Re: Ever train without earpro?
I get a kick out of the Home Defense Advocati who get all stoked up about 12ga buckshot and magnum handguns, and never make a peep about hearing protection while doing their planning to unleash those things within close confines. Mine are electronic Peltor Tactical 6S's, about $60 at Wal-Mart's sporting goods wall rack. They work fine at the range, I imagine they'd be pretty OK in the home too if I needed 'em for something defensive.
If I were gonna be setting up and deciding to unleash major doses of death and damnation from my bedside, the first thing I'd be reaching for is that set of tactical hearmuffs.
My only real home defense problem is the presence of Grandkids (one's 3 and she's an insomniac.) likely to be over here at our house any time of day or night (visiting our home from their home, a half a block walk away). That's no small problem.
I'm not a big fan of dogs, but I may have to consider one anyway. Right now, it's a very peaceful neighborhood. If that changes, I'll be needing to make some decisions. So will our two housecats.
I don't know what to say about what passes for public school education these days, or what folks do in the military today either.
Most schools these days go all ballistic at a mention of anything bordering on the subject of firearms, but their student body would do well to at least consider hearing protection in connection with the subject. If the schools are ignoring passing along that sort of info, they're cutting off their students' noses to spite their own administrations' bigoted faces.
When I was in the service, we were regularly exposed to training gunfire without hearing protection. Once or twice the DI's would give some half hearted advice about stuffing cigarette filters in our outer ear canals, but that's worse than just a joke. Hearing loss was considered an occupational norm.
At one point during a training march/ambush, some jacko even started blasting away with blanks in an M14, resting the fifle's forearm on my shoulder.
When on patrol out in Indian Country in 'Nam, hearing protection was not an option, and if you were caught in an ambush firefight, everybody was trying to recover from being deaf as stumps for hours afterward. That's assuming you survived in the first place. Hearing loss was not a high priority consideration.
Same-same when we were running nearly completely unmuffled Detroit Diesel 4-71 Supercharged 60KW field generator sets 24/7, which was my primary assignment over there for 13 months. This was in addition to night interdiction patrols, twice weekly ambush ops, and night perimeter guard duty; no time off from our day jobs. A fun time was had by all.
I seriously doubt anyone came out of Boot Camp and/or back home from 'Nam with the same degree of hearing acuity they went incountry with.
Greg
