My latest Peltors died and I need new muffs, but I need to use a gift card I have for Bass Pro Shops. They only have Browning, Caldwell, SportEar and Redhead brands. I have no experience with those muffs. My perception is that Browning sells good stuff but that could be wrong, plus they look bulky. Any comments on these brands would be appreciated.
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If those are the brands you are limited to @ Bass Pro...I'd suggest spending cash on a quality set of electronic hearing pro elsewhere and using your gift card on other things that don't suck. 
Seriously...none of those brands are worthwhile for the money (or gift card) you'll spend on them, including the Brownings and ESPECIALLY the Caldwells.
Stick to the big names in electronic hearing pro and you can't go wrong, including in no particular order: a) MSA Sordins; b) Peltors (I've been running ComTacs for more years than I can recall and despite getting pretty haggered in spots, they've never failed me once), and c) Howard Leight Impacts. All of those are of exceedingly high quality in my experience, but when my ComTacs finally die...I'll likely be replacing them with the MSA Sordins (which can be had from Triad Tactical...Steve will take good care of you on a set if you give him the opportunity).
Seriously...none of those brands are worthwhile for the money (or gift card) you'll spend on them, including the Brownings and ESPECIALLY the Caldwells.
Stick to the big names in electronic hearing pro and you can't go wrong, including in no particular order: a) MSA Sordins; b) Peltors (I've been running ComTacs for more years than I can recall and despite getting pretty haggered in spots, they've never failed me once), and c) Howard Leight Impacts. All of those are of exceedingly high quality in my experience, but when my ComTacs finally die...I'll likely be replacing them with the MSA Sordins (which can be had from Triad Tactical...Steve will take good care of you on a set if you give him the opportunity).
If those are the brands you are limited to @ Bass Pro...I'd suggest spending cash on a quality set of electronic hearing pro elsewhere and using your gift card on other things that don't suck.
Seriously...none of those brands are worthwhile for the money (or gift card) you'll spend on them, including the Brownings and ESPECIALLY the Caldwells.
Stick to the big names in electronic hearing pro and you can't go wrong, including in no particular order: a) MSA Sordins; b) Peltors (I've been running ComTacs for more years than I can recall and despite getting pretty haggered in spots, they've never failed me once), and c) Howard Leight Impacts. All of those are of exceedingly high quality in my experience, but when my ComTacs finally die...I'll likely be replacing them with the MSA Sordins (which can be had from Triad Tactical...Steve will take good care of you on a set if you give him the opportunity).
Has it covered from A to Z
+1 on HLI Sport 22 Nrr. I've had mine for almost a year with an average use of 2+ hrs a week and still going. It does amplify and muffle the sound well...
Thanks for the recommendation. The MSA muffs and gel kit(worth the money) are listed here:
Triad Tactical, Inc.*::*MISC Shooting Gear
Triad Tactical, Inc.*::*MISC Shooting Gear
i have used/abused a set of peltor 7 for over 10 years. new set of pads annually and batteries is all ever replaced.
Howard Light, both my Peltor's had one side go bad
+1 on the Sordin, gel kit is a MUST for comfort with long term wear. Got my Gel(hygeine) kit fron Steve @ Triad as well, great people, great fast service!(even when the weather doesn't cooperate)
I have had 2 pairs of HL sport muffs, the first pair lasted 4 years, I rewired them twice and when they finally died I replaced them with another pair which grew legs, I replaced them with the MSA Sordins with Gel Cups from Triad Tactical, they were exspensive, but so well worth it, when its 100 out or 20 they are the best I have used and highly recommend them.
I don't get the Sordin love. They only have 18db reduction, and even the Caldwells beat that.
1911fan
1911fan
Thanks very much for the advice guys. I'll use the gift card for something else (maybe ammo if they ever get any more).
Its like the fight over suppressor ratings. Independent vs. in-house testing, at what levels, etc. etc. etc.
I almost always have in plugs under the MSA, so its the quality of the sound and the function of the electronics that sell me on them.
I have the HL and don't care for them. They don't give enough noise reduction and they're very uncomfortable with glasses on. The glasses part is more than likely just me. They are very low profile which is the reason I bought them to start with. That being said, being low-profile, they do not have much padding so when you are wearing glasses they don't offer much db Reduction because the foam padding is not very thick and it does not conform around your eyewear. You can always double up which is nice but that sort of defeats the purpose of buying decent electronic hearing protection in my opinion.
I deployed to the sandbox using the peltors. They worked well with the radio packages we used there. it cut out enough of the sound from our small arms fire (not so much the 50 cal) It uses AA batteries so it was nice being able to use recharge batts when bats were low, we used to run out of batteries fast. Also the volume control to listen to surrounding is excellent in a tactical environment. My only complaint was the headgear that held the earmuffs together was kind of flimsy and didn't last the entire deployment.
Still baffled, if you'll pardon the pun. If you double up anyway, sound quality is irrelevant, IMHO. My muffs have 26 db reduction and I often double plug then turn the volume up enough to hear range commands. Nice peaceful shooting.
Not trying to start an equipment argument. Carry on with your discussion.
1911fan
My son and I both had Pelor 6's. I lost one pair at the range so I bought a pair of Howard Leight Impacts on Amazon for $46 shipped free with Amazon Prime. They are lightyears better! They have one on/off/volume switch not two, the batteries last longer and the sound quality is much better. My son now always wants to wear my Howards but I won't let him. He has to buy his own! Best bang for the buck IMHO.
HL Impacts are the best IMO. I have 2 sets, one of which is probably 3 years old and they keep running no matter how much I sweat in them and/or how much rain they're exposed to.
1911fan. I was having the same thoughts before picking up a set of msa sordins. After getting them and trying them for my particular use case which is always doubling up with plugs, they seem to have similar noise reduction to my large 26db nrr Howard leights. Gunshots do sound different but not any louder. Like triad said, I think this is attributed to the way the nrr is measured. On top of that the electronics are great and the gel cups really are much more comfortable - basically like tits on your ears. Comfort was a large selling point for me and I haven't been disappointed.
I use Pro Ears Gold with molded ear plugs. The phones have an ajustement to increase volume. Great with ear plugs.
I just ordered a set of pro ears pro tac mag gold. I liked that they were the highest rated reduction and that there were many reviews saying that the electronics did an excellent job blocking out shots while allowing easy conversation during gunfire. I should get them in the mail tomorrow. Here's hoping that I'm happy with my choice. As for the comfort the fact that they have leather ear pads also played into my decision.
Peltors get my vote. I have been caught in pouring rain with them and they never stopped working. I had them in my go bag with a couple of Monsters that busted and I did not know about it till I pulled them out. The Peltor headset was completely submerged in a pool of energy drink for several minutes. I cleaned them off and turned them on and they worked flawlessly. I have used MSA, Bose, and Peltor several times, and the Peltors get my vote everytime.
+ 1 for the MSA Sordins & Gel Cups. Nicest muffs I have tried yet. One thing I can advise against from Bass Pro is the Walkers Game Ear Quad muffs. I took back 3 pair of this cheap made turds before I decided to get my money back and get the MSA Sordins. I have not looked back since.
