The very best ear protection is free, ..... it's called the volume knob!
This is true, when you have control over it.
Movie theaters, aerobics studios in "health clubs", night clubs, concerts, sporting events, and other places where you aren't in control of the volume knob are where you need your ear filters - they become your personal volume knob. Even my relatives run their TVs higher than 85.
I put health clubs in quotes, because any place that runs the volume loud enough to inflict permanent ear damage on its customers, are not concerned about their health.We gig for an adult audience, and try to keep the volume at 85db ("A" weighted, slow response) as that is the highest safe listening level. We use a sound level meter during the volume check. Sometimes that means that the volume level on stage needs to be 90db - so in go the ear filters.
In additon: sometimes the venue wants more than 85db of volume. Sometimes it's a long room and in order for the people in the back to hear, the volume on stage needs to be higher than 85. The ear filters are my personal volume knob. When gigging for someone else, they have virtual control over the volume knob. They hire me to do a job for them.
When I'm at home, nothing is played over 85db - I own the volume knob. And the etymotic ear filters are the best I've tried.
A word of warning for the kind of plugs they use in gun ranges. Some of them work with a piston. Any sudden loud noise (pressure wave) will close the piston and protect the ears. But a gradual or extended loud sound does practically nothing as the piston is designed to only close when a sharp pressure wave closes it, and then is designed to open again so people can hear normally.
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