and $1000 Tetras.

 

[z987k]

I don't own any, but on the research I've done the OTTO brand seems to get the best reviews.

 

[Rieckman]

Otto Noizebarriers is what I switched to. I haven't waterfowl hunted with them, mostly upland, but I didn't miss any birds due to them. I replaced the ear insert as recommended by others online.

 

[Davyalabama]

I have the Pro Ears Stealth 28 HT. They help me turkey hunting and when I’m target practicing.

 

[gonhunting247]

Following, it will be interesting to see what folks like best!

 

[Laelkhunter]

Otto Noizebarriers is what I have been using for the last 4 years. They are all-day comfortable. They have two settings, normal and enhanced. They come in a small (cigarette pack size) carrying case that also recharges them. They last for an all day hunt and the case recharges them about 20 times before it needs to be recharged with the supplied USB cord. They come with either silicone type ear plugs or foam ones. I like the foam best, and as I stated earlier are all-day comfortable. They really tame the muzzle blast of my braked .340 Weatherby. Cost around $400, but they offer first responder and military discount.

 

[Marshfly]

I was just about to post a thread on this. After a 10 minute session with the Axil one's that resulted in them being boxed back up and returned I am going the buy once/cry once route.

Anyone have recent experience with either Weston Defendears or Soundgear Phantoms? I 100% want custom ear fit.

The Phantoms are rechargeable but it seems the charging interface sucks. The Defendears have hearing aid batteries but can be had with much more "modes" that seem they might be better for hunting and hearing faint game sounds.

 

[Laelkhunter]

I was just about to post a thread on this. After a 10 minute session with the Axil one's that resulted in them being boxed back up and returned I am going the buy once/cry once route.

Anyone have recent experience with either Weston Defendears or Soundgear Phantoms? I 100% want custom ear fit.

The Phantoms are rechargeable but it seems the charging interface sucks. The Defendears have hearing aid batteries but can be had with much more "modes" that seem they might be better for hunting and hearing faint game sounds.

I think the problem with hearing aid batteries is they start discharging once you take them out of the pack. Something to do with air activation, so even if you turn the hearing protection off, the batteries still are discharging. Most last about a week.

 

[Marshfly]

I think the problem with hearing aid batteries is they start discharging once you take them out of the pack. Something to do with air activation, so even if you turn the hearing protection off, the batteries still are discharging. Most last about a week.

I didn't know that. I don't know what's better. Batteries that last 400 hours according to Westone. ( a little over 2 weeks) or a charger that is prone to not charge is jostled around. It looks like batteries are less than a buck a piece and down to 0.50 a piece depending on where you buy them. I think I'd rather be able to quickly replace them and be back in business than have them potentially not be charged honestly.

 

[Laelkhunter]

I agree. You can buy enough batteries (they're cheap) to last through your hunt, and just carry them in a ziploc to protect them from moisture. Should be good to go.
I work at the Sheriff's Office Range/Training facility, and my Captain spent $1000 for the custom molded ear pieces that uses hearing aid batteries. They work really well, but he has to replace the batteries every week. No problem for him on a Captain's Salary, but my Deputy salary can't handle it.

 

[dtrkyman]

Not sure the brand, but Rinella had a hearing expert on a while back on his podcast, she had some really good guidance and info on hearing protection and enhancement.

In the next few years I am going to be looking into them, been turkey hunting with a young dude and his hearing is much better than mine!

 

[wysongdog]

Not sure the brand, but Rinella had a hearing expert on a while back on his podcast, she had some really good guidance and info on hearing protection and enhancement.

In the next few years I am going to be looking into them, been turkey hunting with a young dude and his hearing is much better than mine!

Any idea which podcast # it was?

 

[OneGunTex]

Not sure the brand, but Rinella had a hearing expert on a while back on his podcast, she had some really good guidance and info on hearing protection and enhancement.

In the next few years I am going to be looking into them, been turkey hunting with a young dude and his hearing is much better than mine!

Any idea which podcast # it was?

Can't remember the pod # but the company is OtoPro

 

[ElPollo]

Wanted to get thoughts here. I grew up duck hunting without hearing protection and am convinced that my hearing is poor relative to my peers today. I have spent the last few years using Walkers game ears and quad muffs while bird hunting to protect my hearing, but this has resulted in many missed opportunities because I have not been able to hear incoming birds very well.

This being said there are some very expensive options out there for amplified hearing protection, has anyone else gone down this rabbit hole and have experience you can share? Are these expensive options really worth it? Can you hear a duck flying through the air 50 or more yards away, for example?

What you are asking about the ability to hear directionally with electronic hearing protection is a tough question because few of us have experience with more than one model and we all perceive sound differently.

I’ve been using the same pair of SoundGear platinum plugs for 6 years now for all my hunting. I do have good directional hearing with them in. I can pick up scaled quail calling up to 400 yards away and I can pick up the sound of ducks on the wing way off. In my opinion and experience, you want to look for a set that has forward-facing mics. The reason for that is that the shape of your ears tends to funnel sound in from the front and aids with directionality in your hearing. The foreword-facing mics seem to mimic this.

You also want to look for a set that has as high of a noise reduction rating (NRR) as you can get. NRR is the number of decibels of sound reduction you will get if the are fitted correctly in your ears. My old SoundGear plugs have an NRR of 22. I can tell you that is sufficient for a day of shooting a couple boxes of shotgun shells, but it’s not enough for shooting a box of shells out of an unsuppressed 300 win mag. More is better.

And like others have said. Look for the rechargeable versions because the hearing aid batteries are a pain in the ass. I’ve forgotten my batteries on hunts and had to drive way out of the way to find a place that carries them. That said, my old non-rechargeable versions have probably lasted a lot longer than the rechargeable versions will.

I’m probably going to have to replace mine one of these days. So please tell us what you decide on and how they work out for you.

 

[Marshfly]

Any idea which podcast # it was?

I actually started listening to it today. IF you search MEateater hearing in Apple Podcasts it comes right up.

He interviews the lady that owns https://otoprotechnologies.com/


Edit Ep. 344

 

[wysongdog]

I actually started listening to it today. IF you search MEateater hearing in Apple Podcasts it comes right up.

He interviews the lady that owns https://otoprotechnologies.com/


Edit Ep. 344

Thanks

 

[HydeParkHunter]

I was just about to post a thread on this. After a 10 minute session with the Axil one's that resulted in them being boxed back up and returned I am going the buy once/cry once route.

Anyone have recent experience with either Weston Defendears or Soundgear Phantoms? I 100% want custom ear fit.

The Phantoms are rechargeable but it seems the charging interface sucks. The Defendears have hearing aid batteries but can be had with much more "modes" that seem they might be better for hunting and hearing faint game sounds.

I bought SoundGear Phantoms last year for spring turkey hunting to protect my hearing and shotgun suppresser options and effectiveness are not quite what they are for for rifles. I really liked the SoundGear, felt like I had superman hearing powers.

However, there was one critical flaw: they would not pick up the sound of a turkey drumming. And for me, that was a dealbreaker. Luckily I discovered that just before the money-back guarantee expired and so I sent them back as turkey hunting was the primary use. Other than that, they seemed great, for the few weeks I had them.

 

[RockAndSage]

Wanted something cheap that I'd be fine with in the marsh, and being abused. I started with a cheap pair of Walker's Razors. They were fine just dinging around on the range, but absolutely failed on the first upland bird hunting I did with them. Virtually zero directional capability, and lost a half-dozen shots on quail over a couple of hunts.

Upgraded to the Walker's Ultimate Quad BT, and they've been pretty sufficient so far. They're not Peltors, but directionality is pretty good and they're priced at a point where I wouldn't vomit if they fell into a marsh. Used them on waterfowl this year, and had to take them off a few times when hearing geese and ducks way out - the mics picked them up so well the birds sounded 100-200 yards out when they were a mile out or more. Especially with geese. They're the cheapest I'd go on commercial digital ear pro, but are a great price for that. The real test will be on quail and chukar this fall.

All that said, if we're talking certain kinds of big game hunting, I might want to go much more expensive and higher performance. But for birds and coyotes, the Walker's Ultimate Quads are great.

 

[ElPollo]

Wanted something cheap that I'd be fine with in the marsh, and being abused. I started with a cheap pair of Walker's Razors. They were fine just dinging around on the range, but absolutely failed on the first upland bird hunting I did with them. Virtually zero directional capability, and lost a half-dozen shots on quail over a couple of hunts.

Upgraded to the Walker's Ultimate Quad BT, and they've been pretty sufficient so far. They're not Peltors, but directionality is pretty good and they're priced at a point where I wouldn't vomit if they fell into a marsh. Used them on waterfowl this year, and had to take them off a few times when hearing geese and ducks way out - the mics picked them up so well the birds sounded 100-200 yards out when they were a mile out or more. Especially with geese. They're the cheapest I'd go on commercial digital ear pro, but are a great price for that. The real test will be on quail and chukar this fall.

All that said, if we're talking certain kinds of big game hunting, I might want to go much more expensive and higher performance. But for birds and coyotes, the Walker's Ultimate Quads are great.

I’ve had similar experiences. You can turn the volume up on most of these to the point where you can hear things that other people who don’t have seriously impacted hearing can’t. The downside is that you are also turning up all the background noise. That background noise will full-on wear your ass out after a whole day of chasing scaled quail on the windy-ass prairie while walking through shin oak. Even the sound of your footfalls gets magnified. I have not found a solution for that.

I also agree that buying good ear pro that has a high NRR is more important for big game and rifle range work because your initial dB levels are much higher with centerfire rifles. I have not looked at these for some time, but last time I did the Otto Noizbarriers had the highest NRR of any I saw (30ish?). That was only if you used the expanding foam earpieces though. If you use the silicon ones the NRR was in the low 20s, IRRC. That’s a huge difference. The people I’ve talked to who’ve used the Ottos reported having directional hearing with them, but I cannot comment as to how they compare with other makes on that front.