I agree. if you wear plugs rated at 32db and muffs at 25db you do not end up with a reduction of 57db. The goal for me is to increase the noise reduction of the muffs, because 25db reduction is, for me, not enough. Permanent hearing damage can occur at 120db in a single "shot" (pun intended). Wearing muffs with a reduction rating of 25 means that most center fire rifles and many handguns will still produce enough dbs to cause permanent hearing damage. So by wearing the plugs and the muffs I achieve at least the db reduction of the plugs, plus some small additional amount - hopefully saving my hearing from permanent damage.puma guy wrote: Foam plugs have high db reduction ratings, often higher than earmuffs. If a plug is rated at 32db reduction and you add earmuffs that are 25db you do not get a linear reduction of 25db. When I did a turn in safety at a refinery I had that info. The additional reduction is actually quite low. I wear plugs and earmuff anyway so I can hear. The best passive (non-electronic) earmuffs for the money I've found were at Harborfreight. The red ones.
Thanks for the heads up about the pair at harbor freight. I haven't shopped there since we moved from New Mexico last year, I'll have to check them out.
