Dan Zimmerman reviews the latest electronic headphones for the range, the OPSMEN M31 MOD1 Electronic Hearing Protectors.
In the olden days (10-15 years ago) electronic hearing protection was an expensive luxury. You had to drop almost as much on a good pair of active noise suppression as you would on an everyday carry pistol. Thankfully, those days are long gone.
Now you have a number of options in electronic muffs that both filter out noise that’s a danger to your hearing while allowing you to carry on a conversation when you’re not shooting. There are a handful of good choices under $50 that will both preserve your hearing and let you hear what’s going on around you.
OPSMEN M31 MOD1 Electronic Hearing Protector
OPSMEN EARMOR’s M31 MOD1 muffs are one of the newest additions to the market. The current set features automatic shut-off after four hours, 22 dB noise suppression, and a 3.5mm input jack if you’re someone who simply has to listen to music while you shoot.
Like its competitors, the M31’s use electronic noise clipping technology to protect your hearing. During normal conditions, the electronics allow you to hear what’s going on under normal circumstances but kick in to shut down the sound input when the volume spikes above 82 dB.
I’ve owned a couple of pairs of Howard Leight electronic muffs for years, the same ones you see on so many shooters using at the range. They’re priced similarly and have almost identical performance specs. But there are two primary differences.
First, the EARMORs are water resistant. In fact, they claim an IPX5 water protection level… No, I didn’t know what that meant either, but here’s a good synopsis. In any case, if you’re hunting or shooting at the range and skies open up on you, your EARMORs are probably going to survive the experience.
Second, and probably most important, the M31 MOD1s are probably the most comfortable muffs I’ve ever used. The non-replaceable ear pads are shaped for your left, and right ears and the padded headband sits comfortably atop your noggin.
I wore them for six or seven hours at the SHOT Show Range Day, and they were comfortable all day long and didn’t get in the way while shouldering long guns.
The OPSMEN M31 MOD1 ‘s 22 dB of noise reduction is typical for it price level of about $80 retail. More expensive models get you up to about 26 dB of protection. That’s enough to keep things comfortable when you’re outdoors, but when you shoot in the deafening reverberation of an indoor range, you’ll want to double up with a pair of internal plugs.
You can get a set of OPSMEN M31 MOD1 Electronic Hearing Protector in one of three colors to compliment your particular tactical wear; tactical black, foliage green or coyote tan. They retail for $80.00 at Amazon and given their exceptional comfort and durability; you can’t go wrong having a pair in your range bag.
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About Dan Zimmerman:
Dan Zimmerman has been shooting all kinds of guns for 25 years and writing about them for the last eight. He’s particularly into the shotgun sports, including trap, sporting clays, duck, and pheasant hunting.
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