Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

When it comes to electronic earmuffs, the three most important characteristics are the NRR protection level, the clarity of sound and the comfort when wearing them for a long period of time. The Peltor Tac 300 are rated at 24 NRR and they do a great job indoors and outdoors for up to 45 caliber. They have good sound quality (more on this below) and although they are comfortable and don't irritate my ears, they have strong hard rubber as a headband and that makes them uncomfortable on the top of the head if I put them on for more than a couple of hours. Comfort is the reason I gave them only 4 stars but note that comfort varies from one individual to another and you may find them more comfortable than I do. You can always purchase a headband wrap and the 3M HY80 Gel pads (3M Peltor Camelback Gel Sealing Rings) to make them even more comfortable and seal your ears better when you put the safety glasses on because the gel padding will conform around the glasses arms. But these “add-ons” will raise the overall cost by a lot. I did purchase the Gel pads and found them to be high quality, very soft and surprisingly don’t seem to cause my ears to sweat when I wear them for a prolonged period of time (2 to 3 hours). I purchased the Peltor Tac 300 because I was looking for better quality electronic earmuffs that will protect my hearing and allow me to have conversations with other competitors while we wait for our turn. I also own the popular Howard Leight Impact Pro (30 NRR) and Howard Leight Impact Sport (22 NRR). I call the Howard Leight popular because they are priced well and I see many people around me wearing them at indoor and outdoor pistol competitions. I have some comparison information later in this review. The reason I own many different pairs is because I have a hearing impairment (hereditary not from shooting) and cannot hear anything from one ear which means that I have to protect my one working ear at all cost so I am always looking for a better pair of earmuffs. Here are some things you may want to know: - They do not amplify sounds and at the maximum volume setting the sound level is about the same as you would get with naked ears. - Using the default settings, they offer good clarity of sound for speech and I don’t find myself looking for the volume controls or leaning towards the person that speaks in order to hear what they are saying. - Releasing the slide of a pistol triggers the sound cut off although it is not harmful to hearing and this also happens if you just pull the slide open on a S&W Victory 22 which is not loud at all but it appears that metallic sounds trigger the suppression at any level. - They have a single power button located on the back side of the right ear opposite to the microphone and you must hold it in for 3 seconds until you hear the announcement “Power On” or “Power Off”. This is somewhat annoying because it is just enough time to start wondering if you pressed the button hard enough and you also have to hold that button waiting for the announcement when you just want to get them off your head. There is no visual indicator to check if they are on or off. - There is a setup mode where you can adjust the following functions: o Adaptive Suppression Time: When On, it will provide the fastest suppression time possible o Surround Sound Filtering: When On, it filters background noises giving priority to speech o Auto Power Off: You can select between 2 or 4 hours o Dosimeter/Limiter: When limiter is selected the audio input will not be allowed to exceed 82db - You can connect your phone using a 4 pole 3.5mm cable (not included) and control tracks and pause/play using the “P” button but I find this useless in my case because I do not see myself at the range listening to music but then again this is up to you. - You can purchase a rechargeable battery (3M ALPHA1100 Rechargeable Li-Ion Battery Pack) and charge it via the micro USB port located by the audio port. Both ports are under a rubber cover. - They come with a nice cloth bag that keeps them dust free when you don’t use them and because they fold inside the headband and the storage bag is cloth, they take remarkably small space in the range bag. ███ UPDATE 7/25/2019 - I originally wrote that I prefer the AA batteries but after I started using a pair of batteries per couple of weeks, it made financial sense to purchase the rechargeable battery and so I did. The rechargeable battery lasts longer than the AA batteries and I can give it a quick partial charge using a power bank if it runs out during a competition. One think to note is that after I used the AA batteries which always fit really tight, the rechargeable battery would not work because the contacts were permanently depressed/bend by the AA batteries. After I lifted the contacts using an owl tool (be careful not to pull on them too much), the rechargeable battery started working and have not had a problem since. Also worth mentioning the fact that there is no "charging" or "battery full" indicator but using an amp meter I found that the battery fully charges within 5 hours and it stops drawing power once it is charged so you can plug them in overnight without worrying about overcharging the battery. ███ I compare the Peltor with the Howard Leight Impact Sport and Impact Pro because those are at a lower price than the Peltor Tac 300 and they have great reviews which makes them very appealing. The Impact Sport have great sound. You can hear speech with them on better than not having earmuffs. The sound clarity is great and I have even used them to listen to the TV at volume levels that I could barely hear without them. But they are rated at 22 NRR and in my opinion they should be rated less than that when compared to the Peltor Tac 300. So for me the Impact Sport are great when used outdoors and up to 9 mm caliber or indoors up to 22 caliber. They are comfortable on the ears and headband even after many hours. They are slim and fold inside the headband nicely taking less space than the Peltor Tac 300 to the point that you may even fit them in your jacket pocket. The Impact Pro, are rated at 30 NRR and they do a fantastic job reducing gun fire sounds even indoors with large caliber pistols but they are horrible when it comes to hearing speech with them on and I find myself struggling to understand what people say around me. The problem is not so much with the maximum volume level but more like in the attempt to cut off loud noises, speech filtering quality suffers a lot. Thay are comfortable to wear but they are bulky and do not fold in the headband which makes them too big for some range bags. The Peltor 300 are rated at 24 NRR and I am comfortable with the protection level indoors and outdoors for up to 45 caliber. I would prefer them to be 30 NRR so for "big bore" competitions I prefer the Impact Pro. Peltor offers the Tac 500 which are 26 NRR and have integrated Bluetooth but I find that useless because if I need to talk on the phone, I will need to be somewhere that there is no more than 80db ambient noise which means I can take them off and answer the phone. If you ask which ones I would purchase now that I have experienced all 3 of them I would definitely say the Peltor but if you have the budget to go further, I suggest the Peltor and the Impact Pro because although I am not impressed with the Impact Pro, having them both will possibly cover all your needs. I have modified all of them by adding a ¼ inch camera mount so I can record competitions with my Contour Roam 3 camera which has a rotating lens and allow to adjust the horizon of the picture frame so it can be mounted at almost any angle. For that I used the following parts: Contour ROAM3 Waterproof HD Video Camera (Black) Fotasy SCX2 1/4-Inch 20 Tripod Screw to Hot Shoe Adapter with Premier Cleaning Cloth (Black) I have also modified the Peltor Tac 300 to accommodate my hearing impairment by moving both speakers to the side of my good ear. This way, I can hear sounds picked up from the left and right microphone. My hearing problem may be fairly unique but if you happen to be able to benefit from such modification, you can see how I did it in the youtube video I made by searching for the title “Earmuffs modification for hearing impairment (Peltor Tactical 300)”