You walk outside into a perfect day. The sun is shining and the birds are singing, but you won't hear much of that if you forget your hearing protection when you go shooting. 48 million Americans have hearing loss, with loud noises being one of the most frequent causes. Firearm noise can range from 140 decibels (dB) to 175 dB, depending on the gun's caliber and the shooting environment. Major and potentially permanent hearing problems can occur if you're out hunting or at the range without hearing protection.

You want to take good care of your hearing, but over-the-ear hearing protection makes you look like you should put on a ski jacket and hit the slopes. You don't want ear muffs getting in the way when you're shooting, and looking like a dork is killing your fashion sense. Thankfully, you have a way to save your hearing and look cool at the same time.

Custom-molded hearing protection eliminates bulky hearing protection from your gear bag. These earplugs go in your ear and fit specifically to your ear canal. You aren't dealing with some department store earplugs that hurt or fall out. These earplugs are customized so they fit perfectly, block noise better, stay comfortable and never fall out. You never know exactly when you're going to be exposed to a loud gunshot when you're at the shooting range, so you need hearing protection that's comfortable to wear when you're enjoying yourself. You also don't want to get stuck with ear muffs on all day when you're in the middle of the woods hunting -- it's just too easy to get caught on a tree branch or jostle them off when you're running.

Decibullz offers affordable fitted ear plugs with a short and simple set-up process. You boil some water, put in the Decibullz earpieces, and the earpieces become pliable. Let them cool for a bit and they mold to the shape of your ears for a perfect custom fit. The best part is that even if they don't come out perfectly the first try, you can always re-mold them.

All hearing protection comes with a noise reduction rating (NRR). This measurement shows you exactly how effective hearing protection is, and it's used to calculate the new dB rating of noises as they pass through your hearing protection. The highest NRR is 33, which can drastically reduce the sound level reaching your ears when you fire a gun or hang out at a shooting range.

Low-grade hearing protection products like disposable earplugs have a much lower NRR than high-quality products like custom-molded earplugs. The higher sound protection keeps your ears out of the danger zone. You avoid long-term hearing problems that plague many recreational shooters and hunters. Remember: It only takes one bad shot to cause damage.

You can protect your hearing and still have a good time when you use high-NRR earplugs that fit like a glove. You immediately protect yourself from the risk of noise spikes damaging your hearing and halt the progression of any cumulative damage caused by prior unprotected shooting. Proper hearing protection is an important part of shooting, so choosing the right product for your needs is just as important as picking out the right gun and ammo.