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If u wear contacts, better get some glasses as well. Imagine home self defense at night w/o contacts. Consider target ID w/o your eyes blurred. I now own glasses just for night time. I wear contacts otherwise throughout the day.

I realized I should have posted this and if the Moderators will allow, I'll do it now.

Our insurance, and we had excellent, very expensive insurance before Mrs. SDT and I both retired, allowed almost no help with hearing aids. I tried high priced ones, mid priced ones, and the cheapies and nothing seemed to last beyond about 12 months. I was visiting a doctor and mentioned the problem and he told me one thing I already should have known, and one I didn't.

He said don't get the in the ear canal aids as they will not last unless they are hermetically sealed, which they can't be because of the batteries. The constant heat and moisture will destroy all of them making replacement every year a necessity. I had found that out. He suggested behind the ear units. He secondly said a great many of his patients had recommended the aids sold by these folks as excellent:
http://www.mdhearingaid.com

I tried them and I have to agree. Eighteen months and still going strong. Are they as good, sound quality wise, as the $1,000 a copy highly touted, super-duper wireless TV advertised ones? Almost. Do they last? Mine have.

I know many of you guys struggle with hearing loss. It occurred to me that maybe most of do. At least those who have been shooting a long time. There are other excellent hearing aids out there. I recommend these because they fit my budget and the quality and longevity are as good or better than anything I've user tried.

Moderators, if this isn't allowed, I apologize. Please feel free to remove it and I will feel properly chastised.

RogueUSMC wrote:

budroux2w wrote:*snip* I shot everything from a .22lr which doesnt really require ear protection*snip*

Actually, from what I understand, the .22LR is MORE damaging to the hearing than say a .45ACP due to the different sound frequencies generated but I didn't hear the rest of the explanation...

I could believe that. My little snubbie pistol is quite loud but the rifle isn't at all... Or maybe it just falls into the frequency that i constantly hear.

Most noise induced hearing loss are at the upper frequencies & modern hearing aids can selectively amplify these specific frequencies.

I wear 2 programmable, 16 channel, digital hearing aids. They are equipped with too many to mention bells and whistles - ie: feed back suppression, wind noise suppression, knee point adjustment, etc. They have 5 pre-programmed levels. #1 for normal environments - #2 for a volume bump - #3 for music & television - #4 for back ground noise (noisy restaurant) - #5 for very loud situations. They also have a remote for changing volume and the pre-programmed levels.

My hearing aids cost $5,280.00 & batteries last about 7 days (a pack of 16 batteries cost $13.00). The option for bluetooth is $800 and allows the wearer to connect to cell phones, stereos & televisions. My hearing aids are fantastic, but they are still not as good as normal hearing.

If you have worked in noisy environments you may qualify for Texas Workers Comp . TWC pays for my hearing aids (replace every 5 years), maintenance and batteries.

Hearing aids have greatly improved the frustrations in my life, my friends and family. I didnt realize that due to my hearing loss I had become a wall flower & had gradually retreated from social interaction.

BTW dont make the mistake of only buying one hearing aid when you need two.

If you are considering getting a pair, talk first to as many wearers as you can. I will be happy to share my experiences - and if you are in the Beaumont area I can refer you to a provider that will deal directly with TWC.

ShootDontTalk wrote:

J Wilson wrote:When I was in VietNam,the Marine Corps forgot to issue hearing protection.

They weren't the only one who failed to do so. In fact, no military unit issues them even today - at least those who fight on the ground - except for some special forces who use silenced weapons.

I was in the Army Infantry and was issued ear plugs in 1990... Not sure your broad statement is accurate.

RogueUSMC wrote:Fast forward to present day, I have been married 10 years and she is just now getting to the point where she doesn't think I am pretending not to hear her...lol

Aww, LOL! I have finally figured out the same with my husband. Although sometimes I can tell when he is actually tuning me out.

Selina Kyle wrote:

RogueUSMC wrote:Fast forward to present day, I have been married 10 years and she is just now getting to the point where she doesn't think I am pretending not to hear her...lol

Aww, LOL! I have finally figured out the same with my husband. Although sometimes I can tell when he is actually tuning me out.

I think my wife of 21 years still thinks that I am just not listening, and of course since she has rock and roll ears, almost as bad as cannon cocker ears, I get to tease her about not hearing me.

When I was going through medical before my separation from active duty, I was told that my hearing loss was normal for a 24 year old. When the phone company sent me for a physical after I reported back from military leave of four years, the doctor told me that my hearing loss was "moderate" and I should check with the VA. The VA said my hearing loss was normal and denied my claim.

I'm disappointed to hear that the military is inconsistent when it comes to hearing protection. It seems to me that every soldier ought to have a set of earbuds akin to the electronic muffs we civilians can buy, which actually [can] amplify ambient sounds until a sound exceeding xdB occurs.

A soldier should get "hearing assist" and protection at the same time, no? Or maybe there are such gizmos issued to some special forces people?

Soldiers are issued hearing protection and are required to wear it when appropriate. The poster who said that no military units issue them may have been referring to suppressors rather than hearing protection.

You guys are correct. What I was referring to was no one is issued the kind of hearing protection that could be worn in ground combat. I know hearing protection is issued to different units, such as aviation etc. What I meant was the protectors are not the active kind. Nobody wore non-active hearing protection in ground combat. Hearing is a vital part of staying alive. I would suppose the active kind would be too expensive. Suppressors are more long lasting as well. In my day all we had that didn't eventually damage your ears was a Hush Puppy or a sharp knife. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong about the active kind for ground combat units today.

ShootDontTalk wrote:Hearing is a vital part of staying alive. I would suppose the active kind would be too expensive.

Yeah too much to spend to help-out our guys & gals in harm's way...



I have a Peltor headset that also happens to do bluetooth & link to my cellphone. I suppose since this thing cost me something over $300 bucks, with our Government's vast purchasing power it would cost instead THOUSANDS!

J Wilson wrote:When I was in VietNam,the Marine Corps forgot to issue hearing protection.

Ya know, now that I think about it, I don't remember hearing protection being available very often while I was in the AF in Vietnam. I DO remember it being used on the Security Police small arms rang at Phan Rang AB, but that's about it. If you were flight crew, or had scrounged a set of headphones because you were on flight status and flew regularly, you might have used those, but most folks didn't have anything on a day-to-day basis.

The other evening I was talking with someone about how generally-cranky gun shop employees seem to be (yes there are exceptions) but no doubt some of it has to do with the reality that many/most suffer from hearing loss!

The rest of (being cranky) I suppose has to do with dealing with we unwashed masses...

I think I was 14 I shot a 2" .357 mag without hearing. I almost immediately dropped the gun out of physical pain in my ears. I pretty much since then, aside from hunting, have worn ear plugs. So it would seem the general answer is "no" no one has done it. Obviously that is a good thing, I was just curious after watching that video plus building my AR made me take a more detailed look at flash hiders.