Hearing protection for hunting, custom-made

With music or machines, hearing damage builds up over hours. With a shot, it is about a peak of milliseconds that is so loud that the duration hardly matters. According to a review article by Meinke and colleagues (2017), the peak levels of firearms are between about 140 and 175 dB, and those of most hunting weapons between 150 and 165 dB.

For comparison, in the European rules on noise at work, 140 dB(C) peak is the limit value. The sound in your ear must not go above it, even taking hearing protection into account. Read more about impulse noise and dB(C) and peak noise in our glossary.

How impulse noise affects your hearing and which protection suits it is explained in more detail in hearing protection against impulse noise from shooting, hunting and fireworks.

Hunters often leave out hearing protection because they are afraid of missing game. That is understandable. Meinke et al. mention locating game at a distance, hearing your own movements when stalking, and hearing your dog or the beep of a collar as things a hunter needs their hearing for. Add to that the instructions of the hunt leader and the calls of the beaters.

A fully sealed plug does not fit with that. You want something that lets ordinary sound through and catches the bang.

Our Earplugs for hunting and shooting have a DIM filter from Dynamic Ear Company. According to the manufacturer, it is a level-dependent impulse filter. With normal sound you hear your surroundings, and with a loud peak it gives extra protection. The SNR is 19 dB, with extra protection against impulse noise of up to 35 dB according to the product specification. The filter is also designed to keep your spatial hearing, so you can still tell which direction a sound comes from.

The difference from a DI filter is that DI gives constant attenuation, mainly in the high tones. That suits continuous noise in factories. For hunting, with long silences and sudden bangs, DIM is a better fit. More in custom earplug filters explained and on the filter page.

Our Earplugs for hunting and shooting are custom earplugs with a DIM filter. A partner hearing care professional takes impressions of your ears. Our lab Audiform in Kilder then makes the earplugs, which are ready about three weeks after your ear impressions are taken. Because they follow the shape of your ear, they seal well and are still comfortable after hours in the field.

• Filter. DIM, with 19 dB SNR and, according to the product specification, extra protection against impulse noise of up to 35 dB. The filter is interchangeable.
• Material. Hard acrylic or silicone.
• Colour. Clear, black, white, green, red, blue or a custom colour.
• Included. A cord, a clip and a storage case.

You design them online in Design your earplugs. You can find a partner hearing centre on the page Find a hearing centre. The ear impressions are included in the price and you pay at the hearing centre.

Want to use them outside hunting too? Read how to choose one pair for several situations.

Electronic earmuffs amplify soft sounds and cut off at a bang. According to Meinke et al., such systems make sound audible again as long as it stays below about 85 dB. Custom earplugs with a DIM filter work without electronics.

• Custom earplugs are light, have no battery, do not get in the way when you raise the gun and are comfortable under a hat or in warm weather.
• Electronic earmuffs amplify soft sounds, but are bigger and can touch the stock when you raise the gun.

On the shooting range, where many shots are fired in quick succession, you can combine both. You can read more about this in hearing protection for shooting sports.

In the field your earplugs have a hard time with rain, mud and cold. Hard acrylic is firm and easy to clean. Silicone is softer when worn for a long time. Choose green or black if you want them to be inconspicuous, or red if you want to find them quickly when one falls in the grass. Take the case in your coat pocket and clean them after a wet day. You can read how in cleaning custom earplugs.

• Meinke et al. (2017), Prevention of Noise-Induced Hearing Loss from Recreational Firearms, Seminars in Hearing
• Directive 2003/10/EC on noise at work
• WHO-ITU, Safe listening devices and systems
• Acoustic specifications of the filters (H, M, L and SNR) from Dynamic Ear Company, as on our filter page.

Written by Thijs Worm. Last updated 5 October 2026.