Electronic hearing protect lets you hear casual conversation while saving your ears in loud environments, such as a gun range.
These are in the decidedly middle-of-the-road to cheapo-de-lux range. They do a fine job of filtering out noisy to fairly loud sounds. I can tell you right now I wouldn't wear these at a busy indoor range, at least not without additional protection, such as ear plugs, nor would I let my students do so.
I bought these because:
1) I was ever so curious, as I've never seen them this cheap,
2) I'm a firearms coach, and I like my students to hear what I'm saying. These are cheap enough to be entrusted to semi-strangers,
3) Curiosity...yes, I was curious enough to list this twice!
I received these yesterday. I created a very noisy environment, then compared these to my older mid-range Peltors, which cost roughly 7 times more.
The perceived differences in hearing protection and voice amplification are so minimal I'm not quite certain if they're real or the result of my bias...I never really liked the Peltors. Anyway, unless a blind or truly scientific test is done, we'll have to go off of my word.
The voice amplification was ever so slightly better with the Caldwells. Other than that, functionally they were identical. I did not hear a difference between the two when it came to blocking noises out, which is not surprising as they're pretty much the same size. The electronics are much newer in the Caldwells.
As far as volume, it isn't impressive, but it isn't bad. If you're wearing ear plugs, you should be able to hear voices at a conversation level, but they'll be a bit faint. In a very noisy environment, such as a packed indoor range, it may not be enough.
I really liked the simple, easy, not-high-tech control. One knob turns it on/off and controls the volume. Do you hear that Peltor, Toyota, and other companies that like to make these controls as complicated as possible?!? Yes, the same type of knob that has been controlling electronic devices since radios had tubes and the woolly mammoth invented the wheel. The same type of knob that nobody ever had to read a manual to figure out, that worked every time, and allowed quick and easy control of the device in question.
In case you missed it, I like simple controls for simple devices.
Peltor is operated by buttons, one for power and two for volume. It beeps loudly in your ears whenever a button is pressed. It is very easy to inadvertently leave them on. While it isn't too difficult to figure out which button does what without looking, it still takes forever compared to the Caldwells, and needlessly so. They add cost. To be best of my knowledge, none of the other manufacturers feel the need to use this system.
As a side note, the insulation covering the cords on the Peltors has rotted away, despite their very light use and protected storage. Obviously I haven't owned these long enough to compare, however I have owned others longer, and no such issues have cropped up.
As a side note to the side note, Peltor is a medium to high end brand, and as such, one tends to expect higher quality.
To be fair, the Peltors still function properly, despite the dangling wires and silly button controls.
Obviously these aren't high end, however they're easily as good as the Peltors, and you can buy several of these for the same price. Will they last as long as the Peltors? I'll let you know in 10 years or so. Frankly, even if they don't last as long, I feel you're still better off with these, assuming of course you're looking at fairly mild hearing protection. Oh, it may cost you a few bucks more eventually, like, in 5 years or more, but just the ease of use is a big enough bonus to make it worthwhile. You also won't worry so much about theft or loss.
I'm going to shoot this weekend, and I'll give them a serious test then. If I feel any changes are in order, I'll edit this review.
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