Certainly no naval guns in my background, but during Basic, AIT and OCS we used to pick up cigarette butts and use them as ear plugs. Worked OK, but your ears smelled

The 6 of us in the Sonar gang were donated to the FT's and GM's for the duration of our tour on the gunline. We covered the northern most point off the DMZ. All shore bombardment and danger close missions of North Vietnam. No hearing protection was issued. We tried to stuff cotton in our ears but it was of minimal protection. 28,000 rds later it was "I can't hear you" then and now. VA said they had no medical record of my hearing loss so they rejected my claim. At time of separation to go back into the active reserves, there was no hearing or other exam upon separation when we arrived back in Norfolk, VA. $5k later I had to buy hearing aids.

For anyone reading this regurgitation, don't forget to wear your hearing protection when shooting period.

You would be very surprised at the different levels of protection required against seemingly similar decibel sources. Last summer my 21HP V-twin Poulan lawn tractor, which I loved, finally gave up the ghost and I went looking for a replacement. I loved the Poulan because of its more-than-enough horsepower, smoothness of operation, and relatively low noise level when mowing. I needed a replacement immediately (I've got a BIG yard!) and found a near-new Craftsman with less than 50 hrs. on it with a brand new 18.5 HP single cylinder Briggs & Stratton replacement engine (the previous owner let it run out of oil and it seized). The first thing I noticed about the B&S was how LOUD it was in comparison to the Poulan twin, the second thing is the vibration, which is considerable when compared to the smoothness of the Poulan twin. I find that I need to wear my molded ear plugs I had fit for shooting and a pair of heavy interior-foamed earmuffs I use for my chainsaw over them to sufficiently dampen the noise when mowing. Reminds me of starting up a cold Norton Manx, both in noise and vibration level!

I believe the Howard Leight muffs are well thought of as are the 3M Peltor. I like my ESP's.

I looked up the brand name of the muffs I mentioned earlier in this thread. They are Pro Ears. I certainly would recommend them.