3M PELTOR EEP-100 Ear Plug Kit, Rechargeable, Noise Reduction, Construction, Manufacturing, Maintenance

The Peltor EEP-100 is fantastic. I put them on right before I entered the indoor shooting range, and I was nervous. However, once in but still off, I could feel the protection compared to my other Walkers over-the-ear headphones. To my surprise, once in the range, the protection from firearms and rifles was second to none. Then I turned them on, and all I needed was the first setting; the second and third were never needed. In the first setting, I could hear everything.I shot my Ruger 10/22 and no issues, but then I was going to shoot my IWI Tavor .556, so I did not know what was going happen. To my surprise, I was more protected than with my Walkers. These earphones are just fantastic, I love them, and the freedom is second to none. Oh, I tried all the ear buds and I settled with the skull screws, they are fantastic and the other ones are not even close. The skull screws need to be purchased separately.

I must say I was pleased with the product at first. However, after a year of use, one of the ear piece started to die out. It would show that it would charge and even to a full charge but while using it one of them would often cut in and out. I reached out to 3M support and they told me verbatim "there is nothing we can do for you". I even request if it would be possible for me to purchase just 1 ear piece as a replacement and they told me no, and that I would have to purchase an entire unit.You would think that an item with this high of a price tag they would offer better support. I for one would never be buying another one of their products again and would encourage to avoid any 3M products as well.

I have been using these for 3 years of shooting at the range, in club competitions and all-day firearm training classes. Probably something on the order of 500 hours. Hands-down, this is the best gun-related purchase I ever made.These protected my ears perfectly well in these situations:- Pistol, rifle or shotgun- Up to 20 other people shooting on the same line next with me- Outdoors in the open- Outdoors under an awning- Indoors IF the range is well designed and built (surfaces have good sound absorbing material)These did NOT protect adequately (hurt my ears) in these environments:- In any indoor space which is not specifically designed to absorb gunshot sound (this was an indoor range, but not very well designed/built)- Shooting from inside a vehicleIn those two situations, you should probably double up with foam earplugs and big earmuffs anyway.These come with small, medium and large rubber eartips, as well as the foam ones. The foam ones worked well, but wore out quickly. You can buy the "Skull Screws", but don't bother unless you are using the large eartips. I could not fit them in my ear canals.The battery on these lasts a LONG time. After 3 years, I can still use them for a 8-9 hour day and they have never gone dead on me. There is no battery in the case, but you can get yourself a little portable battery pack (like for cell phones) or use any USB charger. I am not complaining, I love how tough the case is, I am pretty sure it would hold my weight if I stood on it.The electronics have 3 volume settings: low, med and high. I find that the low setting is slightly below my normal hearing level and the medium allows me to hear slightly better than normal. For ear safety, it does not really matter which you have selected, the amplifier simply shuts off if a loud noise is detected.The electronics are OK, but not great. They are a little too eager to clamp down on the noise, in my opinion anyway. It gets annoying when you are trying to hear the instructor and they are shooting on a nearby range. That level of sound would not normally be a problem, but your volume level is constantly jumping up and down because the earbuds are trying to protect you.I DO love these things.- I can comfortably wear them all afternoon for a class and generally hear the instructor perfectly while everyone else is taking their hot earmuffs off every chance they get.- I don't have to worry about earmuffs not getting a good seal around my ears due to my hat, hair or safety glasses, earbuds just bypass all that.- I don't have to fight with them when trying to get a good cheek weld, they are tucked in nicely.- They stay in place very well, I have never had them loosen or fall out.I just wish they were not so pricey.

Six month review.I have been trying all kinds of hearing protection for hunting for years now. Without going into detail on everything I tried, I'll sum it up by saying it all didn't offer good protection or was too uncomfortable for longer periods of wear. I kept going back to plain old foam plugs, which worked fine for protection, but deadening sound while hunting is kinda counterproductive.When I saw these Peltors, I did some research. I realize that 3M has a "not for shooting" disclaimer for them, but I just didn't see any data that showed them to be inferior to the Peltor "tactical" plugs, so took a chance. I have been very happy with these. They are the most comfortable in-ear earpro that I have found. I used them all through goose season, and they cut shotgun sound, no problem. I'm currently thinning out the rockchucks on my property and have been wearing them in conjunction with my silenced AR (silenced .223 still requires earpro). They work just perfect, and the hearing amplification is perfect for hearing incoming geese or rockchuck whistling.While I wouldn't personally use these for long range sessions and default to my Sordin muffs, I have used these for quick "mag or two" pistol sessions on the pistol range I have on my property. As far as NRR, I have weird ear canals, and I cannot get the skull screws to seal well, nor are they comfortable for me. I actually get a better seal with the medium standard plugs that are included with the Earpro.Executive Summary:Pros: Very comfortable, good seal with the right inserts, good amplification for ambient noise, good, fast cutoff for dangerous noise levels, good battery life.Cons: My only con with these is the tones used for the single button that controls on/off and amplification levels. The "off" tone is way too similar to the low amplification tone, and I have to find a quiet area to turn them off so that I can verify that they're actually off and not on "low".Anyway, for me, these were a good buy for my uses and for the ~$200 they run, I can recommend them, especially with the next closest similar earpro seeming to run double or more.