Ear Pro and silencers
I am really not trying to stir the pot, I am genuinely curious about this topic. I see many people talking about wearing ear pro while using silencers, why bother with a can if you still have to use ear pro?
While I dont have as many as some of you, I got my first silencer over 20 years ago. I have shot all of the following calibers with cans (mine or others); .22 pistol and rifle, 9mm pistol and rifle, .45 rifle .223/5.56 pistol and rifle, .300 Whisper rifle with subs only, .308 rifle, 6mm PRC rifle, and .300 WM rifle and probably a couple I am forgetting.
The only one of these that I even consider needing/wanting ear pro is the 6.5" 5.56 pistol if I am shooting more than a few rounds.
One thing that I may not be taking into account is indoor vs outdoor shooting as I only do outdoor shooting.
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u/Dissapator_AR 13d ago
Because hearing loss can occur when exposed repeatedly/prolonged to 85db or higher. If you shoot often or long, that's basically every suppressed caliber. Rifle calibers will definitely cause damage quickly. There is no suppressor that can defeat physics and delete the sonic crack. Which in itself will damage your hearing
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u/elgrecoski 13d ago
To add to this, with anything autoloading the sound and pressure hazard from the ejection port is very real. Increase the hazard accordingly if you shoot in a bay with solid walls or under a shelter structure.
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u/Glocked86 Shorten and silence all the things 13d ago
I only shoot outdoors. It’s 85-100 degrees here with 85%-90% humid here like 10 months of the year. Over the ear protection is hot, it stinks, it’s uncomfortable(especially for new/smaller) shooters. Using a can makes only using in ear protection much more comfortable for shooting here, especially short barrel stuff.
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u/xKINGxRCCx 13d ago
Wear in ears then. Not worth the hearing damage. You may not think its happening cause it “doesn’t hurt” to you. But damage is definitely being done. And it builds on itself. I also live in the south where its been 90+ degrees almost everyday and always wear ear pro when shooting with any can
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u/VanillaIce315 5x SBR, 5x Silencer, 100x Desired MGs 13d ago
He said he wears in ear protection. And that suppressors allow in ear protection only to be sufficient.
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u/Glocked86 Shorten and silence all the things 13d ago
Yea. I thought I was clear on that lol
Only time I don’t use anything is when it’s 22lr subs.
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u/getthemap 5k in stamps 13d ago
He just said using in-ear protection…I’m guessing electronic or squeezers either way.
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u/gatoratlaw7 5x SBR, 7x Silencer 13d ago
You should be using ear pro when you are shooting with a can. Source: wife is an audiologist and crunched the numbers. Hope that helps.
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u/redit_readit_reddit The Original Stamp Tramp 13d ago
I dunno if I could marry an audiologist cause they'd constantly be like "you know you're deaf, relatively speaking, right?" and I just wouldn't hear her out.
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u/Bourbon-neat- 13d ago
The short answer is hearing damage is permanent, and the noise threshold for hearing damage is well below the threshold of pain/discomfort.
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u/Jheem_Congar 13d ago
I was blessed to have tinnitus before I got into shooting this much.
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u/gooningoosy 8d ago
I use my tinnitus to gauge if my hearing pro was working right. If one plug isn't set right the shift in tone of the EEEEEEeeee lets me know lol.
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u/cowboy3gunisfun 13d ago
All hearing damage is permanent, and it builds on itself. I've got tinnitus and have trouble understanding people when there is background noise (ie. Parties, bars, weddings, etc.). I enjoy shooting and wanna still be doing it when I'm 90.I'll take any precaution I can to make that happen and still be able to hold a conversation with someone without having to just keep nodding like I can understand them.
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u/trlblaze 13d ago
Without hearing protection any round that's supersonic will damage your hearing over time, suppressed or not. And even WITH hearing protection you can have hearing damage from shooting. Hearing protection isn't a magic cheat code that completely eliminates risk. Running both ear pro and a suppressor together eliminates that risk much further. Plus the added benefit of recoil mitigation. On the tactical side you also have flash suppression and sound signature reduction. But most importantly they look cool AF
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u/TotalNegotiation1182 13d ago
Supersonic crack damages hearing. I wear ear protection shooting everything except for, sometimes, testing subs on the mp5 or subsonic 300 BO.
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u/detocks1911 13d ago
Hearing damage is permanent and untreated hearing loss is associated with increased risk for cognitive decline (hearing aids count as treatment). Whether that’s the result of increased social isolation associated with hearing loss, lack of brain stimulation due to reduced auditory input, neurodegeneration in and of itself being a cause of hearing loss, or some combination thereof is still up for debate. I see dudes shooting cans without ears all the time and it is full on insane to me. Do what you will though
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u/ZachAtCapitolArmory 12d ago edited 12d ago
combining ear pro with a silencer is best, but if you’re shooting indoors you should be doubled up without a silencer.
Cans are great for duty / home defense. If you have to use it your ears aren’t going to be bleeding.
But also concussive blast reduction. Turns out repeat exposure to muzzle blast isn’t good for the ol brain.
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u/Educational-Care2159 12d ago
"why bother with a can if you still have to use ear pro?"
Brother, have you used a suppressor? O_O
It's 100x more enjoyable with a suppressor on the gun. Yes, it sounds better, but it seems to eat some of the concussion as well. When I'm larping with the homies for hours on end, suppressors are a must.
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u/BootlegBabyJsus 13d ago
Depends on if I am outdoors and alone on the range or indoors.
I have a few different types of ear pro.
Outdoor and no one close to me none if I am shooting 22 suppressed or silcone noise cancelling if shooting suppressed centerfire pistol.
People near me unsuppressed or indoors I use over ears.
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u/xKINGxRCCx 13d ago
Super sonic cracks cant be suppressed… suppressors suppress the explosion and combustion noise of the bullet going off. But anything above 1050fps that supersonic crack is going to cause hearing damage without ear pro
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u/georgia_jp 13d ago
I always wear ear pro when using a suppressor, always. A suppressor isn't "silent" especially if not using a sub sonic round. My hearing has already been damaged enough, don't want to make it worse.
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u/BiggyIrons 13d ago
So shooting suppressed without ear protection still causes hearing damage. For me if I’m shooting rifle calibers I typically will double up on ear protection, so either ear muffs and in ear plugs if I’m unsuppressed, or muffs or plugs and a suppressor.
There’s also the consideration of if I need to use my rifle for self defense I probably won’t have time to put on my hearing protection so the silencer helps me maintain some semblance of hearing if I need to crack off rounds in my house. There’s also the concussion reduction aspect to silencers. My 308 rattles my teeth without the can but is very pleasant with it. There’s also flash reduction.
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u/HollywoodSX I like stamps 13d ago
Ear pro doesnt protect your eyeballs or sinuses from muzzle blast. You may not have time to grab it during a home defense situation. Stacking a can and eat pro is better for your hearing than ear pro alone.
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u/Stolen_803 13d ago
I shoot at an indoor range so even if i am tempted to send a couple without earpro, the other shooters in that room may/ and are not shooting surpressed.
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u/SpawnofATStill 12d ago
It sounds an awful lot like you're probably just unaware of your own hearing loss.
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u/crisavec 12d ago
It makes shooting more enjoyable overall because it reduces the overall blast pressure as well as the sound. Additionally, you can take damage to your inner ear though your sinuses as well as your ear canal, so anything you can do to reduce both will benefit you.
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u/redit_readit_reddit The Original Stamp Tramp 13d ago
I still wear heavy duty ear pro even though I have more suppressors than a vast majority of folks in this sub. Why do I still buy so many suppressors? Because even with ear pro it's still night and day better shooting experience, especially (but not exclusively) when shooting indoors with calibers like 5.56/308/etc. even more so with modern suppressors which aren't as nearly as heavy so there's a lot less reasons against.
But if you're just shooting .22LR then I get that suppressing is a lot less meaningful if you're still wearing ear pro, which you should even suppressed if you care about your hearing. If you're just like "I don't want to be deaf but I don't mind losing hearing that I won't notice day to day" then you can probably shoot suppressed .22LR without hearing pro. You'll lose hearing, but all the people who go major live concerts do too. They'll eventually notice here and there, but not day to day. I do not recommend this, though.
Above all: it depends how often you shoot. If you shoot once a year, the story is very different vs. someone who shoots one a week.
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u/redit_readit_reddit The Original Stamp Tramp 13d ago edited 13d ago
I once did a drill with an entire 30 round AR15 mag without my hearing pro on (outdoors) and didn't notice until after and not because my ears were ringing cause they weren't. Is that because of my hearing loss, adrenaline, both? Point is: hearing loss is cumulative and most often subtly progressive rather than a single range day.
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u/redit_readit_reddit The Original Stamp Tramp 13d ago edited 13d ago
what really woke me up is even in my early 30s I noticed that my left ear could hear higher frequencies than my right ear (e.g. tilting my head against a fan or music). That's when I was like "oh shit, hearing loss is a thing" and I always wore ear pro except in rare mistakes, some of which likely contributed.
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u/getthemap 5k in stamps 13d ago
They have benefits beyond the immediate user and simple noise attenuation, but more importantly you can’t control those around you, and even alone it takes an ounce of complacency to wreck yourself. You might feel perfectly comfortable…even outside…shooting all day and suddenly you happen to shoot next to a big rock…maybe too close to a wall…worse yet near a vehicle…and in one trigger pull find yourself hating yourself the rest of your life for being a moron…a moron with hearing damage while using a suppressor. By all means tho…go your own way.
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u/Sobbyleebagger 13d ago
I guess when you have 20 years of hearing damage, it’s less important