EP4 Sonic Defenders Plus protect your hearing, without interfering with your ability to hear routine sounds and conversation. Safe sound levels are allowed to pass through while potentially harmful noises (above 80dB) are reduced via a proprietary design that incorporates the patented Hocks Noise Braker filter. When even more hearing protection is required—without the need to hear routine sounds or conversations—Sound Defenders’ attached stoppers can be inserted. The right/left color-coded S
Deafeningly quiet…,
I spend a good amount of time on weekends at the range, and one round with my .45 – not to mention the other hundred guns around – is enough to begin a serious search for the right ear protection. I tried a few other items, then came across the Surefire EP4s – and I don’t believe I’ll find anything better in the near future. What was once nearly an all-but-intolerable affair is now muted to little more than distant pops.
My grade weighted a few things:
1) Comfort – they are small, lightweight and low profile, excellent when they’ll be in use for several hours at a time.
2) Price – quality ear protection perhaps is priceless, but finding a pair for as little $ as the EPs was a shock to me, especially once I put them to use.
3) They work. I’ve worn over-ear headphones, throw-away in-ear plugs and everything between. And not once has any surpassed the EP4s. You won’t be disappointed.
One final comment: I was skeptical to use them with the plug pulled out, so most of the day I had the plugs in use and hardly a sound got in. But as I sat to clean my weapon I pulled the plugs to see how they’d do, and I was very surprised as to how well they still canceled much of the irritating and dangerous gunfire.
Great, versatile product. I’ll be looking for more Surefire items.
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|Great for reusable ear plugs,
I’ve never been a fan of foam earplugs because they’re so annoying to insert. It always takes me 2-4 attempts to get them rolled up to the point where they’ll go into my ears and then you have to wait for them to expand. These Surefire plugs insert very easily, quickly and are surprisingly comfortable in my ears. Noise attenuation is good, not as good as foamies but still very good. If I have these in and ear muffs on top, gunshots sound as if someone is popping bubblewrap underneath a blanket. This is with the stoppers in. I haven’t been brave enough to try them with the stoppers out.
I tried riding my motorcycle with a full-face Arai helmet (known for not being quiet helmets) and they’re great for that use. With the stoppers out, the wind noise is about as loud as driving in your car with the windows down. I don’t feel as though I’m isolated from the rest of traffic, which is what made me uncomfortable using foam ear plugs while riding. I still get a slight sense of stereo imaging so I can “feel” where the cars are around me. I’m picking up a 2nd set specifically for riding.
They’re very low profile so you can easily wear them under helmets, earmuffs or anything else that happens to go over your head. You still need to take a little extra care in donning a helmet, but there’s very little drama there.
The main negative is that everyone’s ear canal is shaped differently so the trial & error part of testing these out can be a turnoff, especially considering their price.
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|worked fine; nice combo under electronic muffs,
Took these to range and used them under Howard Leight electronic earmuffs most of the time, which was a nice combo – I could talk and hear conversation (with Leights turned up) while the combo very comfortably cut the noise of ARs with muzzle breaks, .45-70, .44 mag, .308, etc. When I took off the Leights, the EP4’s were too loud for comfort near ARs, but they did offer protection, and I could keep them in place and not worry about being caught out without any protection if someone started shooting. (I’ll try them alone another time with 9mm-type rounds.)
Spent a little while getting used to inserting them and didn’t have any problems with sealing or discomfort, wearing them for about 3 hours. (I got medium size, and I’m very average in size.)
(I used them, by the way, without the tiny center plugs inserted, based on what the instructions said.)
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