3MPELTOR EEP-100 Ear Plug Kit, Rechargeable, Noise Reduction, Construction, Manufacturing, Maintenance

I have been using these for 3 years of shooting at the range, in club competitions and all-day firearm training classes. Probably something on the order of 500 hours. Hands-down, this is the best gun-related purchase I ever made.These protected my ears perfectly well in these situations:- Pistol, rifle or shotgun- Up to 20 other people shooting on the same line next with me- Outdoors in the open- Outdoors under an awning- Indoors IF the range is well designed and built (surfaces have good sound absorbing material)These did NOT protect adequately (hurt my ears) in these environments:- In any indoor space which is not specifically designed to absorb gunshot sound (this was an indoor range, but not very well designed/built)- Shooting from inside a vehicleIn those two situations, you should probably double up with foam earplugs and big earmuffs anyway.These come with small, medium and large rubber eartips, as well as the foam ones. The foam ones worked well, but wore out quickly. You can buy the "Skull Screws", but don't bother unless you are using the large eartips. I could not fit them in my ear canals.The battery on these lasts a LONG time. After 3 years, I can still use them for a 8-9 hour day and they have never gone dead on me. There is no battery in the case, but you can get yourself a little portable battery pack (like for cell phones) or use any USB charger. I am not complaining, I love how tough the case is, I am pretty sure it would hold my weight if I stood on it.The electronics have 3 volume settings: low, med and high. I find that the low setting is slightly below my normal hearing level and the medium allows me to hear slightly better than normal. For ear safety, it does not really matter which you have selected, the amplifier simply shuts off if a loud noise is detected.The electronics are OK, but not great. They are a little too eager to clamp down on the noise, in my opinion anyway. It gets annoying when you are trying to hear the instructor and they are shooting on a nearby range. That level of sound would not normally be a problem, but your volume level is constantly jumping up and down because the earbuds are trying to protect you.I DO love these things.- I can comfortably wear them all afternoon for a class and generally hear the instructor perfectly while everyone else is taking their hot earmuffs off every chance they get.- I don't have to worry about earmuffs not getting a good seal around my ears due to my hat, hair or safety glasses, earbuds just bypass all that.- I don't have to fight with them when trying to get a good cheek weld, they are tucked in nicely.- They stay in place very well, I have never had them loosen or fall out.I just wish they were not so pricey.

I bought these for every day construction work because I was tired of having to yell and ask people to speak up because I couldn’t hear them over my foam plugs. I had high hopes because I use other peltor products for shooting my guns. But if you know how loud a nail gun is up close then you will understand wearing plugs all day. I love how well the mics picked up low sound and cut the to loud sounds. Two of my coworkers were standing 40 feet away and I heard their voices over the other noises. I could clearly hear my boss talking to me while the mics cut the blast of a nail gun out ten feet away. But, they are also somewhat uncomfortable , they rub your ears pretty deep. But the real bummer was when the one earbud mic failed after 3 weeks of use. I’m unsure why because they were never dropped or smacked. They worked well when they worked, but I’m pretty disappointed. I returned to try other brands.

I am certain that the more expensive 3M earplugs are exceptional products. (I intend to buy the top of the line tactical earplugs, too, at some point down the road.) These worked perfectly well.I have used them both by themselves and in conjunction with the "Howard Leight by Honeywell Impact Pro High Noise Reduction Rating Sound Amplification Electronic Shooting Earmuff" for added protection.The 3M works perfectly well by itself. The 23 db rating is less than solid foam ear plugs, though, and the experienced range officers that I have seen wear both ear plugs and ear muffs (which only makes sense, given the shear volume of noise to which they are exposed.)The 3M Peltor fits well under the earmuffs, too, so you can, if you want, gain the advantage of extra noise cancellation while still retaining the ability to hear ambient sounds.I will say one thing: the experience of hearing the attenuated shot is distinctly odd. The microphone (particularly with the ear muff-style noise protection) cancels out the initial sound so that I found I was hearing the tail-end of the shot _after_ I had pulled the trigger. It was not a problem. It did take some getting used to.