Electronic Shooters Protection
By Tony Gimmellie
You only have one set of ears and you need to protect them while you can. Over the last 21 years
I have exposed my ears to a lot of loud noises ranging from rock concerts, power tools, to
machine gun and rocket fire. This exposure to noise can occur throughout your day to day life,
hobbies and your work profession.
During my 10 years in the Marine Corps my ears were exposed and damaged. I did wear hearing
protection at all times to help protect my ears but damage was still occurring. Over the last 20
years of military and law enforcement I have used every type of hearing protection, from the
foam plugs, muffs, electronic muffs and every combination of both.
All of these hearing protections have good and bad qualities, but they still never gave me exactly
what I needed. I can’t tell you how many sets of electronic muffs that broke or I would loose one
ear in them. Shooting rifles and shotguns with muffs was a pain. It would either move the ear pro
off my ears exposing me to loud noise as well as slowing me down making shooting
uncomfortable. So I would have to double up inside ears and muffs. Well now I couldn’t hear
people talk or the shot timer beep or start signal. So I then would have to pull my ear pro off to
be able to hear which caused me to be exposed to other shooting on other ranges. So this lead me
to wear just in ear foamies to fix the above mentioned problems. Well that wasn’t enough
protection to protect my ears. I would come back from matches knowing I damaged my ears
even more.
Last year I decided enough was enough and I started researching electronic in ear hearing
protection that could be molded for my ears and give me maximum protection as well as be
comfortable for all day use and wear. After contacting numerous companies and learning about
their products, one company stood out as the over all leader in all these categories as well as the
best choice to suit my needs.
ESP- Electronic Shooters Protection became the choice for protecting my ears. The next question
was what model did I want and what were the advantages of each type. I was ready to spend
whatever money it took in order to get the best pair I could afford.
I still had numerous questions on the products so I decided to email ESP to get a few answers to
help me make my decision. Immediately upon sending my email I received an email back from
Jack Homa the owner of ESP. Jack sent me multiple emails over the course of the next week
answering my questions helping me break down the differences between each pair to find the
one that would work for me.
ESP offers multiple options for you to choose from. Check out their site at this link to find the
ones that fit your needs. You can also find the technical specs of all the ESP’s there as well.
A lot went into making my decision on exactly what pair to pick. My hearing is decreasing each
year and I know if I didn’t take the proper steps to protect my ears I will be wearing hearing aids
real soon. I also needed to be able to hear around me while getting the max protection. I needed a
pair that I could wear comfortably for 8-10 hours at a time. My plan was to use these on the
firing line on a daily basis as a Firearms Instructor where I need to talk and communicate with
shooters, as well while competing in matches.
Once I made up my mind I went with the ESP Stealth model of hearing protection.
ESP Stealth -
Shooting Hearing Protection | ESP Stealth | ESP America
protection-ear-plugs-ear-buds-earplugs-earbuds.aspx
The next step was to go to an ear doctor and get molds of my ears made. ESP also has dealers all
around the country, check their website to find a dealer near you. I made an appointment and $70
later and 20 minutes of my time I had good quality ear molds to send to Jack for him to make my
Stealth’s from. It was a very fast process. I received my ESP’s in 12 days from the time I sent the
molds in.
Upon receiving my new Stealth’s I quickly popped the batteries in and went to work. All of
ESP’s ear protection runs off the commonly found 1.4 volt hearing aid style batteries you can
find at almost any store. Average life span per battery is roughly 250 hours of use or 6 weeks
from the time you peel the label off the back of the battery.
I popped them into my ears without turning them on to check the fit. They fit tight and firm into
my ear and they were comfortable. In addition to that I was amazed at how quite and how much
actual sound reduction the Stealth’s provided to me when they were off. Now it was time to turn
them on and see what I could hear. Holy crap!!!, were the next words out of my mouth. I could
not believe how crystal clear and how much I could hear with these in place. I wore them for
awhile around the house but the real test was to come when I went to work the next day.
I arrived at work and couldn’t wait to go on the range and test these out. I tested them all by
themselves, I tested them with electronic muffs that were turned on or off as well as tested with
just the ESP’s by themselves in the off position. I am happy to report that they work in all
configurations flawlessly. None the less I was able to communicate with shooters on the line and
clearly hear what they were saying.
A few days later I was off to shoot a match up in Wyoming . I was shooting a 300 Winchester
Magnum at this match and I chose to only use the ESP’s and no muffs. My thoughts were if my
ears didn’t ring or feel like they were exposed to damage during this that this was a homerun.
While at the match I wore the Stealth’s all day and they were comfortable in my ears and I was
able to hear and communicate with no issues. At one point I was talking to my teammate Rob
who was 120 yards away and 50 feet below me as we stood on opposite mountain ridge’s. We
were able to have a conversation with each other while using a casual talking voice. Oh and to
make it even more impressive, there was a 12 MPH wind blowing as well. The other thing I
noticed was I could hear birds chirping!!! Yes you may not find that impressive but for me it
was, for the simple fact my hearing has been so bad I can’t tell you when I heard birds chirp.
Since then I have used my Stealth’s on a daily basis with no issues, and to be honest this was a
great investment. I know a lot of people out there are looking at the price and saying they are a
bit pricey. But my question to you is, What is your hearing worth? A set of hearing aids when
you finally damage your ears bad enough will cost you 2-3 times. The price of what the ESP’s
will cost you and you will have to wear them the rest of your life. Also add up how much you
have spent on electronic muffs and foamies and how often you are replacing them and not
getting what you need out of them and you will quickly see that the money on the ESP’s is worth
it.
If you are looking for quality hearing protection, then look no further then ESP. Team Blaster
fully endorses and uses ESP for all our shooting needs and so should you.
ESP’s Contact Info:
ESP America
15290 Gadsden Ct.
Brighton , CO 80603
Phone – 303-659-8844
Fax – 303-659-8668
Email –
[email protected]
Shooting Ear Protection | Digital Hearing Protection
