By Joe Ferronato
Even over the ringing in my ears, I could still hear the excitement of my hunting partners as I stood over my grizzly bear. My self-induced tinnitus didn’t subside all night, and even continued the next day. After several days, my right ear finally returned to normal but my left ear kept ringing, and I became convinced it wouldn’t stop. Ultimately it subsided, but my hearing in that ear still seems dull. Don’t ask me why I didn’t put in the ear pro that was hanging around my neck—no one’s ever accused me of being smart.
Protecting your ears is important, but ear pro rarely fits well and is often a hindrance. SoundGear has changed the way outdoorsmen and shooters wear hearing protection. The Phantom offers a user experience that will not only protect your sense of hearing, but can also enhance it while keeping you comfortable. This is an FDA-listed prescription hearing aid and can be used as such. But it also carries a 22 dB noise reduction rating to dampen loud, damaging sounds so you never need to change that prescription.
The process to get the Phantom ear pro is easy. Simply purchase the product from SoundGear, and the company takes it from there. At your purchase, you’ll have an appointment set up to get your moldings done by a local audiologist to ensure a perfect fit. My appointment took about 30 minutes and included a hearing test—which surprisingly concluded that my hearing had only minimal loss—and then a short time to complete the molds.
I’ve been wearing these religiously at the range for the last year; they work and fit like a glove. Unlike with other in-ear protection, I haven’t had a need to layer extra muffs even during high-volume shooting and don’t get ear fatigue while wearing them. The range is one thing, everyone wears ear pro at the range—hopefully—but most hunters I know forgo the idea of sticking something in their ears while afield.
For the longest time while hunting, I never even carried ear pro, but I got wiser and started hanging some around my neck. As you read previously, though, they don’t make it into my ears. And there’s no chance you’ll find me walking through the mountains with foamies in, as I feel that I need all my senses to maximize my hunting capabilities.
That’s the best thing about the Phantom, you don’t lose your sense of hearing when you put them in—and it can actually be enhanced. Depending on hearing needs, the Phantom offers up to 30 dB of amplification. Even with that, I’ll likely still forgo wearing them on big game hunts. I recently put on my big kid pants and bought some suppressors—it’s called being civilized.
Where it really shines, though, is in the uplands behind my GWPs or sitting in a duck blind. I can still hear well and converse with hunting partners while protecting my hearing during high-volume shotgun shooting. They stay secure in the ear, even when out hiking around, and I don’t lose the ability to hear birds chittering or the position of my dogs in thick cover.
The Phantom is my preferred ear pro now, and even doubles as Bluetooth headphones with impressive sound quality. The only problem: cost. Your wallet will hurt a bit after this purchase, but you’ll avoid being the guy responding with “huh?” whenever your wife talks at you—well, at least you’ll actually know what she was asking, but she doesn’t have to know that.
Cost: $1600
Pros: Custom, comfortable fit; FDA-recognized hearing aid; impressive noise reduction; Bluetooth compatible; 23-hour battery life; comes with charging case
Cons: expensive
