I am dumb and lucky. but just a reminder to all you folks

[7thmoosefromtheleft]

well I admit to being dumb with my ear protection. I was at an indoor range last weekend and I thought my ear plugs were seated correctly but at some point during shooting the one in my left ear came loose. I probably did not realize it because the guy to my right was shooting a .22 target looking pistol and the guy on my left was shooting a 1911 probably in .45 just figured the sound difference was due to the caliber difference. was there for about 40 min. and when I signed out I knew I muffed up. because my plug darn near just fell out, and I could hear nothing out of my left ear. when I got the the car I had a mini internal freak out ( thinking I lost all my hearing in one ear. and I am looking in to going to audio/video editing ) did some goggling. and found out I should be OK.

I have gone shooting, to concerts, and to races, quite a lot and I always used ear plug protection and never had a problem. I know how to put them in. just remember no matter how much you shoot it only takes one time and you in for weeks of problems if not more
P.S.
really glad to report that as of today I got about 80% of my hearing back but my ears are still ringing off and on. I expect that to tone down for the most part in the coming weeks. I also bought a pair of ear muffs to use with my ear plugs. so I can avoid this happening again. I just wanted to give out a reminder to you guys that it can happen, and to remember to double up on protection.

[yeager484]

What?

..What?

[zackattack784]

I shot .22s indoors for 4 years without ear protection when I was in high school. Dumb? Yes. But I still have great hearing. You'll be fine.

[DennisH82]

Your hearing is a very important sense, do the best that you can to protect it at all times. I lost a good portion of my hearing and shooting is one of the suspects. It sucks asking folks to repeat themselves, attempt to read lips and say "What" all the time. Hearing protection is very important.

[Manxdriver]

About 4 years ago I was at Classic Pistol and let four rounds go downrange from my AR15 without ears on. They were on my head, and I merely forgot to drop them down into place. What a dumbass!! The world started spinning right away, I wound up prone on the floor puking and experiencing the worst 'bed spins' ever!!

Got to the hospital and stayed there four days. VERTIGO. Today, I cannot ride a motorcycle, and cannot look up, can't bring myself to climb up on the roof to clean the gutters. Can't turn my head quickly or the bed spins return. It ain't fun!!


Hearing protection is about more than just hearing your kids voices.

[ViperGTS19801]

About 4 years ago I was at Classic Pistol and let four rounds go downrange from my AR15 without ears on. They were on my head, and I merely forgot to drop them down into place. What a dumbass!! The world started spinning right away, I wound up prone on the floor puking and experiencing the worst 'bed spins' ever!!

Got to the hospital and stayed there four days. VERTIGO. Today, I cannot ride a motorcycle, and cannot look up, can't bring myself to climb up on the roof to clean the gutters. Can't turn my head quickly or the bed spins return. It ain't fun!!


Hearing protection is about more than just hearing your kids voices.

^^^ Who not to be with during the zombie apocalypse ^^^

On that note, PrettyInPink's .380 failed to feed a round once, so I immediately called a ceasefire. Once everything was on the bench, I took my ears off and went about clearing her weapon. I rechambered it and gave the all-clear, then fired a round downrange - having forgotten to put my ears back on.

It was loud as hell, but I wasn't a punk about it.

[Gun]

I wonder if some realize that in a self defense situation, especially in an enclosed area, such as a parking garage, just how loud a discharge will be, and if they can cope with it.

[Shadowline]

Then on the flip-side of all the stories, my wife went shooting for a class last summer and was wearing some borrowed ear protection. Turned out it was too big for her and didn't actually press against her skin all the way around.

She now has significant permanent hearing loss in that ear and has had a continuous ringing in the right ear since that day. Just because it works out for many, doesn't mean it works out for everyone.

[daschnoz]

Most of my shooting is done outdoors. One time I brought my 22LR rifle to the range and forgot to bring my hearing protection. I thought "no big deal, it's only a 22". That was all well and good until the guy at the bench next to me broke a shot with his 204 Ruger. HOLY SHIT was that loud!!! I can handle the boom of a 308, 30-06, etc. with no hearing protection, but that 204 cracked. That just plain hurt.

Now, when I took the wife shooting for the first time:
Once she was comfortable shooting the pistol, I gave her 1 round, brought her 5 feet from the target, and told her to leave the hearing protection at the bench. She fired the shot, and as expected, the sound scared her. I gave her a magazine with 3 more rounds and she ran those. She asked me why I made her shoot with no hearing protection - because it "frickin' hurt". My response: "Now you know what your own gun sounds like. Should you ever be in a position where you need to use it, you won't be scared by the sound of your own gun." She said thank you because that was not something she would have thought about, and warned me that if I ever do that to her again...

[Pkspawn]

I wonder if some realize that in a self defense situation, especially in an enclosed area, such as a parking garage, just how loud a discharge will be, and if they can cope with it.

The adrenaline rush may actually help with that.

I wouldn't "TRAIN" for that as the likely outcome would be some or total hearing loss.