I first encountered the Peltor Sport Range Guard model electronic ear muffs, and Peltor Sport Secure Fit safety eyewear at Range Day of SHOT 2018.
I had a bit of a discussion with the reps, as I was interested to see if I could find electronic ear protection that would be useful both on the range AND in the hunting field. Thus far I have worn my own “range” ear protection in the field, because that’s all I had. While it was effective, it was magenta camo colored, and thus not so hot for a camouflage situation. It was also bulky and not always ideal for using a shotgun. I generally do not like earplugs as an alternative, as the crinkle sound drives me crazy, and I want to be able to hear my surroundings and game calls. I don’t like having my awareness all stuffed up – especially when I am in the woods. These Peltor electronic muffs however, are neutral colored and low profile. They are designed to work with long guns in the field. Thus I was eager to give them a try.
Features of the hearing protection include:
21 Decibel noise reduction
Outside access battery door
Audio input jack, and cord
These muffs also use two AAA batteries – no weird hard-to-find battery sizes when your ear protection goes dark at an away match or on a hunting trip. A definite “plus” in my book.
Features of the eye protection include:
Three-pack of clear, amber and gray glasses
Polycarbonate Impact resistant lenses
Absorb up to 99.9% of UV
Flexible temples
Anti-fog coating
I first wore my trial set of the Peltor Range Guard earmuffs and glasses at a local club clays match. It was March, and the high temperature was 45 degrees in the sun. The earmuffs kept my ears nice and warm, while not being in the way of my shotgun mount. The cups were roomy enough to allow me to tuck my earrings up inside for a good seal. The low profile allowed a good cheek weld on the shotgun without pushing the muffs out of place. The glasses were equally comfortable and provided a good field of vision.
I next wore the Peltor Range Guard ear muffs and glasses while assisting with teaching an NRA Basic Pistol course. That was the kind of situation when it was important to be able to hear the students’ questions. The microphones and noise-cancelling worked well for conversation in this atmosphere. I only wish some of the students had similarly functioning ear protection as I often had to shout instructions in order to be heard.
As for the safety glasses – the lighting changed a bit through the course of the day, but the clear, yellow and dark glasses in the pack served me well. The temples of the glasses were very flexible, so I didn’t find them uncomfortable under the earmuffs. Some of my other safety glasses dig into my scalp and give me a headache after a long day on the range. I didn’t have this issue with the Peltors.
I next took my trusty AR15 out for a test run with this earmuff and glasses combo to see how they fit with my rifle set up. Everything again worked well and quite comfortably. However, despite the listed claim of an anti-fog coating, I did have an issue with the glasses fogging in the humidity of the range. In their defense, I also deal with the hot flashes inherent to women in my demographic – which challenges the best of fog coatings. I have this problem with all my other glasses as well, so It’s a “me” thing, not necessarily a failure of the product.
One REALLY interesting capability of this hearing protection that I forgot to mention is the four hour auto-shutoff. I discovered the utility of this feature when I pulled the Peltor muffs out at the range, only to discover that I had forgotten to turn them off after my last use two weeks beforehand. Because of the auto shutoff feature, they were still useable and did not have dead batteries. That is a definite win from my perspective.
After thorough testing with pistol, rifle and shotgun I can say that I am very satisfied with the fit and performance of both the Peltor Range Guard ear protection and the Peltor Secure Fit safety glasses. Although I have not yet had the opportunity to wear them hunting, they meet all of my criteria, and I can see no reason why they wouldn’t perform well in that environment as well. Both products performed as advertised, and are very budget-friendly, with retail prices of $38.70 and $14.57 respectively on Amazon Prime.
