Pro-Ears Pro-Tac Dimension 3 Muffs for Spec-Ops and Serious Shooters.

Pro-Ears Pro-Tac Dimension 3 Muffs for Spec-Ops and Serious Shooters.

Published by David Crane in Special Operations on October 5th, 2002

For military special operators and LE tactical operators, there is one tactical electronic shooting muff that, for some time, has stood head and shoulders above the rest of the pack in terms of technology and performance, and that’s the the Pro-Ears Pro Tac Dimension 3, by Ridgeline, Inc.. The Pro-Tac’s superiority is due to two primary features of the electronics. First, Pro-Ears are the only electronic shooting muffs that feature Dynamic Level Compression(DLC), which basically cuts noise levels above 70 decibals off, while still amplifying all noises below 70 db, so the shooter can contstantly hear everything that’s going on. In other words, Pro-Ears muffs protect your hearing against… harmful noise without completely cutting out all noise. To our knowledge, they are the only hearing protection that accomplishes this feat. Pro-Ears also has the fastest "attack time" of any electronic shooting muff. The Dynamic Level Compression noise cut-off reacts within 2 milliseconds. That’s real fast, folks.

Pro-Ears Pro-Tac Dimension 3 series shooting muffs incorporate a communications input jack and transmit boom mic, giving the operator a self-contained 2-way communications platform, combined with hearing enhancement and protection. This means military Special Operations teams and LE tactical teams can communicate with each other while keeping their ears totally protected during assaults and tactical operations, even while the operators are engaged in CQB involving shooting indoors. At the same time, they can hear the faintest sounds being made by their bad-guy opponents.

The four Pro-Tac Dimension 3 models are the Dimension DPS-3 "Pro-Slim", Dimension DPM-3 "Pro-Mag", Dimension DLC-3 "Chop-Slide" Sporting Clays, and Dimension DSTL-3 "Stalker". Each muff has a different specific purpose, which is described on the Pro-Ears website. Different styles have different NRR ratings, which are also listed on the website.

The DLC-3 Pro-Tac "Sporting Clay"-style muffs are the preferred tactical shooting muffs for military Spec-Ops and LE tactical teams. Currently, there is no other shooting muff on the market that can compete with Pro-Ears technologically, except perhaps for Walker’s Game Ear’s brand new Power Muffs **Quad**, but DefRev has yet to investigate this new product(read "Addendum" below). Ridgeline’s closest hearing protection competitor in the tactical shooting arena, from a business perspective, appears to be Peltor, but Peltor doesn’t have Pro-Ears’ Dynamic Level Compression technology.

If you’d like to give Ridgeline, Inc. a call and ask them about their Pro-Ears shooting muffs for either tactical ops or recreational shooting, they can be reached toll-free at 800-891-3660, or by calling 719-783-4161. All models of Pro-Ears shooting muffs, including the Dimension 3 series DLC-3 "Sporting Clays" with communications input jack, are currently available to civilians, as far as DefRev is aware.

Addendum(10/09/02):
Walker’s Game Ear has just come out with their Power Muffs **Quad** electronic shooting muff (DefRev does not know what the asterisks are for, just FYI) . They utilize a technology the company is calleing "Sound Activated Compression(SAC)", that appears to do the same thing as Pro-Ears’ "Dynamic Level Compression(DLC)" technology. We will research this. We will also research whether or not Walker’s Game Ear will be making a version of the Power Muffs **Quad** with a communications input jack. When DefRev finds out, so shall ye.