E-MAX Electronic Hearing Protection with Low Profile, Adjustable, 23 NRR, For Range, Shooting, and Hunting

EDIT 11-14-2014: STILL work great. Several friends use these now. These are a great value. EDIT 07-08-2013: We've been using our two pair of these about 15 times over the past 6 months. Have not needed to change batteries yet. They have worked well. There have been a couple times when I have been right next to a discharging pistol that it did not block the report quite as well as I would have liked, but I would not switch to a larger set that squeezes your head tighter. To the plus, these are as comfortable as can be expected. I have no problem wearing them continously for an hour or so, but the wife does not like wearing them more than 30 minutes without a break. The compact design is a plus in that they fit easily in our range bag. We have recommended these to friends three times now. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ORIGINAL REVIEW: Product works exactly as it is suppose to. Excellent value. Would highly recommend to a friend. RANGE USE A few have mentioned that they did not like how these worked at a shooting range. Let's review how these are advertised to work; When a loud noise happens, the microphones turn off for half a second. So, at a busy range where shots will happen frequenly (sometimes more than once a second) the microphones will be off alot - as they are supposed to be to protect your hearing. Others have said that they did not protect their hearing enough at a range. Let's reveiw again; They are advertised with a NRR of 23 which is what you get. This means that noises will be reduced by 23 decibels. So not very loud noises may be reduced to near nothing, while extemely lound noises will be reduced somewhat. (Well, not really "somewhat" but rather they will be reduced exactly 23 decibels) This should reduce most all noises to a safe level. HOWEVER if YOU wear them improperly they will not work as advertised. Make sure they are cupped tightly over your ears. If your eyewear, big hair, giant earring, hat, etc. get in the way of ANY BRAND of earmuffs cupping over your ears - their effectiveness will be reduced, sometimes greatly. BATTERIES Yes, they take batteries, but it's not clear if they take AAA or AA. Does it really matter? No. This is a five star product regarless of a possible misprint. We've used our two pairs on three two-hour trips to the range and batteries are still lasting. Tiny red indicator light is a great reminder to help you to remember to turn them off. BETTER EAR PROTECTION I suppose if you bought earmuffs that were MUCH larger and clamped on your head tighter you could achieve a better NRR rating. But I really don't want that. I suppose if you spent considerable more money (like three of four times more) you could be better sound/voice qualiity and less circuitry hum. But I really don't want to pay more. These work very well for the job at hand. COMPACT I really like how well these pack down to small size when not in use. When you have limited storage in your range bag you will really appreciate this too. Click YES below if this review is helpful.

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.

My hearing was damaged by too much exposure to military electrical power generators. I protect my remaining hearing, but conventional earplugs and shooting muffs deaden all sounds. The electronic muffs amplify faint sounds and have a cut-off circut limiting noise. This permits me to hear while protecting me from loud noises. Tactically this is an advantage in home protection because gunfire--both mine and home invaders--reverberates inside closed rooms leaving stunned and deafened people. That can be dangerous when I don't hear police commands afterwards--and I may blow out one or both ear drums. The Caldwell is inexpensive--and more important the power supply is a pair of AAA dry cells in the left earpiece. I haven't used up the first AAA battery yet because I have only worn the muffs with the amplifier on for about four hours. Long battery life and a standard, easy-to-obtain battery is important. For [...] and shipping, the Caldwell E-Max is about the same price as a pair of regular muffs with no amplifier. When the battery runs down, I have a set of regular muffs until I put in new AAA dry cells. The battery cover is secure and yet is easy to remove to replace the two AAA dry cells. Drawbacks? I retired from the National Guard and this set of muffs won't fit under a combat helmet. It works fine with a baseball cap, though. Also, this is not a device that I'd drive a truck over. Though rugged (I've dropped it a few times already) eventually it will break. I have used shooting muffs for 45 years and the ear pieces will deteriorate enough to need replacing. Since the price is so low, I plan to get some replacements for the time when the unit quits. Replacement cost was a factor when I ordered these electronic shooting muffs.

La funcionalidad de los protectores de oído es excelente. Permiten escuchar con moderación en lugares muy ruidosos y cuando el sonido excede de 85 decibeles se bloquea y no lastima.

works perfect arrived super fast

So far I am really impressed with these ear muffs. I used them while shooting and they did exactly as stated. As soon as I fired the microphone cut out. I found the microphone to be great as I find it difficult at time to hear people speaking and they really helped with my hearing. It was great to have them on and be able to carry on a normal conversation. I have only used them once so I can not speak to durability, but performance is great.

je trouve le rapport qualité prix nickel, le casque et confort est fait le taf. les lunette sont très bien petit prix donc je recommande

Well made, excellent functionally. Has revolutionised competition clay target shooting for me. Augments my normally poor hearing on the range yet reliably cuts out all harmful gunshot reports. Can now hear effectively so I can referee and score at Skeet and DTL which I could not with normal earplugs. Worth every cent