Electronic Ear Muffs

[TANNER]

I'm in the market for an affordable pair of electronic ear muffs, preferably compatible with some type of radio system. Aim of them being to block out dangerous noises.

What do you guys use?

[Spike]

Half of my team runs a set of these
Howard Leight R-01526 Impact Sport Electronic Earmuff: Amazon.ca: Tools & Home Improvement

They have a generic 2.5MM (I think) jack on them, so you can just plug them in to any generic cheap mic that fits your radio.

[TANNER]

Thanks Spike, these fit all my criteria. purchased.

[FirestormX]

To clear something up real quick for anyone else who's skimming the thread: The Howard Leight R-01526s on that Amazon page, say they connect to an MP3 player, so it's probably a 3.5mm jack, not a 2.5mm jack.
There's also no mic, so your comms would be limited to listening, and not transmitting.

Two other big names in electronic ear muffs, are Peltor Comtacs (generation 1, 2, and 3) and MSA Sordins. Z-tac make knock-offs of the Comtacs I, Comtacs II, and the Sordins, that can usually be found around $100.

If anyone decides to go with the real Comtacs or Sordins, you'll need to have a new high impedance microphone installed on them, in order to use them with the cheaper radios. eg I found out the hard way that my Sordins won't communicate over my puxing 888 radio. (Thanks to the guy at LT's game this weekend, who explained that to me...And thanks to Desmodus, for sitting there trying to get my radio working before that)

Low impedance is better than high impedance, so think about your radio options before you buy the real thing over z-tacs. Otherwise you may end up buying the real thing to make it shittier, when there's decent z-tac clones that should already work.
Note that I'm only recommending z-tacs for airsoft. I have no idea how well they would actually help in a high db environment, and I wouldn't want anyone's hearing to get damaged with knock-off earpro.

Lastly, if you do plan to use them for communication as well, check the connector they use. From my limited knowledge, there's two main ones in airsoft circles: there's the NATO U94 connector, which generally has less expensive PTTs, and is more universal in airsoft gear. The other is the MIL-6PIN, which is less common.

...Then from there, you need to be able to connect the PTT into your radio, so make sure the PTT has the right adapter for your radio.
You can also get adapters for 3.5mm jacks and stuff too, if you just want to listen to music.

[Spike]

Yes, it is 3.5mm.

You basically pair it up with one of these (or similar) http://www.northtrailsports.com/TWO-...duct_info.html

& a 3.5mm male - 3.5mm male cable, the transmissions from your radio will then go through the HL's, and you can speak into the microphone. You might get some funky dubstep noises in your ears while you transmit, depending on the placement of your radio/kind of radio/kind of wire you used to connect the mic.