Howard Leight by Honeywell Impact Sport Sound Amplification Electronic Shooting Earmuff

Five stars EASY. I've had my pair of Impact Sport hearing protection for three years now I think, or there abouts. I've used mine at work, running heavy equipment 80+ hours a week and laboring all manner of dirty jobs on large demo and construction projects. I absolutely love these. Are they the highest tech? No. Are they the most comfortable? No. Are they the highest level of sound damping available? No. What they are, and why they receive such high regard from myself, is very good for their intended purpose in every respect, especially for the price. One can certainly spend a lot more, as a matter of fact a couple of my co-workers have the high-end 3M head gear with the Bluetooth this and bells and whistles that, but they are bulkier, much more expensive and those guys are constantly babying their sets. I've never worried about babying mine. I take care of them like anything else I own; I don't kick them around or anything, but I have used and used and used them some more. They've floated around in my dirt crusted duty bag for weeks at a time, bouncing around the floorboards in a rock truck for days, been used and banged around on construction and demo projects and been subjected to thousands of rounds of small arms fire and, the ultimate test - my kids have played with them. The audio clarity on these is very good, if not perfect, and I get an amplification boost which I'm spoiled for. I can hear better with these on and I never get the feeling that my auditory sense is hindered. With a couple of lesser rigs that I've had (one of which actually cost twice as much), I would keep getting the feeling that I wasn't hearing things... "correctly" due to the sound quality and a lack of directional sense. Consequently, I would find myself compelled to lift them off of my ears at times to cue in to sounds that I'd heard. Not so with these; I never feel compelled to lift them off to hear better. I can wear mine for hours without discomfort and the batteries last so long, even at full amplification, that I don't have a guess as to how many hours they actually last - a long frikken time. They're low profile which lends them better usage under more "dynamic" work conditions; they just don't get in the way. I've also used mine during target practice with compensated 308 Win and 10mm Auto. These earmuffs are enough protection that damage does not occur even under the high decibel hammering dealt out by those arms. No ringing in the ears even under the brutal, cranium splitting, muzzle blast of rapid fire compensated arms. When I'm operating equipment and the cab noise is high, I put these on and set the audio so I'm comfortable. My ears are protected and I can still hear things like the VHF in the cab, horns and voice commands and engine noise perfectly. Like I said before though, these are not the highest level of sound protection you can get. If you're used to using the big, high NRR stuff, these might seem a little light. I call them just right and I give them 5 Stars.Update: Still going strong! It's 1/14/17 now. I'm wearing these on a daily basis in my shop, still using these when I'm shooting and I also wear these when I'm out cutting firewood with a chainsaw. Sub-zero temperatures, snow, years of rugged use in general have not stopped these things. Mine still work like new, although they no longer look new by any measure. These have been a great value. When this pair finally go the way of Chesty Puller and Audie Murphy, I'm getting another set of the same.

I purchased these Howard Leight muffs as I am on a budget and am just starting to go out to the shooting range more consistently with a good friend of mine so definitely needed to get the best quality muffs I could afford. If you are new to how loud it can get at some ranges like I was--it is easy to overlook before you go out for the first time the importance of having good quality ear protection. The first time I went out I was using only internal plugs which unfortunately left me with 2 days afterwards for my full hearing to come back---so I was concerned. After my first time out with these muffs--I am very impressed especially for the price point. They work as advertised and had no issues at all with my hearing being affected even after a long 4 + hour session at the range and they are as many other reviewers have said---very comfortable when wearing them for long periods. The low profile design is also much appreciated to minimize stock interference as much as possible which in my case was a crucial feature--it doesn't 100% deal with the issue but I can't imagine getting any lower profile without compromising on protection. As other reviewers have also stated, there is a slight hiss and feedback when the volume is cranked all the way up---however, I solved this by simply not cranking the volume all the way up which you really don't need unless your hearing is already particularly bad. Even with the volume on at mid-range setting I found this was more than ample at the very loud range we frequent as I could easily hear all general range commands as well as my friend's commands quite clearly even from several yards away standing behind me without him yelling in the least. I have a decent to large size head of normal round shape and wear a 7.5 size hat and have no issues at all with the fit either over my head or with the muffs themselves on my ears. My friend however has a self-described "pointy" narrow head and he found the fit unacceptable. He did however state that he usually isn't comfortable with most muffs for this reason so it appears his issue is a rare case. So, barring any unusual fit issues--you should definitely give these muffs a try. 5-stars and HIGHLY recommended! Thanks Howard Leight!