Howard Leight by Honeywell Leightning L3 Shooting Earmuff (R-03318)

I'm a pre-med college student and I hate studying with distracting noises around (TV, chitchat, music, etc.), but I can't always get away from the noise so I got these and they are WONDERFUL. I also use them over my earbuds while flying and I don't hear anything but my music or movie. Anything that blocks out the sound of those poor crying babies on an airplane is worth its weight in gold!**NOISE REDUCTION: These do a VERY good job at reducing noise but they do not eliminate 100% of the sounds around me, so I use them on top of Hearos Ear Plugs Xtreme Protection, 14-Pair Foam (Pack of 3) or on top of earbuds and it eliminates all but the loudest sounds. I could faintly hear someone yelling in the same room as me, but it would be almost inaudible in the next room. I can easily sit in the living room and study while my husband watches the television.**COMFORT: These are a tiny bit snug, but I think that is necessary to block out the sound and they are not so snug that they are uncomfortable. I honestly think that I have a somewhat large head size (hat size approximately 7 3/8 if that helps), so the snugness might be more of a "me" problem. They never catch in my hair and I can wear my normal stud earrings without any issues, although larger hoop earrings would probably be uncomfortable. I don't have any issues wearing these over foam earplugs, and they easily go over earbuds so I can listen to music.**DESIGN: I love that these fold up so compactly. When folded, I can keep my ear plugs or headphones inside the ear cups and they stay so tight that I know it won't open up and let anything fall out. I love how low-profile these are compared to some other models, I don't feel silly wearing them on a plane or at the library (unlike some of the bulky, bright colored ear muffs), in fact, they could almost pass for larger size headphones that are currently so popular. These are pretty straightforward to adjust if you take a minute to look and they stay at that adjustment well. The ear cups come off for cleaning, which is nice.**VALUE: You can't beat these. I almost put down over $200 on Bose noise cancelling headphones and I am so glad I tried these first. I highly recommend these.

I have been using this ear muff for several months now and they are great. The only concern I had at the time was with the low NRR rating, but since I have a way around it for my purposes, it wasn't a deal breaker. And besides, the price was so affordable that I wouldn't be out much money if it didn't work out. For my purposes, I use this ear muff whenever I go out to the range (indoor and outdoor). To get around the low NRR I use double hearing protection which means I use a disposable ear plug with the ear muff over it. I can still hear the range master since they use a PA system all the while I'm avoiding serious hearing damage (from both the PA system and the gun sounds). But the main reason why I bought this style ear muff (other than it was from Howard Leight) was that at the time my older one was just too bulky. It was great at blocking noise, but it made it such that I couldn't get a low cheek weld on my rifle's butt stock. This meant having to raise the sights needlessly. As a rule of thumb, you want your scope as low and close to the barrel as possible. Since this ear muff is about half the thickness of my older one, it allowed me get a low cheek weld and also allowed me to put the scope much closer to the barrel. In addition this ear muff is really light weight, looks good, and not as tight as I expected it to be. You do want to be a little careful when extending/retracting the ear muffs from the head band since the steel frame used to connect the muffs to the headband is thin. I always feel like I might inadvertently bend or break it. Also, I bought a pair of Radians Clay Pro Shooting Glasses which has a really thin wireframe. This helps in eliminating any tightness around the ears for those of you who find wearing this ear muff with your existing shooting glass uncomfortable. Now there's one cautionary note. If you are going to be in close proximity to large caliber gunfire (especially indoors) or around sound that is about or over 160 decibels, this ear muff may not be sufficient for you unless you use ear plugs along with this. Other than that, this is a great buy.

If you're looking for the best sound-proofing you can get, this is not it. But they are not intended to be that. They are intended to be light, comfortable, and low profile, while doing a decent job of noise-reduction in an average environment.As for the low-profile, they excel. With the thin ear pads and black color, they are about as unobtrusive as can be made. They have a comfortable spring, fitting snugly without being too tight.I use them when I go out for a walk. I like to listen to audio books while out for a walk but the traffic is so loud, I have to turn up the volume of the player to hear it. Traffic is very annoying, especially when an ambulance goes by, which is all too frequent. If I turn my player up loud enough to drown out traffic, what kind of damage am I doing to my ears?These muffs provide the perfect solution. They fit comfortably over my earphones and mask the traffic enough that I can hear the soft-spoken readers. I can set the volume at the same level as when I am at home and still hear every word. I can hear the traffic well enough that cars don't sneak up on me in places where I must walk in the street but sirens are effectively toned down.I have another pair of muffs for serious sound reduction but for traffic and audio books, these are just the ticket.

If you're looking for a low profile muff search no further. And don't waste your time comparing db noise reduction ratings because any muff can be easily altered to block or (or less) sound to suit your need. Some high density closed cell foam, the thin white stuff that expensive toys are sometimes wrapped (about 2-3mm thick) can be cut to size and placed first in the cup. The noise reduction is almost doubled in my experience. Best of all you can sleep with these on.