When it comes to hearing protection, I am a bit picky as I have lost some hearing in my right ear due to shooting without hearing protection as a teenager. I want it to work well, be comfortable and if it has multiple functions then I am very interested. The Peltor Sport Tactical 500 electronic hearing protection earmuffs have all of that. I had the opportunity to try them at SHOT Show and was able to speak with the people behind the technology. My interest in the equipment spiked and they reached out to have me put them to the test.
The Peltor Sport TAC-500 hearing protection comes packaged with extra ear pads and an intuitive manual. They are easily adjustable to your head and they fold up easily when you put them back in your range bag. They also fit very well over a hat-button due to a well-designed opening. Nice thinking!
The Tac-500s fit very snug (see photo above and how they are pressing in on my head). It’s one of those pieces of gear that I love to hate in this instance. The fact that it is so tight is great when you aren’t wearing your safety glasses, but when you do (like you should) it presses the glasses tight to your head and it’s uncomfortable. The great thing about it is that you won’t have any sound getting in that isn’t supposed to. With them being so tight there is one more drawback and that is that your head will sweat more where the ear foam lies. It’s a minor dilemma, but an obvious issue I noticed. After a while, you will feel the pressure and I was not a fan of that.
How do the Peltor Sport TAC-500s function? Not only do they work as hearing protection, but they also allows you to hear everything around you while you are at the range. They cuts out when a shot takes place due to the technology and goes right back to allowing you to hear. They also have Bluetooth capability which is really sweet. You can use these as wireless headphones with your computer or with your phone. This allows you to play music or answer a call all while protecting your ears. Bluetooth gets turned on via a button on the right earmuff. This is also where you will adjust the volume of what you can hear inside and outside of the earmuff. Quite honestly, I think the TAC-500s excel in the category of hearing protection with few limitations.
Different calibers were used to test out the capability of the sound deadening. I tested out rifles in .22 caliber up to .300 WIN MAG, a 12 gauge shotgun, 10MM handgun and many others. The TAC-500 worked incredibly well for all of them!
Battery life was outstanding and I thought I would mention this experience I had. I used the TAC-500s on a few occasions where they would give me three beeps after using them for over ten hours (total time). I figured the batteries were running low. Little did I know (had I read the entire manual at that time) that this is letting you know they are going into power save mode because I hadn’t actively used them in over an hour. I have had the same pair of batteries in for a few months now and have used them on more than eight different occasions for longer than two hours. Battery life has been great!
The Peltor Sport Tactical 500 electronic hearing protection is not a cheap investment, but it is a solid investment. I wanted to clear that up right away. You get what you pay for and these come with a bunch of extras. They retail for around $169.99 and initially I thought for the amount of shooting that I do that was a steep price, but I have since changed my tune. They do so much and take a beating after being tossed into my gear bag, being out in the desert heat, and the capabilities.
My recommendation on the Peltor Sport TAC-500s is based on these thoughts. If you shoot handguns often these would be perfect! If you shoot AR style rifles or hunting rifles, these are also great! If you shoot rifles with a high cheek rest, these may not be the ones for you as the earmuff hits the cheek rest, especially if you use a high cheek rest. For most applications, these would be an excellent investment, especially if you need all of the functions they come with.
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