Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

USMC Machine Gun instructor checking in. We conduct a machine gun shoot once a month, firing 5.56, 7.62, 50 cal, and 40mm grenades. We routinely shoot over 15,000 rounds per machine gun range. I have had these muffs for the last 6 ranges and they are fantastic! They work as advertised and protect my hearing from full auto machine gun fire from less than 3 ft away. The batteries last a while (I keep the volume about half-way, which makes normal conversation sound normal.) I wear them for about 8 hrs. at a time and they are as comfortable as a $60 pair of muffs should ever be. They do not interfere with cheek weld or any shooting position I have used. Walkers Game Ear Razor Slim Electronic Muff should serve any shooter well if they are looking for cheap, reliable, sound amplifying ear pro. My pair has been going strong for literally hundreds of thousands of rounds. These are a solid deal and I recommend them to anyone who inquires about them. Pros: - Long battery life. Only requires two AAA batteries that are included and easy to change. - Fantastic hearing protection. I work with several people who have more expensive, "tactical" ear-pro (Pelters, etc.) that can't suppress the .50 cal report. These Walkers muffle all gunshots regardless of how loud they are or how close I am to them. - Conversations are distinct and easy to hear. I can hear radio traffic without having to remove ear pro. Big plus. I can even turn them up and hear conversations several hundred feet away! Great for big ranges. - They even have a standard headphone jack if you want to talk on your phone or plug up your iPod and mow the lawn or something. Cons: - The fit is good, but if you are talking or moving your jaw sometimes the seal will break and allow a gunshot sound to get through. This is minimal and could be due to the shape of my head and/or the position I wear them. If you sweat much this problem is compounded as the seal is now wet and easier to be disturbed. As I said this problem is minimal and not easily repeatable, doesn't detract from the rating for me. -They are not omni directional. It is difficult to tell where sound is coming from. The sound is clear and amplified, just deceiving in which direction it came from. For my particular job this is no big deal. If you need to know what direction the sound came from, these are not the hearing pro for you. -THEY DO FIT UNDER THE STANDARD ACH HELMET, but not well.( I wear a Medium) It is not designed to fit under this helmet (as far as I know) and the fact that they even do with minimal pad adjustment is really more of pro. If you don't wear a helmet when shooting, disregard, they fit great. -Thick eye pro frames will disrupt the ear seal if placed over the frame. If you put them on over your eye pro because you forgot to remove them, the pressure feels like Leonidas trying to drive his spear through your head. You will only do this once. I have some thin frames now but I just rest the frames on top of the ear muff. If I had to do rigorous movement, they might fall off, but they haven't yet.