Shooting isn’t nearly as fun if you’re injuring yourself in the process. In order to protect your hearing the next time you hit the range, here’s my ranking of the best shooting earplugs on the market.
FYI, prices and ratings are accurate as of time of writing.
1. AXIL GS Extreme 2.0 - 25-Hour Shooting Ear Buds
Highlight: 25 hours of active battery life.
Helpful review: Axil is the new kid on the block, at least around here. I have heard many good things about them and I've seen their involvement in local shooting sports, so I decided to try them. They definitely live up to the hype and then some.
All hearing protection should strive to meet or exceed the GS Extreme 2.0 hearing protection. The over-the-ear “loops” fit very nicely, and the security to keep them on my head was amazing. Unlike earbuds that can fall out and get stepped on (looking at you, John) when they fall out of my ears at the range. The microphones are located away from the side of the head on the lanyard, which means it is possible to control the wind noise in the earpiece.
Axil also has Bluetooth connectivity that is becoming standard in the hearing protection market. The Bluetooth and sound volume can be adjusted near the microphone section of the lanyard, which is very easy to reach and adjust. The lanyard fits over the ear shell and lies along the shooter's back or under the shirt to keep it from flapping around and making noise in the microphones.
The one thing I liked about this setup more than my good old standby earmuffs is the ability to wear them comfortably with my glasses. When I wear shooting muffs for a while, they will crush my ear shell against my head, and the arm of my glasses is between them. After about 220 minutes, I am moving the earpiece from my head to relieve the sore spot forming on my ears. With Axil using an over-the-ear hoop, the earbud section can sit in my ear canal and have the same security as the muffs. On top of the ear loop, the earpieces are also hooked to the lanyard around my neck. It has a brilliant design.
The owner's manual states that the rubber earpieces are not rated for hearing protection at the range. I guess that set is for jogging or something else. Make sure to read the instruction manual carefully and install and use the correct earpieces, or you will suffer hearing damage.
The last point to make about this product is the weight of the earbuds. They weigh a bit more than other sets, when everything is put in a pile on a scale. By displacing the weight from the ear holes, over the ear shells, and down the back of the neck, they feel much less in the ears and make wearing them all day much more comfortable. — Matt MacGregor
Get it from Amazon now: $148.00 & FREE Returns
2. Walker's Silencer NRR25dB - Electronic Sound Suppression
Highlight: Amplifies the lower-level sounds while stopping the loudness.
Helpful review: The Silencer earbuds are made with a Secure Locking Fin apparatus. I say apparatus because I don’t know what else to call it. What this thing does is keep the earbud in one space, kind of like a kickstand on a bike. The foam buds and the Locking Fin come in three sizes to fit the shooter's ears. The foam will be whichever size works with your ear canal, and the Locking fin may be another size to fit the outer part of your ear shell.
The Silencer earbuds use a no.10 hearing aid batteries; the kit comes with four. Anyone who has been around hearing aid-wearing knows the batteries will always die, so keeping the batteries in the earbuds while they live in your range bag will make non-electronic earbuds when you go to the range. All the shooter needs to do is remove the batteries when not on the range. If you have young enough eyes and nimble enough fingers, dealing with the tiny batteries is not a problem. You may need to look at the rechargeable offerings if you are not as nimble as once.
The Walker's Silencer earbuds are adjustable outside the casing with an on-and-off switch and a simple dial to turn the sound up or down. This switch and dial combo is very similar to a medical hearing aid, so that may work like an old friend (pun intended) for our hunting buddies who did not use hearing protection once upon a time. Each earbud can turn up or down the volume independently of each other; they can also turn on and off independently, so if they are not working, make sure the switches are on.
The omnidirectional microphones can hear almost everything happening on the range and hear the sound if it is blowing on the range. This is not unique to the Walker's. All hearing protection with a microphone will do the same thing. The great part about each earbud adjusting independently is that you can turn off the one facing the wind and are back in the game. — James Zimmerman
Get it from Amazon now: $229.99 & FREE Returns
3. GLORYFIRE - Ear Plugs for Shooting
Highlight: The carry case holds the power to keep earbuds charged.
Helpful review: The Gloryfire earbuds will charge from the case. The case will charge from the wall, then charge the earbuds for up to 12 hours. This built-in case charging function is great for absent-minded folks like me. The case works like most of the phone earbuds on the market. The earbuds load from the tip, open like a cigarette case and drop into the right spot. Take the earbud out, and it is ready to go. When you place the earbuds in your ear, just push the button on the side, turn them on, and you're ready to shoot.
Wearing earbuds for hearing protection has one big advantage for me: They do not contact the gun stock when bringing it to my shoulder. Hitting the earmuff is one thing, but having the gunstock lift the earmuffs slightly is a bad surprise when you pull the trigger. The earplugs do not have that issue.
The one con to using earbuds is they can fall out easily, and then you are screwed for hearing protection, and back to using 9mm rounds stuck in the ear hole like we used to do once upon a time.
These Gloryfire earbuds are a little larger than I would have thought, as they stick out from the ear a bit more than I would have thought. The design is very similar to the Walker's earbuds. They have a forward arm that will place the weight toward the front of the ear and not hang down the side of the cheeks. With the earbuds that hang down the cheek, the accidental dropping or pushing out of the earbuds is much more possible.
Gloryfire has taken steps to keep the earbuds on your person, including a silicone strap that connects them behind the head. This will keep them on your body, but maybe out of the ears, depending on how they are knocked from the ear canal. — Ed Geoffrey
Get it from Amazon now: $159.99 & FREE Returns
4. Walker's Silencer - Rechargeable Earbuds
Highlight: Hard-sided recharging case, Micro USB.
Helpful review: Hearing protection with Bluetooth availability... this means that I can hear my phone with its rings at the range or listen to podcasts or music when I am working on some loud stuff in the shop. All of this in small and lightweight earbuds. For the two folks in the world who do not know what earbuds are, they work like a hearing aid but are designed to stop noise, not amplify noise. Many of the phone companies offer their own branded earbuds. Some manufacturers only talk about their make of earbuds.
The Walker's Silencer 2.0 earbuds are great. I have heard of shooters using earbuds with shooting muffs for very loud guns or indoor ranges. I don’t know if this is real, and they did not work to do that when I tried it. When I put the earbuds in, then put on my Walker's shooting muffs, and the muffs pushed the earbuds in far enough to touch my brain, I think. The earmuffs will stop the noise to a set level, and the earbuds will do the same, so I don’t know what good the earbuds would do. Now, with that said, the muffs can be turned off and used to stop the noise, and the foam earplugs to reduce even more noise will surely work.
These earbuds have a unique feature: the Bluetooth program on my phone allows me to adjust the volume in each earbud individually. This allows me to turn down the noise in the right ear (right-handed shooter) and cut the massive noise from the muzzle devices I install for customers. I can also keep the left ear set to normal levels so I can hear what is going on around me. The one issue using this feature is forgetting to reset the quiet side when I am off the bench. Having one ear off for the most part and one ear listening, for some reason, makes me kind of dizzy, or uneven may be a better word.
The earbuds are placed in a hard-sided case that closes like a cigar tube or holder and does not have a door that can pop open in the range bag. That hard-sided case then plugs into a standard micro-USB charger to charge everywhere. Using this standard charging port also allows my earbuds to get recharged from the portable charger I have with my camera gear or the solar panels and battery, so my stuff is always ready to go.
The only thing I do not like about using earbuds is how they make my earholes itch all day. The Walker's do come with three sizes of foamy inserts to fit nearly everyone's ears; I say that because I know someone will come along with an issue that they do not want. The earbuds are lightweight and fit in the pocket of gun range workers, so they do not have to haul around shooting muffs all day or set them down on the other end of the counter.
The thing I do find is walking around on the range with earbuds in; the RSOs will all come to talk to me about hearing protection until they get close enough to see them sitting in my ears. The use of earbuds when hunting is going to be way better than trying to drag along some earmuffs. I have an uncle who uses foam earplugs when hunting, and to get his attention, he will scare away all the game in the canyon. If he had a set of these, he could stop the damage, turn up the talking volume, and improve his hunt. I know what Uncle Sandy gets before Christmas this year. — Joshua T. Herman
Get it from Amazon now: $149.99 & FREE Returns
5. Walker's Omni-Directional - Earbud-Rope Hearing Enhancer
Highlight: Secured by a tether.
Helpful review: Walker's has designed a tethered set of earbuds, much like the AXIL style. These tethered earbuds do not have super handy ear loops; they are strictly earbuds on a string. When I worked at a smelter, we had earplugs on a hard loop that sat around the neck, and they were convenient. The problem with them was how dirty they got out of my ears. These will hang around my neck, and I tuck them inside my t-shirt to keep them clean.
The microphone is located along the lanyard, and the controls are also in this section. I try to minimize wind and background noise by covering them with my shirt. This works well until the omnidirectional microphone rubs against the color of my flannel shirt; then, that is the only thing I can hear. I don’t know which is worse.
The noise reduction is 29 dB, which is OK for an outdoor range, but it will not work for an indoor range. A shooting protection company makes the Walker's, but they seem more fitting for a loud work area. One really good thing about these earbuds is that they allow me to hear with a hard hat, and they do not push my ear shell against my eyeglasses arm. The comfort level of these is amazing, especially if I need to take them on and off all day.
They will recharge, so no tiny battery is chasing or changing. If the battery dies, just like the rest of the earbuds on the market, they become earplugs. If I shoot on a range that has a lot of ears on and ears off, this setup is a great choice. If I shoot indoors or near a mound of dirt, these go back in the shooting bag, and the Walker's earmuffs go on my head. — Dave J. Peterson
Get it from Amazon now: $89.99 & FREE Returns
6. ISOtunes Sport Caliber BT - True Wireless Shooting Earbuds
Highlight: Good for the range or the shop.
Helpful review: I have a buddy who uses the ISOtunes earbuds at work and has equipped his whole crew with them. He does concrete work, and when the workers are cutting or using air tools, the sound protection is great. What he also has figured out is that each person can listen to their tunes and not have a radio blasting music in the customer's backyard that no one else wants to hear.
On the range, my buddy swears by these ISOtunes earbuds. He loves the rechargeable feature and no lost time replacing batteries. The case they come in also carries energy to recharge the earbuds, so there is no need to carry the cord with him to the range; the recharge is in his shooting bag, genius. The earbuds will connect via Bluetooth to his and his crew's phones, so music or phone calls are in their ears. This ensures that phone calls from the boss to the crew are not missed and that conversations can be had without shouting around on the job site.
These use passthrough technology, meaning all the sound is reduced to safe levels and is not turned off completely when shooting. If the shooting is slow or we all normally fire at the range, he can carry on a conversation and hear every word. If the gunshots come in rapid fire from our bench or everyone is shooting at once, the earbuds will shut off the noise completely. The earbuds will work like regular foam earplugs when the rapid-fire “mode” is activated. When the noise level drops or the noise activity reduces to slow-paced incoming, they return to pass-through style hearing protection.
He will complain about their ability to drop or be knocked out of his ears and then land in the dirt. They do not have a method to lock into the ear or secure to the shooter. When shooting at the bench, the earbuds will stay in place just fine, like all the earbuds that come with phones and things like that.
The ISOtunes are rated to IP67 waterproof level and are dustproof. So if he uses these when duck hunting and drops one or both in the water, they will be safe if he can find them. When they drop on the job site or range and land in the dirt, all he does is wash them off in the hose or sink, and they are good to go. — Hank Topher
Get it from Amazon now: $199.99 & FREE Returns
7. Caldwell E-MAX Shadows - Electronic Hearing Protection
Highlight: Continuous sound levels.
Helpful review: These earbuds are just like a set I bought for my laptop at work. The only differences are the colors available and the foam earpieces that keep out the shooting range noises. The other thing my work earbuds do not do is listen to the world around me, all my work earbuds do is play music or make phone calls.
The earbuds have an arm that hangs down the front of the ear, like all the folks wear at the mall. Think about this, I can use these earbuds at the mall, listening to my talk shows or books, etc and hear if someone is pacing with me or coming up behind me. If I wear these in the shop I can hear the show and the chirping of metal on the lathe or the mill making weird noises that I need to hear before the part is ruined.
Here is the malfunction I found with the Caldwell earbuds: that arm hanging in front of my ear keeps getting in the way of the stock and knocks the earpiece out of my ear. When shooting on the bench, the earbud knock-out thing is not such a big deal; I just reach up and push it back into place. When shooting trap with the Champion clay launcher, the earpiece is gone, and everyone shoots shotguns close to my unprotected ear.
The Bluetooth connectivity is spot-on and quick. When I take them out of the carrier, they will auto-connect to my phone. The E-MAX is designed to shut off at the four-hour mark, keeping the earbud charged; even if the shooter forgets to turn them off, they will do that for ya. The earbuds will connect to deliver music, and then the phone will receive music. At times, the connections will get confused, which is maddening. This requires the shooter to turn off the Bluetooth on the phone and then put both earpieces back in the charger. Everything will return in line after returning to square one and starting over. If all of that does not work, it is a simple factory reset, and you, I am back in business.
Of all the things from Caldwell that I have to the range for a day of shooting or sighting customer funds, this set of earbuds is the only Caldwell item I do not love more than everything else.
The way they link is great; there is no left or right side. Either will work in whatever ear you put them in, even two folks listening to the same thing. But the loss of connection and the ability to knock them out of my ear holes and leave my ear open to damage results in my using them when I am at the airport or working around a lot of other people. — Matt Briggs
Get it from Amazon now: $59.99 & FREE Returns