Safety is crucial when firing any weapon. If you’ve ever fired a weapon, you’ve probably heard someone say ears and eyes safety. Protecting yourself whenever shooting a weapon is something you need to take seriously.

Most shooting ranges have shooting personal protective equipment, PPE to help shooters combat loud noises, adverse weather environments, and hot brass or casings. It is important to prepare for any shooting practice with the necessary safety gear. These are gears that enhance your safety whenever in the shooting range. Some of the common shooting safety gears to consider include:

Ear protection

Shooting ear protection should be top of your list because of the loud noises when firing weapons. Most guns produce high noise levels with up to 140 decibels.  There is a huge risk of hearing loss if you don’t have the right ear protection. The recommended noise level that ears can tolerate is around 60 decibels. However, noises in the shooting range go beyond 100 decibels.

Wearing earmuffs and earplugs is one of the best ways to protect your ears. The ear protections cover the entire ear and block any external sounds. Some advanced ear protections allow shooters to listen to music and converse with fellow shooters while blocking loud external noises.

While earmuffs are quite effective at blocking external noises, they need do not always fit well. You need to choose the best brands that fit well with your eye protection. This takes us to our next crucial safety gear.

Eye protection

Eye protection involves wearing glasses to protect your eyes from any flying objects once a shot is taken. Wearing regular sunglasses and other safety glasses is recommended. However, these types of glasses do not offer the right protection. You need to consider shooting glasses with wraps around the sides. Eye protection is necessary because of ricochets when firing a rifle. Consider eye protection that provides good ballistic protection.

The ideal shooting eye protection should stop high-velocity projectiles. The glasses need to meet military and NATO requirements. You also need to consider the type of lenses on the glasses and ensure they match your shooting. Dark-tinted glasses are considered the best when shooting outdoors on a sunny day. Yellow tinted glasses are ideal for indoor shooting as they make images pop. You can also choose glasses with interchangeable lenses for versatile use.

Proper dressing

Clothes and apparel that shooters wear to a shooting range also count as safety gear. Proper PPE includes the pants and shorts that shooters wear. It is recommended that you cover most of the skin with proper dressing. Consider wearing long-sleeved shirts to cover the entire arm. Hot bullet casing can land anywhere on the body and cause injuries.

You also need to consider pants that cover the entire leg providing protection. When choosing the right pair of pants, make sure you consider comfort. Shooters tend to perform better when they are comfortable. You need to avoid any form of distraction and focus on your shooting. A hot casing on the skin leads to sudden reflex movement. This can coincide with a loaded firearm at hand leading to accidental trigger pulling. PPE protects the hot casing from landing on the skin and causing unexpected reflex movements.

Sturdy closed shoes

Your feet should also have the right protection in the form of sturdy closed shoes. A pair of closed sports shoes is a great choice. You can also consider boots as long as they remain comfortable. Avoid flip-flops as they leave most of the feet exposed.

Lung protection

Are lungs included in your safety protection? If not, then consider getting a tactical respirator. When guns are fired, lead is vaporized and discharged right on the shooter’s face. This coupled with the smell of the gun’s smoke can cause harm to your lungs. Inhaling pulverized lead particles is dangerous for our health.

Once the lead is inhaled into the lungs, it goes directly into the bloodstream contributing to lead poisoning. Lung protection is highly recommended for individuals that use range shooting regularly. A breathable respirator can help protect the lungs from lead and other dangerous chemicals.

Shooting gloves

You also need to consider a pair of safety shooting gloves. Shooting gloves are essential for shooters providing excellent hand protection. The gloves cover and protect hands when shooting. Most feature thick padding that helps absorb shock and impacts from shooting. When rifles are fired, there is recoil that shocks the hands. Wearing quality shooting gloves helps absorb any shocks from the rifle.

The ideal gloves also offer excellent bad weather protection. Most feature a soft fleece lining on the interior to provide hands with warmth.

Knee/elbow pads

You can also consider some knee and elbow pads, especially when shooting from multiple positions. There are instances when you find your knees on the ground as you practice shooting from different positions.

Final thoughts

Having these safety gears with you at the shooting range greatly enhances your safety. Make sure you take necessary safety measures and gun safety rules into consideration when handling a gun. Most of the gears are pretty simple but come in handy in case of accidents.