By Roy Huntington

If you don’t use electronic hearing protection you’re literally missing out on all sorts of good things — like range commands, fellow shooters’ comments, kids’ questions, “Lunch is ready!” and your wife or girlfriend reminding you how often you’re missing the target as you shoot. Lots of good stuff like that. But conventionally shaped “muffs” are uncomfortable for some people, can interfere with cheek weld on long-guns and can be hot and sweaty on some days. Walker’s, a company built on innovation in electronic sound enhancement and hearing protection, recently announced their Silencer Earbuds. They essentially do everything muffs do, but are more an “in-the-ear” set-up.

Using standard 2 No.10 hearing aid batteries — lasting about 80 hours — they offer about a 25 DB noise reduction and enhance hearing so you can hear those questions or your buddy asking for help next to you. The omnidirectional microphones pick up sounds, and you can actually tell which direction they’re coming from. Each one also has its own volume control so you can adjust it for your own comfort. The sound-activated compression system protects your hearing. At a shot, it sort of “dims” the sound but doesn’t cut it off sharply like some designs do. The “clipping” can get irritating as sounds constantly cut off and on. The Earbuds deliver a more natural hearing feeling, but anything over about 85 DB’s gets toned down to manageable levels.

Walker’s includes what they call “baffled silicone and foam” ear buds in different sizes to fit to your own ear. My test sample had foam plugs fitting my big, manly sized ears (okay, let the dog jokes commence), while another size allowed wife Suzi to try them out too. As a matter of fact she’ll be using them on an elk hunt next week so I’ll let you know how that goes. At less than $200 if you shop around some, they cost about as much as high quality muffs — but a lot less than hearing aids! For more info: https://americanhandgunner.com/company/walker-s-game-ear/, Ph: (877) 269-8490

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