Eye/Ear Protection: Necessity, Not Accessory
Image: NSSF
The dad was mad. He bought his teenage son a gun for Christmas and posted a picture of the son shooting his new gun in their backyard online, but the son wasn’t wearing any eye or ear protection. The dad got mad because people commented about the lack of eye and ear safety. He replied safety equipment wasn’t necessary because the gun had less than 10 rounds fired through it.
A common misconception from people who have “been shooting all their lives” is eye and ear protection is not needed outside of a gun range. However, my son shot a new rifle that literally fell apart the first time he shot it. Anything can go wrong at any time and by the time it does, it’s too late to put on protection. It’s like when you get in a car wreck: you don’t have time to see it coming and then put on your seatbelt.
The dad also didn’t consider a ricochet. He didn’t consider debris. He didn’t consider anything he had never personally experienced. Sadly, instead of thanking people for educating him, he chose to defend a bad practice that would teach his son bad — and dangerous — habits.
An Avoidable Loss
In addition to concerns over injuries, how many people have hearing loss due to unprotected shooting? Most people don’t even think about it affecting them since they only shoot “once in a while.” They don’t understand temporary hearing loss can lead to permanent hearing loss.
According to information found on the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) website, “… only about half of target shooters wear hearing protection all the time when target practicing …”
ASHA further noted, “People who do not wear hearing protection while shooting — or who do not wear it properly — can suffer hearing loss or ringing in their ears (known as tinnitus) with as little as one shot.”
When discussing the decibel level that can risk hearing damage, ASHA states it is “primarily for occupational noise exposures,” but continues, “The ear does not differentiate between occupational and recreational noise.”
This is an excellent point too many shooters often overlook. ASHA says we don’t have to stop shooting; we simply need to protect our ears with hearing protection that fits well (which also is very important — using something just because it’s labeled as “protection” but does not fit well is as bad as using nothing). For those with indoor facilities, recommend doubling up while at the range (with passive and active hearing protectors) and/or using a suppressor where legal and permissible.
Can We Do Better?
Unfortunately, the industry may not be helping to dispel these myths or to make it very clear eye and ear protection is a necessity, not just an accessory.
Prepping for this article, I spent hours perusing websites looking for information and links to eye and ear protection. Most of the time, if there was anything at all, these products were simply listed under “accessories.” (In my opinion, not listing this information on the landing page can make eye and ear protection seem like they are not a priority or even a necessity.)
Proper ear protection can also help make or break a new shooter’s first experience. The unexpected noise can immediately turn people off. I’ve heard the comment many times from people who said the sound scared them so badly they never wanted anything more to do with guns. We have to do better than this if we want new shooters to stay.
Eye Protection
Eye protection is much easier. It’s not as hard to find something that fits comfortably. There aren’t as many options because it’s pretty straightforward, but it doesn’t make it any less important than ear protection.
New shooters especially may not realize they can utilize their regular prescription glasses (if rated appropriately), safety glasses over their prescription glasses, safety glasses made with their prescription or glasses with interchangeable lenses.
It’s a complicated world retailers can clarify for their customers and help them learn more about in-depth. Vince Nguyen, with Rainier Arms Firearms Academy in Wichita, Kan., shared the most common question he gets from customers concerning eye and ear protection.
“It’s always cost first and foremost,” he replied. “They always want to know the cost and why this one is more expensive than the other. Since we’re a firearms academy, and we do train here, we prefer electronic ear protection — so we don’t have to yell at each other.”
Nguyen keeps education at the forefront of these conversations but doesn’t get too much into the “nitty gritty” of the technology.
“We educate people and give the best information we can. Of course, we don’t know the specific details like circuitry; we can only tell them what the label states,” he said. “But we give them pretty thorough information about eye and ear protection here.”
According to Nguyen, the best-selling brands at his facility are a tie between Savior Equipment and Walker’s for electronic ear protection.
“It’s because they’re about the same price, roughly $40 to $60,” he rationalized.
Nguyen noted that Savior Equipment is relatively new to the electronic ear protection world. Its Apollo Electronic Sound Suppressors have cooling gel ear pads for comfort and come in 12 colors.
Top Sellers From Two Prominent Retailers
I then looked at a few websites to see what the most popular brands of eye and ear protection are. Here’s what I found:
• Palmetto State Armory: The top-three best-selling earmuffs all came from Walker’s. In order, they are: 1) Walker’s Razor Slim Shooter Electronic Folding Muff Series; 2) Walker’s Game Ear Razor Slim Electronic Quad Muff; 3) Walker’s Game Ear Razor Slim 27 dB Over the Head Digital Passive Earmuff.
Additionally, the three best-selling earbuds at Palmetto also came from Walker: 1) Walker’s Game Ear 25 dB Silencer Ear Buds; 2) Walker’s Game Ear Ultra BTE 22 dB Rechargeable Electronic Hearing Enhancer; 3) Walker’s Game Ear Ultra Ear BTE Electronic Hearing Enhancer.
The top three eye protection products are: 1) Walker’s Safety Glasses; 2) Peltor Sport Over the Glass Safety Eyewear; 3) Howard Leight Vapor II Black Frame/Clear Lens/Anti-Fog.
• MidwayUSA: It is a similar story at MidwayUSA, with Walker’s at the top of the best-selling ear protectors. The top three are: 1) Walker’s Silencer 2.0 Bluetooth Electronic Ear Plugs; 2) Walker’s Silencer Electronic Ear Plugs; 3) Walker’s Razor Slim Low Profile Electronic Ear Muffs with Free Walkie Talkie.
The top three eye protection brands and products at MidwayUSA are: 1) Walker’s Razor Slim XTRM Electronic Ear Muffs with Clear Lens Shooting Glasses; 2) Radians RSG Interchangeable Shooting Glasses Clear, Orange and Amber Lenses; 3) Walker’s Sport Shooting Glasses Kit.
(Side note: According to the March 2025 Recap by A Girl & A Gun, Walker’s ear protection was also the most popular choice among women who participated in the 2024 National Conference. Other popular brands included Howard Leight, AXIL, AKT1 Sport and Peltor.)
A Necessity, Not An Accessory
It’s important to take the above information with a caveat: Customers need to make their decision on more than what sells best; they should still make sure the product is what works best and is comfortable for them.
I know it can be difficult. I also know it can be frustrating for everyone to find something they like. I’m petite and many earmuffs are too big and go too far below my ears to seal properly and they allow too much noise in. I have almost as many brands and types of hearing protection as I do holsters.
Earmuffs can be uncomfortable if they have to be worn for long periods of time. The shooter should wear double ear protection when shooting indoors. How earmuffs fit may be different when they are shooting a long gun. Maybe they’ve tried one or two types of hearing protection and didn’t really like them but didn’t think there were other options.
So how can retailers provide this important information more clearly? With each gun sale, ask customers if they have good, comfortable eye and ear protection. If not, find out what kind of shooting they are planning to do, and in what environment so you can direct them to the appropriate items. Make sure they know they may have a lot of options and may need to try a few different styles and brands before they find the one they really like and fits them best.
Then, create a stand-out display area for eye and ear protection — not just on a side or in a back corner like a “nice-to-have.” Show they are important by giving them the space and attention they should have.
If your store has a blog, write about the subject. Make a separate and obvious web page, labeling the eye and ear products specifically.
If we want shooters, new and those “who have been shooting all their lives,” to take eye and hearing protection seriously in every shooting circumstance, we need to make sure these items are seen for what they truly are — a necessity, not an accessory.
