3M PELTOR Camelback Gel Sealing Rings HY80, Comfort Replacement Earmuff Cushions, Easy to Replace, Black

Just added the Camelback Gel Sealing Rings to the Peltor Tactical 100 Earmuffs.I use David Clarks, 3M passive Earmuffs and many other in-ear and over the ear devices. I have over 40 years in communications/aviation/mobile communications. My views here are from a practical usage viewpoint as an engineer and communicator.This is not a technical/marketing review. I purchased the headset and gel seals with my own money - no free review.With all that as a caveat, here is my initial review of the Combined Peltor Tactical 100 with the HY80 Seals.FIRST IMPRESSION:OUTSTANDING! Super comfortable. I do notice they are there but after a few minutes on the task at hand you don't notice you have hearing protectors on your ears. Set the audio level to a comfortable (mid-range) level and go to work.PERFORMANCE: the attenuation response from a noise trigger is very fast, the decay(delay) is a bit longer than expected but not objectionable. My unit response is approximately 1 sec to return to full level, The -3dB point is about 300 milliseconds (estimated) .INSTALLATION:Installation of the GEL SEAL can be a bit fussy. The right side on my unit was more difficult to install. The electronics may be making the earcups more 'stiff'.Taking a suggestion from another reviewer, I did warm the ear cups with a hair dryer on low temperature for about 3 -4 minutes until the headset was warm. I then placed the headset on a table and using the edge of the table to 'lock' the bottom of the GEL seal against the ear cup, Using my thumbs, I worked the seal around the lip until it snapped into place.As other reviews have mentioned, this is a good tight fit and a good upgrade to the Tactical 100 headset. Production tolerance is likely at play here impacting the GEL SEAL snap fit. I suggest that patience and persistence is needed if at first the GEL Seal seems to not fit. I checked mine against the foam OEM foam seals and they are the same size. The GEL SEAL mount ring are more stiff, this could be a reason for being harder to engage the locking lip. Again: patience and persistence, these seals will fit.Cost vs. Performance - Similar in performance to electronic units at $250 for approximately $100 (Headset plus Gel Seals) is a hard point to discuss. what is Similar? What price for hearing protection? What price for safety?I would be willing to spend over $300 for hearing protection, IF there were no other choices. Fortunately, with this combination, there are choices. Depending on your tolerances for sore thumbs (they do heal!) and some experimentation, high performance hearing protection is more affordable.My other point, cost, is that with multiple shooters in the household, high grade safety/protection gear can easily exceed the cost of a modest pistol. The Tactical 100 with HY80s offers a different, i.e. affordable, economic view without serious compromise in comfort or performance.SUMMARY:GOOD hearing protection or safety is not a place to take shortcuts. Electronics for improved communication (vs passive device) enhances safety - on the range, outside or in a workshop. Comfortable devices means you can wear them more and will use them more often - less excuses for not using. GOOD Protection + Improved Safety + reasonable economics = WINING Combination.

Great comfortable upgrade for your Comtacs.I purchased these after hearing all the hype about these gel cups. When I got them, I instantly was pleased that I had followed the "cool guy crowd". As most reading this review should know, the standard ear cups on a pair of Comtacs are softish plastic material with little comfort and give. I thinik they have foam inside the softish plastic part. One of my stock ear cups actually ripped from folding my Comtacs up and the mic arm hitting the ear cup. These gel cups on the other hand are amazing. The name tells it all. Gel Sealing. They feel exactly like that. They are way softer than the standard cups and give way to your ears / head shape much easier. I used to have issues wearing Oakley Flak Jackets and my Comtacs because the arm of the Oakleys would be pushed into the side of my head behind my ear by the standard ear cups giving me a headache over prolonged time (8+ hours on a range). The gel cups do not cause this problem and for that alone, they are well worth the money. They are easy to replace, by simply pulling off the old cups and then snapping in the new gel ones. The only downside I have experienced with these is that I noticed that sand has creeped into the adhesive between the ear cup and the plastic ring that connects them to the rest of the hearing pro. This has caused the adhesive to let in more and more sand, but I'm not really too worried. I can hot glue gun / superglue them back down.I paid $42 for my set, so shop around and see what deals you can find.All in all, a must have upgrade for your Comtacs and I loved them so much that I ended up getting another set for my other pair of Comtacs.

The media could not be loaded. I purchased these Gel pads for my Peltor Tactical Sport 300 because I use them during competitions where I wear the earmuffs for a period of time up to 6 hours. The original pads were not very uncomfortable for prolonged wear but the Gel pads are very soft and conform to the head around the ears accommodating safety glasses by wrapping around the glasses arms. This better seal around the ears has the possible side effect of adding to the overall NRR but there is no official rating information so I cannot say that it is significant and I believe that if it was a significant NRR improvement they would advertise the better rating.Installation:Some people suggest that you should "unglue" the pads off their base in order to avoid the hustle of pressing them in the housing and because the plastic base of the original pads is better but the way I see it the base of the Gel pads has a wider opening to allow the edges of your ear to rest against the soft speaker padding inside the earmuff. I attached a video showing how easy it is to replace them. I suggest that you pop the original pads off, as you are supposed to do, then align one side of the gel pads in the housing groove and then while you put pressure on one side with one hand use your thumb of the other hand to apply pressure every 1/2 inch or so until they pop in place. Do not worry about squeezing and deforming the gel pads because they will return to their original form soon after.My only complaint is that they are too expensive. They cost as much as some reputable electronic earmuff sets and at the time of this review adding these to your Peltor raises the price by 60%. Yet, if you are going to use your earmuffs for many hours at a time, these are highly recommended.