I have often had concerns wearing earplugs while shooting at night. For one you may not hear important things like "I am about to take a shot" which could place you in danger. Also you cant hear the UHF radio properly which can be vital when shooting on BHP property. While fox shooting down near melrose last october another shooter that the owners invited along had a pair of these and since then I have been thinking about the advantages of this sort of hearing protection. My hearing has been pretty well hammered over the years not just from shooting but also from playing in bands so I am keen to protect what is left.
The Peltor Tactical 7S is a Swedish product aimed at firearm users it works by having a microphone that captures all sounds. The electronics inside analyse the information and process the sound before reproducing it to the ear. It provides protection against impulse noises like gunshots. Peltor claim that speech and weak signals can be amplified up to 10 times so your awareness of what is around you is increased.
The first thing i did was go and buy some 9v batteries. I shouldnt have bothered as they ship with batteries included. Putting the units on and turning the knob was a revalation. The sound amplification was amazing, I went outside and could clearly hear some kids talking in the playground 50m away taking them off all i could hear was a murmur but putting them back on I could hear every word as if they were right by my back fence. I am not sure if it was amplified by ten times but it was pretty freaky. I probably would have caught my ex wife out sooner if I had had these back in August
. The sound attenuation is pretty good as well. Slapping my hand down hard on the kitchen table made a dull thud without affecting the other normal sounds. I think they will be perfect for wearing while spotlighting as we will be able to hear each other normally and not be left unprotected. According to the documentation they have a noise reduction rating (NRR) of 25db.Wearing them while shouldering a rifle is no problem either. The units dont touch the stock of either my sps or the tikka unlike some other brands of earmuff. Actual use in the field might have to wait until later next week as i have the kids at the moment so geting out for a night on the light is a bit of a pain. Once I do I will add some more to this post along with more photos and some idea of battery life.
The cost of them worked out to a bit under $150AUD/unit plus $45AUD postage and they took all of seven days to get from the US to Roxby
