3MStandard Tac 100,

I took a blindfolded leap when I bought this item not knowing what it would be like. Turns out that this is more comfortable than the walker. Its comfortable to wear and provides a little more noise reduction than other brands.

this type of ear protection was not my first choice. I did quite a bit of research into the different types, and settled on one of the newer electronic designs which is based on wired foam plugs and a controller that rides on the back of the neck. The few reviews on it were either really good, or really bad. I now believe the really good ones were likely bogus. The primary problem with all of the electronic units that have foam ear buds is that they cannot be rolled small enough to fit deep inside your ear for a good seal. It not only is the wrong type of foam, but also has the hard plastic "straw" that runs through it. It advertised a NRR rating of 31 (which is pretty much what you get with unwired cheap foam plugs that you by at Walgreens). The marketing also produces confusion for some folks that somehow the electronics magically reduces the sound of a gunshot. There is nothing the electronics do except shut off the microphones that allow you to hear speech. Turn the electronics off, and you get exactly the same protection from loud noises...which in the case of the wired foam buds was not much at all. I could sit in the room 10 ft. from my TV at normal sound and comfortably listen to it. They would have been dangerous to wear on the range. There was absolutely no way to get a decent seal in my ears with the buds.So I decided to try these Peltor muffs. When they arrived the first thing I did was try them in the TV room again. All the difference in the world. This NRR 21 rated muff almost totally blocked the TV sound, while the NRR 31 rated buds were almost like wearing nothing. So much for the numbers game. Then I turned on the electronics and was amazed at the clarity of sound. Was very clear and natural like you were not wearing any ear protection, whereas the foam ear buds were "staticky".I have used the slimmed down muffs in years past for shotgunning, but they still have the problem of a nasty "thunk" sound against your gun stock. But I am getting older and need to protect my hearing. Knowing this was going to happen, I cut a self-stick strip of the soft fuzzy Velcro half and pressed it on the bottom of the plastic on my shooting side. Made a world of difference in the sound when the stock makes contact.Now for the actual conditions at the clay shooting range. Very comfortable, and did a great job of muffling the gunshot sounds. I got them on a little late and my ears were being hammered by shooters at a nearby station (about 50 ft. away). But after getting them on, I could stand just 5 or 6 ft. from my shooting partners in total comfort. Speech could easily be heard with the volume about half way at most. I was very happy.The foam on these ears is very comfortable and I never felt the need to take them off or shift their position. It was a very windy day, and if I turned them up to the max, there was a notable wind noise through the muffs, but there was no need to turn them up beyond half way. I was also surprised to see that I became totally unaware of my gun stock hitting the muffs...that had been my biggest concern. So hey Peltor, how about you guys put a little rubber along the bottom rims of these muffs. Trust me, it makes a huge difference.Only thing that came close to a complaint was that my ears became a little sweaty in the Texas heat (I think it was about 82 deg. in mid Nov.). But it was not running down my neck. Once in a while I would lift them while no one was shooting just to let the wind dry up the moisture. But it really was not a problem, and I think ear buds would have caused some minor sweating as well.All in all I am very very pleased with these muffs, and very very disappointed in the electronic in-the-ear system (at more than twice the price). I recommend them, and suggest you pay no damned attention to the rating numbers. (and no, this is not a bogus review. I am just an old shooter that appreciates good equipment at a fair price...just like you).

I purchased this pair of peltor rangeguard electronic muffs in May of 2018, so I have had them going on 7 yrs and they still work great. I recently purchased a walker quad razor slim pair thinking the directional sound would be twice as good as the peltors since the peltors only have 2 microphones vs the walkers 4. Not so, the walkers do not give any directional noise indication of which way the sound is coming from. The walkers sound is just right in the middle no matter which way the sound is really coming from. The peltors truly give you a directional sound input and you know which direction the sound is coming from and that's from only have 2 microphones. With the peltors if I have 2 people on either side of me I can tell who is talking and which side it's coming from even in the dark. The peltors also give you front to rear directional sound as well. Peltors in my option are hands down better in sound direction over the walkers. Peltors have a NRR of 21 and the walkers are 22 so not that much of a difference in decimal reduction, about the same. They both amplify sound about the same but the peltors you can tell which way the sound is coming from, not so with the walkers. Also in the slim department, I think the peltors are a tad slimmer than the walkers. The peltors have a smaller rounded profile over the walkers. Very satisfied with the peltors and pretty disappointed with the walkers.

I wanted "just in case" ear protection for home defense. If I had to shot a self defense 12Ga in my house, or in a hallway, id be deaf after the first shot, and likely stunned to some degree. So finding some muffs that could give some protection against that was my goal and I think these work good for that. Here's why...Pros1. The microphones give very good crisp natural sound pick up. Amplified just slightly better than my naked ears EVEN AT SOME DISTANCE. (Other "better" headphones seem to cancel distance sounds, I want to hear the distance sounds in my home)2. The two microphone work well for isolating direction sounds. About as good as my naked ears, and maybe a little better sometimes. (make sure they are mics are facing forward it makes a difference.)3. 21db's reduction should be "good enough" to keep my hearing intact for a short time. This I can't really know for sure.4. Fit great and very comfortable. Ear pads are nice.5. Low price for the quality6. Very low profile.Cons1. If you turn up the amplification to get more sounds pick up, you get more white noise (hiss). You can just turn it up loud enough that hiss is barely audible, and its still better than your naked ears.I think the white noise comes with the ability to pick up distant sounds.2. It could use some more passive NR. I wonder if other ear pads could give some more NRConclusion. For the range with lots of shots firing for a long time, I want more than the 21db noise reduction. ( I can add 30db ear plugs. or use a different ear protection.)But for home defense these seem to do everything I need better than any other ear phones I've found, so five stars.

I used these at the range a few days ago and they fit really well, the microphone for the outside world is good and doesn't so really weird. There's about a 1/4 second delay between the sound of the gunshot and the audio behind "ducked" or cancelled for it. It didn't bother me, or it improved later on during the shooting session, and my ears weren't ringing by the end of the session.