Shooting Times & Country – 07 August 2019

moderatorreducedthesoundto

a levelbelow140dB.Ineveryother

casethesoundoutputfromtherifle

wasstillharmfulat theearofthe

personfiring.It waslessharmfulthan

withouta moderatorbutit wasstill

capableofdamaging their hearing.

Critical

Onlythecombinationofear

protectionanda moderatorcould

bereliedontoreducesoundlevelsto

a pointwheretheywerenotharmful.

Modernmoderatorsarebetterthan

thoseonthemarket 15 yearsagobutit

wouldbewisetocheckverycarefully

whethertheyaregoingtoreducethe

soundlevelbelowthecritical140dB.

TheHSEboffinsfoundthat

theperformanceofearmuff-type

defenderswasveryvariable — small

irregularitiesoffit,

knocksfromrecoil

anda numberof

otherfactorshad

a markedeffect

onhowmuch

Ear defenders

“Testsshowedthat

theperformance

ofearmuff-type

defenderswas

very variable”

26 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

Wheretheargumentseemsa little
lessclearis inthosesituationswhere
theshooterneedstobecloselytuned
totheenvironment.Thewildfowler
whoneedstobealerttosubtle
differencesincallsorthestalkerwho
needstobea living part of the forest,
forexample.
Perhapsmybudgetandexperience
putthemoutofmyreachbutI have
neverfounda pairofelectronicear
defendersthatdidnothaveaneffect
onmyabilitytobeutterlyimmersed
inanenvironment.Everypairof
everytypeseemseithertomess
aboutwithsoundinanundesirable
wayorat leasttobeanirritating and
uncomfortablepresence.

Singleshot
However,asmentioned85dBis the
pointat whicha soundcandamage
yourhearing.Almostanysporting
shotgunwillexceedthissoundlevel,
witha 12-boretypicallygenerating
roughly156dBat theuser’sear.A
singleshotfiredat a duckora goose
willharmyourhearing.Addupall
theshotsfiredovermanyyearsand
thedamagemaywellbesignificant.
It is fortheindividualtodecide
whethertheyarewillingtoaccept
thatdamage,butwithouthearing
protectiontherewillbedamagedone.
Withriflesit is is morecomplicated.
Thewidespreaduseofsound
moderatorsonrifleshaspersuaded
manyusersthatthemoderatoralone
providesadequateprotectionfor
theirhearing.In 2004 theForestry
CommissionaskedtheHealthand
SafetyExecutive(HSE)tolookat
thenoiselevelsthatitsrangerswere
exposedtowhentheyfiredrifl es with
andwithoutmoderators.
Theytestedninecentrefirerifles
insixdifferentcalibreswithfour
diff erent moderators. Only one

The make-up of the external auditory canal means using both types of ear protection is safest

soundgotthroughtotheuser’sear.

Theproblemsaresosignificantthat

theAmericanSpeech-Language-

HearingAssociationrecommends

protectingearsbothmuffs andplugs.

I deplorethemoderntendency

tobossgrownmenandwomen

around‘fortheirowngood’and

whatyoudecidetodowithyour

hearingis yourbusiness.I can

understandthereluctanceofsome

peopletoshovethingsinorontheir

earsbutthefactis that,withoutusing

earprotection,mostgunshots will

harmyourhearing.

Theonlyquestionsarehow

muchtheywillharmit andwhether

thatharmwillaff ect the quality

of your life.

Alreadymandatoryon

theclayground,hearing

protectionis seen

increasinglyinthefieldas

Guns get the message