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February 21, 2011
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Just a quick first impression, it may revise as I become more experienced.
I briefly tried the “Walkers Power Ears” & several of the clones.
First impression, they’re kludged together.
Why?
Because the left ear cup is simply a Right ear cup swung 180 horizontally with a different color band on the volume knob.
Good points:
Both are 100% independent of each other, if one side quits, the other keeps working, all be it at a reduced efficiency.
I’ve heard reports they don’t adjust for size. Its not true they do, but in a slightly different way, the whole plastic “yoke” is on a ratcheted slide within the headband.
They amplify more than the Peltor 6-S I’m used to.
Bad points:
Clumsy to use because the on/off~ volume knobs are also mirror images, one turns clockwise, the other anti-clockwise.
Then I tried (& bought) the “Howard Leight Impact Sport Tactical Electronic Earmuffs”!
I’d been leaning towards this make & model, but had read some reviews that weren’t that great. Frankly having played with them briefly I don’t think those reviewers tried them!
“They don’t adjust for head size”!
Yes, they do. They’re exactly the same as the Peltors I own the ear cups slide on the round metal wire of the headband.
“They won’t seal on my head ever & don’t reduce noise”!
Partly true. They don’t pivot as much as some brands, so, if you don’t slide them down to fit the bottom wont seal & noise will get in. Fixed in 2 seconds by sliding the ear cups down to actually fit your head & ears.
“The sound is tinny”, a lot like “calling down an echoing corridor”!
I did not find this they were about the same as my Peltor 6-S tacticals.
One, common volume knob, nicely recessed rolling horizontally controls everything. Yes I don’t think this will turn itself ON in your range bag, & if it does, there’s an automatic 4 hour shutoff that must be reset by holding the knob “off” for 6 seconds.
Amplification is wider ranging than my Peltors. I can go from “barely hearing anything” to about (subjectively 3X normal).
I have yet to take them to the range, but so far I’m impressed.
Matthew Quigley on handguns:
“I said I never had much use for one. Never said
I didn't know how to use it.”
July 8, 2012
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My son and I have both owned Howard Leight Impact Sport Tactical electronic earmuffs for a number of years now. We've found them to be effective and durable. Outdoors, they work very well. At the local indoor range their sound attenuation, particularly when shooting our .44 magnums, is not quite what we'd like it to be. One work around we've found is to use foam rubber earplugs from the local drug store, and then the earmuffs on top of them. Turning the volume way up then allows one to hear normally while muffling the blast from the big guns.
Huffy
February 21, 2011
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That's probably true they only claim an NRR of 22 (better than the 19 of my Peltors). They are a slim-line design though so they can't be as efficient as a full-sized earcup can.
I don't shoot anything indoors except .22RF so for me its not a concern. The 6" Dan in .357 is usually fired in one of those open fronted, but closed sided "shoot houses", but they do pretty well I imagine as my old Peltors were fine.
If you're shooting big boomers indoors then you want NRRs up in the 28 range!
Matthew Quigley on handguns:
“I said I never had much use for one. Never said
I didn't know how to use it.”
February 16, 2016
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July 8, 2012
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I've got ear muffs that are rated at 32db reduction as well, but communication while wearing them is all but impossible. Great for power tool use, etc. but I want all the situational awareness I can get whenever firearms are involved.
February 16, 2016
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July 8, 2012
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February 21, 2011
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huffy49 said
Whatever.
Whut?
Matthew Quigley on handguns:
“I said I never had much use for one. Never said
I didn't know how to use it.”
February 16, 2016
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February 21, 2011
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Geez I just thought it might be interesting, sorry.
Matthew Quigley on handguns:
“I said I never had much use for one. Never said
I didn't know how to use it.”
February 16, 2016
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Dans Club
March 2, 2008
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huffy49 said
I've got ear muffs that are rated at 32db reduction as well, but communication while wearing them is all but impossible. Great for power tool use, etc. but I want all the situational awareness I can get whenever firearms are involved.
I understand exactly what huffy49 was saying, and I agree with him. I like wearing the electronic hearing protection because it does block out the high intensity event of the shots, but allows me to hear a fair amount of what is going on around me. I too want all the "situational awareness" I can get while on the range.
I also want to "communicate" that I'm fairly unimpressed with a couple of the responses I am seeing in this Topic.
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman "Were is the Self Help Section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
George Carlin
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Range Officer
Dans Club
Range Officers
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July 2, 2011
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I bought a set a couple of years ago. I have no idea of the brand, and frankly I'm too tired, laid back and beat up to go look. For outdoor shooting, the only kind I do, I really like them. I can actually talk to someone or hear whats going on around me until I, or someone near me, cranks off a round. I keep my old sets of (several) cans for guest shooters. 
To the paranoid people who check behind shower curtains for murderers:
if you find one...what's your plan?
DWF Supporters
February 1, 2016
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I have 3 sets,not electronic, but I can still hear close to someone even w/32db NR
As Tuco, in The Good The Bad and The Ugly said, "when it's time to shoot, shoot...don't talk !!!" 
SIZE DOES MATTER
February 21, 2011
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Well here's a range report.
Follow up (range report).
I took both the Peltor 6S tacticals & the leight sport ears to the range foe a comparative test of the 2. I’d originally intended a more comprehensive test with several firearms & locations but time, weather & events at the range made that impossible.
All this is subjective.
The range used was a 200yd open air with 4 lanes in a steep sided valley with trees everywhere. Temps were in the 80’s & humidity was 100%.
I used a .30 caliber rifle without ay kind of muzzle device firing 150 Gr bullets at 2450 FPS from a bench.
Fit:
The Peltors win. They pivot more easily & over a wider range of tilt than the Leights do. The best way to get a good seal with the Leights is as the instruction video shows. Extend fully, put cups over ears, and press gently to seat then pull the headband down. If you do it this way they’re fine, but if you put them on short & pull the cups down to fit they may not tilt enough to seal fully.
Comfort:
Nothing in it, the Leights have a slight edge with the padding on the head strap but its minor.
Sound deadening (electronics OFF).
The slight edge here goes to the Leights with the 22dB as opposed to the Peltor’s 19dB. Neither was in the least bit loud or uncomfortable though.
Amplification & electronics:
The Leights win, not by much & the 2 definitely sound “different”, not good or bad, but different. The Peltors sound, for lack of a better term like “Hollywood gunshots”, that kind of muffled “boom” sound you hear in movies. The Leights are more realistic, actually sounding like a quiet gunshot instead of a Hollywood F/X job. Other sounds, car doors, speech & so on are similar to each other.
Interestingly the biggest difference was the sound of the bullet impact on the berm at 200yds. Both units caught the impact, but the peltors were markedly different as a “slap- blat” rather than a “thump” noise.
The Leights have more amplification if you want it. They claim 4X normal, but I’d subjectively put it at 3X. The Peltors were about 1 ½~ 2X at best.
Controls & function:
This is a bit of a user preference thing & I could have found fault with both.
The Peltors individual click-stopped knobs were finer to tune. You could also “count clicks” to get back to a previous setting. The 2 knobs were a bit of a pain, but it retains the advantage that if one ear’s electronics goes down the other will function.
The Leights were faster, but less precise, I missed the click stops.
Matthew Quigley on handguns:
“I said I never had much use for one. Never said
I didn't know how to use it.”
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