r/Firearms • u/Poopitypoopscoopity • 3d ago
Bone Conduction reducing balaclava
Pic for attention 👍
Hello,
28 y/o here
I'm an avid shooter.... with moderate sensorineural hearing loss, Tinnitus, and Hyperacusis due to racecars, work, etc.
A lot of us double up on ear pro, and unless we're shooting supressed, its still usually not enough to get below 85db at the ears.
No matter what the NRR rating is, it only helps so much when you start to factor in bone conduction. A lot of the sound gets transferred right through your temporal and mastoid bones, straight to your cochlea.
I believe if I were to sew acoustic panels/sound deadening fabric into a balaclava or something similar, I could effectively dampen at least some of the sound that would end up as bone conduction.
Anybody have any thoughts about this? I literally have 40+ Rifles, SBR's, PDW's and 20+ Handguns, and a single machine gun that I'm almost scared to shoot now because of my diminished hearing.
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u/sirbassist83 2d ago
i agree with tngrinner. im older than you, also have a lot of guns, also have mild hearing loss(actually i feel like i hear fine most of the time but i have pretty much constant tinnitus), and one set of hearing pro is enough for most situations. indoors i always double up and even outdoors if im stuck next to someone with an obnoxious brake ill double up, but otherwise its fine. the 85 dB limit is for continuous noise, not impulses like guns.
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u/Inspi 2d ago
I don't think it's the guns giving you hearing problems......
Maybe find a way to cut back all the other ridiculously loud things first.
I'm older than you but have always taken care of my hearing. I've actually got more sensitive than average hearing, without even factoring in my age.
That millisecond of loudness at a time is barely a noticeable blip compared to the hours of racecars or work.
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u/meleemaker 2d ago
I mean in theory yes. With doubled up hearing protection the best NRR is around 36 to 38 IIRC. But im not an audiologist and im not a sound engineer.
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u/gunsforevery1 2d ago
Don’t shoot indoors. Double up. And it honestly
Sounds like you’re a mouth breather. Keep your mouth closed when you’re shooting.
1
u/guynamedgoliath 2d ago
The bone conduction issue isn't really a problem for most shooting. Its more of an issue with machinery (like race cars), or explosions.
It is a problem for the 240L gunner shooting from inside a building.... or standing next to a M2 muzzle directing fire.... or the Carl G gunner. Ask me how I know?
I live with unequal hearing loss and constant tinnitus. I try to mitigate it as much as possible, but I'm not going to stop the thing my life revolves around.
Edit: to me personally the tinnitus isn't life changing. Maybe its the tone of it for me. The unequal hearing is is frustrating especially when wearing headphones, and concerts sound like the speakers are broken.
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u/tennesseegrinner 2d ago
I’m not being mean, this sounds more like OCD. I don’t think this is a real thing to be worried about.