"I don't know where you can get them, but there are some electric earmuffs so you hear normal in normal sound, but when there is something loud, they are like normal earmuffs. My gramps has a pair."

"Oh I'm interested how this works how the earmuffs workfaster than speed of sound to block it unless some technolofgy some how blocks high decibels.

Could these be the earmuffs you are talking about? http://www.larrywillis.com/ear-muffs.html"

"today i drove into the country to shoot my M&P .40 and forgot to bring my ear plugs. it was too far to drive home or to a store to buy ear plugs so i decided to tough it out and shoot. i was DEAF for over 30 minutes.

that made me think....what will we do to protect out ears in an outbreak? sure we could wear ear plugs or something, but they restrict our ability to hear. i dont want my hearing restricted by ear plugs while im running through my town escaping zombies, but i dont want to destroy my hearing at the same time. do you guys know what i/ we should do? maybe the answer is obvious so dont be harsh :)"

"That's the first time you've ever shot without hearing protection I'm assuming?

It gets easier over time because your ears are like your feet - they get harder and literally build up a layer of skin on them to protect your hearing. This is how your hearing is damaged - because they become less sensitive to vibration. Over time, as your hearing decreases, you'll notice this less and less..... but you're giving up your hearing for it. Like anything else, it's durability versus sensitivity, you can't have both.

To give you an idea, I can shoot my Mosin Nagant M44 without hearing protection and it doesn't bother me for very long. However, I can't hear worth a damn, am always accused of yelling and my ears constantly ring, even now. I can hardly hear my fingers tapping on my laptop's keyboard, and the thing most affected was the level of clarity in sound - I can hear that someone is talking, but it is sometimes difficult to understand if there are other noises at the same time.

Don't EVER shoot in an indoor range without protection. You will go completely deaf on the first shot with most handguns and any non-22 rifle. Some of your hearing might return but you had better start learning sign language because you'll need it."

"devil, do they use ear protection in the army. and how loud is a .50 cal"