Listen Up! Guns and Your Hearing

  • Written by Patrick Tarpey
  • Post authorWritten by: Patrick Tarpey
  • Post dateAugust 8, 2017
  • Updated dateOctober 8, 2017
  • 4 min read
Why Shooters Need Hearing Protection | Decibel Levels and Preventing Permanent Loss

Cash My Guns is your best bet when it comes to safely selling your gun(s). As we have iterated time and time again, safety is of great importance when it comes to handling firearms. This mindset should be present in every aspect of gun ownership and use. One thing that is commonly overlooked when shooting is hearing safety. If you’re an avid shooter, you know the importance of proper ear protection. But knowing you need to wear it and putting this into practice are two different things. We get it – sometimes you want to have conversations while you’re target shooting with your friends or hear bird calls while hunting in the woods. Unfortunately, you’re sacrificing your hearing if you’re engaging in these activities when a shot goes off. So listen up! Here’s why you should cut this bad habit and throw on some protection:

For starters, sound is measured in terms of decibels (dB). Prolonged exposure to high dB levels can cause permanent hearing loss. When exposed, tiny hairs in your inner ear called stereocilia are damaged or destroyed. Unfortunately, stereocilia cannot grow back or repair themselves. This results in a cumulative effect each time your ear experiences a noise above the acceptable dB threshold. In other words, the first shot you fire without ear protection will cause damage, and every shot thereafter will cause more damage that cannot be undone. A good rule of thumb to follow is that if you’re in an environment where you must raise your voice to talk to someone right next to you, it’s necessary to wear ear protection. To lay it out bluntly, a place with guns firing is one of these environments.

In addition, you shouldn’t think you’re out of harm’s way just because the noise from a gunshot only lasts a fraction of a second. Momentary spikes of loud noise can cause irreparable damage to your hearing just like continuous loud noises can. In fact, the louder the dB level of a sound, the less time it takes to do damage to your hearing. For some context, gunshots range from 140-190 decibels depending on their caliber. This is far greater than the 85-decibel threshold after which noises can cause hearing damage. That translates to ear damage after only 30 seconds of shooting a gun without hearing protection.

This information is not meant to scare you, but rather help you avoid becoming a statistic. There are many options available on today’s market to protect your ears when shooting guns. The first option are passive hearing devices, which block noises beyond certain dB levels. These come in the form of simple ear plugs and ear muffs. The second option are active hearing devices. These are battery operated and programmed to allow sounds with safe dB levels through, while instantaneously blocking dB levels that exceed the safe threshold. They are a great option for hunters who need to hear bird calls but still fire shots while never having to take off their ear muffs.

No matter what technology there is out there, it is useless if a shooter does not wear it. For your safety, it is imperative to wear ear protection every time you go out to shoot. These pieces of equipment can cost upwards of a couple hundred dollars, but an investment in quality passive muffs or advanced active muffs is worth it. Take it from us. We have many young hunting friends who weren’t keen on wearing protection and now wear hearing aids. Hearing aids can cost thousands of dollars and once you lose your hearing, it’s gone.

Need some extra cash to buy some proper ear protection for your next outing? ContactCash My Guns for an appraisal of your unused gun(s). We stress safety in all aspects of the gun selling process, so your worries are less, and your confidence is greater.  In the meantime, have fun out there shooters, and wear ear protection!

 

 

Related Posts

More from the Armory