Walker Razor electronic hearing protection.

Recently at the High Speed Gear and Sig Sauer media day I was introduced to the Walker Razor electronic hearing protection. I am not new to electronic hearing protection but it has been a while since I have used them, because to be honest the last time I tried electronic hearing protection I hated them. They did not work very well and were bulky and tough to adjust. I am old, hard headed, and set in my ways so I stuck with the squishy ear plugs. Though they are a bit of a pain they were cheap and worked well enough until you used them a few times. The Razor utilizes two high definition speakers, one on each muff, that conveys the outside world into speakers inside the muffs. When a loud noise is detected within two tenths of a second, the noise is reduced by twenty three decibels.  The loudest firearm I used was a Barnes Precision Machine seven and a half inch short barreled rifle in 5.56×45 and the Walker Razor provided enough protection.

On occasion, I used muffs when shooting handguns but with rifles, they would interfere with my stock weld so muffs are not my first choice. The Walker Razors are much thinner than standard muffs so they do not interfere with correct stock weld nearly as bad.

Being electronic, the Razors use AA batteries, and Walker says you will get approximately forty hours of use from a pair of batteries. That number hinges on a few factors such as how you set the volume and so forth. The AA batteries reside together at the top of the muff in a small compartment. If the batteries go dead and you do not have any spare batteries on hand, they can still serve as hearing protection. Much like when you lose power, your electric blanket is still a blanket.

The single knob controls the off and on as well as volume.

My mind has been changed quite a bit on electronic hearing protection, the benefit of being able to have a conversation at the range without having to take your hearing protection off and on makes it well worth having. If you are participating in a class, electronic hearing protection is almost a must. Another aspect to consider is that being able to have normal levels of hearing at the range offers you much better situational awareness when shooting. With the Walker Razors you can easily hear footsteps or leaves rustling while wearing them with the volume adjusted correctly. In my mind, this is very important especially if you are shooting at a public range.

My mind has been swayed a bit on electronic hearing protection, and at around $45 retail the Razors are a fantastic option that won’t cut too deep into your gun fund.