I've read that good foam ear plugs have the highest of all types in db reduction. I use them occasionally but have been using the custom molded, not the electronic ones, since 2008. I wore them on two trips to Cordoba where I shot upwards of 4000 rounds the first time, and 5250 the second trip, in four days.
Mine are so comfortable that I'd almost forget to take them out when we'd stop shooting and head back to the lodge for meals.
I can discern no hearing loss since I began using them in 2008. I can carry on conversations with my sporting squad members while wearing them.
My wife and I are 74 and my hearing is no worse than hers, AFAICT, and she has never been around loud noises. I truly believe most of my hearing loss occurred while in the Navy in a jet fighter attack squadron, where I would start the A-4s, on the ground, for the pilots, using a huffer, which is a little jet engine itself, contained in a trailer.
There was a range of frequency of sound that went totally silent for a brief moment as the pilot revved up the engine and I went under the plane to remove the probe and huffer air hose. I always wondered if that "silent" range wasn't doing great damage to my inner ears. But, it was probably the totality of it all that got 'em.
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