Please note: you may have heard of an ongoing class action lawsuit involving 3M earplugs, but these are not the same earplugs, rather a FAR BETTER set of earplugs without the design flaws and defects exposed in the suit. Those plugs stopped being made after 2015, and these are an entirely different model. You can rest assured that these will in fact protect your hearing, but we always recommend 'doubling up' plugs & traditional over-ear earpro in loud environments, especially indoor shooting ranges where that guy with the short-barreled .308 with a muzzle brake likes to mag-dump.
For more information on attenuation, and noise reduction, we have attached an informational chart near the bottom of this page.
These are the fourth generation combat arms earplugs from 3M, designed specifically to protect your ears from steady state and peak noise, while still allowing the user to hear what's going on around them.
"Open" and "Closed" Modes
These earplugs feature two separate modes for different types of usage, articulated with the 'CAE' rocker on the plug. Pressing in the top of the rocker is closed mode, and the bottom open respectively.
'Open' mode allows lower level sound through with relatively little noise reduction and has an increasing amount of peak noise reduction as sound levels rise above 110 dB.
'Closed' mode offers protection against steady state noise, closing off the ear with more noise reduction — handy for working in environments with loud sustained noises, such as loud HVAC fans, factories, aircraft, or in situations where communication isn't important.
Both of these modes can protect your hearing against damage from gunfire, but we highly recommend the most ear protection possible, such as pairing these with ear muffs designed for shooting sports. Tinnitus is no joke. if you want to use these in conjunction with over-ear earpro, you can remove them for constant 'Open mode'.
Specs
- High attenuation against peak impulse noises up to 160dB
- Mechanical filter activated via rocker switch toggles between 'open' and 'closed' modes
- soft rubber retainer helps earplug remain in comfortable position & stay in your ears
- Comes with a snap-closure case with chain
- Includes soft lanyard cord
Technical Data
below is an informational chart from Peltor detailing noise reduction & attenuation at different frequencies and sound levels.
Sizing
Getting your plugs sized correctly is incredibly important for protecting your ears from hearing damage.
Currently, all the plugs we have available are in Size Large. these are applicable to many people, but if you have particularly small ear-holes, you might not be able to use these due to the tip size. 'Large' is intended for users whose ears are 8-14mm in diameter, and a quick way to measure it is with some common household objects (please be careful, if you're injured from this we won't be held accountable).
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AA battery — 14mm, or on the high end of 'large'. If your ears can still fit these with plenty of room, the plugs will be too small.
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Sharpie Permanent marker, standard version — 11mm, or on the low end of 'large'. If your ears can fit this with a little wiggle room, the plugs will be just right.
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For the Marines — a standard Crayola crayon is 12mm, refer to the above.
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Standard #2 Pencil — 7mm, or on the low end of 'Large'. If your ear is too narrow for these, the 'Large' will be too big.
Condition
Earplugs are unused and in their original packaging.
