SureFire Sonic Ear Plugs Question

[toddackerman]

Just got a pair of these and they are very comfortable. I haven't worn them yet while shooting. They are suppose to filter High DB noise while allowing general noise levels to be easily heard. Thought they would be great for HD.

They come with little plugs that are tethered to the main earpiece, and these little plugs can be inserted (or not) into the the chamber that leads to the ear canal.

The question...what are these additional little plugs for? More attenuation of REALLY "big booms", or just additional protection should the wearer decide to attenuate all noise, including range conversation, "Bumps in the Night" etc.

Thanks for any help on this.

Tack

[John_Wayne777]

The question...what are these additional little plugs for? More attenuation of REALLY "big booms", or just additional protection should the wearer decide to attenuate all noise, including range conversation, "Bumps in the Night" etc.


The additional stoppers boost the noise reduction from 9db to 16db. If you are going to be doing something loud, put in the stoppers to boost the protection some.

The reviews I have seen of them say they are ok for some tasks, but not a replacement for good ear-pro when shooting. Good ear pro will get you 20 DB or more (Personally I don't use anything under 30db NRR) and that's what you should rely on. Wearing the muffs over the Surefire units isn't a bad idea when shooting, but I wouldn't rely only on the Surefire plugs.

EDIT -- If you have a LF account, check out this thread:

http://lightfighter.net/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/3556008371/m/5171079133?r=2721052233#2721052233

From what I've seen, they are mainly meant to be worn by people who would ordinarily be wearing foam plugs or the Christmas Tree plugs. The SF units are more comfortable and more versatile and thus more likely to be used than the other plugs, but they still don't offer the protection that muffs do.

[R1pper]

I just made a thread the other day about these.

http://m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=8353

I just used mine for the first time yesterday and they were very very comfortable and they work well outside. There were three of us shoot our rifles and they worked fine with the inserts in. I have yet to use them with out the tethered inserts in.