One of the most frequent questions I get is what Ear Pro am I using. (I suffer from a mild to moderate case of tinnitus, so I take protecting my hearing seriously.)
The short answer to that question is… it depends.
It depends on whether I’m shooting handguns or rifles.

When I’m shooting a rifle I use two types of protection: in- and outside the ear.
For inside the ear pro, I use SureFire in-ear.
It has a filter cap that allows you to hear conversations, sort of like a non-electronic version of ear pros.
For over the ear, I use the AKT1 Sport.
The AKT1’s are AWESOME!
These are essentially my favorite over the ear protection.
They do a phenomenal job as far as clarity of sound and knocking out the excess noise from the wind.
Unlike other over-the-ear pros, the AKT1’s don’t sound mechanical like you’re talking to a robot. They sound really natural.
When shooting handguns I use either the SureFire in-ear or the AKT1 over the ear.
The over the ear protection are great because they do everything I need them to do and I can wear my earphones underneath.

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