Indispensable Tip

We see this happening (in Beverly Hills, even):

Trump supporters have been holding weekly rallies in Los Angeles and about 200 of them were gathered in Beverly Gardens Park in Beverly Hills on Saturday.
But a few dozen Black Lives Lives Matter people showed up to “counter protest” and got violent. They came apparently trying to start fights with the Trump supporters.

…which engenders well-meaning advice like this:

A Navy Seal Instructs Americans on How to Deal With a Violent Mob

I read that, and apart from the usual “stay away from where there’s going to be trouble” bromide, I noticed one glaring omission from our SEAL buddy in the event that the SHTF:  if you’re going to shoot a gun from inside your car, remember to put in earplugs first.  (I’m assuming that you have at least thirty seconds warning that Bad Things are about to happen, and I’m also assuming that like me you always carry a couple of those little orange thingies in your pocket.)

I cannot stress this enough:  if you touch off a round (or two, or three) inside a car without at least some hearing protection, you will suffer severe and possibly permanent hearing loss.

If you don’t carry these little things in your pocket when you go out, you should start getting into the habit.

Here endeth the lesson.

9 comments

  1. Very good advice, I keep a pair of electronic Walker ear muff things in my console because when I get out of my truck at the gun range I want my hearing, what’s left of it, protected. Using them in a ‘go to a gun’ situation had not occurred to me but now I will put and extra set in the glove box for my wife and hope I am never in a situation where I will need them.

  2. All good advice here. I just moved two pairs of muffs and glasses from my range bag to my center console because of this, thank you, Kim, and commenters.

    On an unrelated note, I learned years ago that most flinches are a result of autonomic reflex reaction to noise … yes, you are anticipating noise, so it’s not specifically a ‘reaction’, but most guns do not have recoil significant enough to cause flinch.

    A coach once told me that if outside, foam plugs OR muffs are fine, whichever you prefer. But if you are shooting at an indoor range, which have concrete walls, as well as floors, use BOTH plugs and muffs. You’ll flinch will go down appreciably. He was correct, I was amazed at the results, and now all my pistol trainees I coach do the same. Just thought I’d share that. We should all be introducing new shooters to the range at every opportunity. They probably have muffs. Carry plugs for them, as well. You’ll be amazed at how much it helps them with flinch indoors.

    And snapcaps. Load them at random intervals in a magazine for your student and end their flinch problems permanently.

    Carry on.

  3. And speaking of riots….I keep saying that this situation is going to escalate come November election. I am predicting kinetic civil war across the US of A. Call me nuts but that is my prediction…

    So just hours ago as of my writing this, in Kenosha WI of all places, commie rat bastard BLM pulled rifles on cops and stopped their SWAT truck. Challenging them. Rumours abound that there are ex mil commie rat bastards, yes military ppl can be commies, are training up BLM.

    Check out this video of the incident. Lots more on youtube….again, just last nite…

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2BV3wT1xwzQ

  4. re:
    muffs

    About a decade ago, we found Winchester brand active muffs at Wal*Mart.
    They use dual microphones, with dual volume controls, so they can assist in directional noise locating.
    Each muff uses three AAA batteries; we swap batteries a couple times a year but they are always still strong.

    They were <us$30 (less than thirty clams) a decade ago.
    I think we own a couple dozen.
    And 'yes', we advocate foam plugs with muffs over.

    Their downside:
    In a 'hot' situation, they 'dumb-down' by blocking all noise.

  5. I keep a set of plugs tucked into the sling cut on the “brace” on my 10.5″ 5 .56. It’s disturbingly loud through muffs at an open range. Would probably be an effective flash-bang unprotected in an enclosed space.

  6. My hearing aids cost about as much as a used car. Nothing can be done for the tinnitus. Much of the damage was done by a single .357 fired from drivers seat through an open passenger window. Don’t do things like that. Get the weapon outside the vehicle before you fire.

  7. Thank you for this excellent Public Service Announcement. I keep a set of Howard Leight muffs hanging on the wall next to my bed in case of intruders or unusual noises at night. Never thought of having a set in my truck, now I will.

Comments are closed.