The figure that matters is the decibel: 20 to 32 dB of attenuation, and compression that cuts noise above 90 dB and lets the rest through.
Image: Walker’s (GSM Outdoors)
- Group GSM Outdoors
- Group headquarters Irving, Texas
- Speciality Hearing and eye protection
- Warranty One-year limited
- Categories Accessories
History
Hearing the field and not hearing the shot
Walker’s is the hearing-protection brand of GSM Outdoors —the Irving, Texas group that Birchwood Casey also belongs to— and its own group presents it as a specialist in hearing protection and enhancement for hunting, shooting and professional use «for more than twenty-five years». It gives no founding date anywhere, so none is given here either. The device that gave it the full name its website is signed with, Walker’s Game Ear, is still in the catalogue under the Original Game Ear Series label: the amplifier worn behind the ear.
An electronic muff from this house does one specific, measurable thing. The sound-activated compression circuit lets the background noise through, amplified —the rustle in the cover, a companion's voice, the range officer's command— and crushes the peak when it comes: the brand itself places the trigger above 90 dB, and in the Razor series the reaction is measured at 0.02 seconds. That is why an electronic muff is not a passive muff with batteries: it is the opposite of covering your ears.
The house is just as explicit about where that does not apply. It does not recommend its electronic compression protection in continuous noise —workshops, machinery—, because the compression holds for a few seconds and then the noise is amplified again; for that it points to its passive products. That is the border between the two halves of the catalogue, and it is not a border of price: in what we bring in, the passive product that attenuates most reaches 30 dB and the electronic one that attenuates most, 26 dB.
The figure that decides a purchase is the NRR, the attenuation in decibels. It pays to know which figure is being quoted: the one Walker’s publishes is the American one, measured by the ANSI S3.19-1974 method its own catalogue cites, not the European SNR. In what arrives here it runs from 20 dB —the Tacti-Grip and the behind-the-neck FireMax— to the 32 dB of the foam plugs, with the passive muffs and the corded plugs in between.
Product families
What we distribute
Ordered the way the catalogue itself orders it: first the electronic muffs, then the passive ones, the plugs, the glasses and the accessories. Each model carries its NRR exactly as the manufacturer publishes it.
Electronic muffs
Microphones that amplify the background noise and compression that crushes the shot. 20 to 26 dB of attenuation depending on the series.
Razor Slim Electronic
The house's benchmark muff and the one with the most finishes. Two high-gain omnidirectional microphones, low-frequency tuning so sound arrives natural, and sound-activated compression with a 0.02-second reaction. Full dynamic range speakers, sound-dampening composite housing and an audio input jack. NRR 23 dB.
Razor Slim Electronic · Tacti-Grip
The same muff with a silicone-composite headband: it grips without slipping when you wear a cap, sweat or move your head. Two omnidirectional microphones, 0.02-second compression, sound-dampening housing and an audio input jack. It attenuates less than the standard Razor Slim: NRR 20 dB.
Colours
Razor Slim Electronic · Freedom Series
The Razor Slim with the graphic printed across the whole cup, in two designs. Inside it is the standard one: two high-gain omnidirectional microphones, low-frequency tuning so sound arrives natural, 0.02-second compression and an audio input jack. NRR 23 dB.
Designs
Razor Slim Electronic · Patriot Series
It ships with two interchangeable hook-and-loop patches with the flag of the United States. Inside, full dynamic range speakers, two high-gain omnidirectional microphones and 0.02-second compression on a sound-dampening composite housing. NRR 23 dB.
Colours
Razor Slim Electronic · Quad Series
Four high-gain omnidirectional microphones instead of two: two per cup, which is what lets you place where the noise comes from instead of just hearing it. Full dynamic range speakers, 0.02-second compression and a recessed volume wheel so it does not move by itself in the bag. NRR 23 dB.
Colour
Razor Pro Low Profile · Digital Series
A digital circuit instead of an analogue one: dynamic sound suppression, clean digital sound and a faster reaction than the standard circuit. High-gain omnidirectional microphones with wind-noise reduction —the one that ruins listening at the stand— and automatic shut-off after four hours. NRR 23 dB.
Colour
XCEL Digital
The one that attenuates most of the electronic muffs we bring in: NRR 26 dB, with a headband that achieves that protection without fattening the cup. Four listening programmes —universal, clear voice and power boost—, high-gain omnidirectional microphones with wind-noise reduction and voice navigation to change mode without looking. Bluetooth pairing.
Version
FireMax Digital BTN
A behind-the-neck band, which is the way to wear a muff with a cap, a brimmed hat or a work helmet without them fighting. It comes with an adjustable retention strap and a top pad. Four frequency modes, cooling-gel cushions, full dynamic range speakers and a USB-C rechargeable battery, cable included. NRR 20 dB.
Reference
Passive muffs
No electronics and no batteries: it is what the brand itself recommends when the noise is continuous. 22 to 30 dB.
Razor Slim Passive
The Razor profile with no circuit inside, and with it the highest NRR of the low silhouette: 27 dB. Thin cups that let you cheek the stock without snagging, sound-dampening composite housing, soft PVC cushions and compact folding.
Colour
Razor Compact Passive
An ultra-low cup designed for small heads: the manufacturer aims it expressly at women and young shooters. Ultra-compact and folding, with a sound-dampening composite housing. NRR 25 dB.
Colour
Pro Low Profile
The bag muff: ultralight, compact folding, soft PVC cushions and cups contoured for shooting. It is also the only one in the range whose NRR the catalogue details how it was measured —22 dB by the real-ear method of the ANSI S3.19-1974 standard—, which is the yardstick all the others are read against.
Extra Protection Shooting Muff
The most attenuating of all the muffs we bring in: NRR 30 dB. It is the house's answer to the long clay day or the waiting stand with a shotgun, where thirty decibels weigh more than any electronics.
Reference
Kit Pro Low Profile
The 22 dB Pro Low Profile muff with glasses and foam plugs in the same package: what it takes to bring someone to the range for the first time without buying three things separately.
Reference
Ear plugs
What goes in the vest pocket. It is also where the house's highest figures are: up to 32 dB.
Corded rubber ear plugs
A contoured rubber plug, reusable and washable, with a 23-inch cord so it hangs from the neck between stands instead of getting lost. Both come in their hard case, and they do not attenuate the same: the braided-nylon-cord one gives 27 dB and the PVC-cord one, 25.
Foam ear plugs · jar of 50 pairs
Disposable foam, NRR 32 dB: the highest figure in the house's whole catalogue. Fifty pairs in a sealed plastic jar —fifty pairs, not fifty plugs—, which is the format for the gun shop, the club and whoever always leaves them in the other pair of trousers.
Reference
Pro-Tek band
A neck band with two ergonomic foam pods at the ends: it stays hanging when the gun comes down and goes back up in one motion. The band is contoured and angled so the pod enters aligned with the ear canal, and the pods come off and wash. NRR 25 dB.
Reference
Shooting glasses
High-impact polycarbonate above the ANSI Z87.1 standard and 99% ultraviolet filtering across the series.
Sport Glasses
The house's half-frame glasses. A high-grade polycarbonate lens that exceeds the high-impact requirement of the ANSI Z87.1-2003 standard, ratchet lens-tilt adjustment, adjustable telescopic temples, a ventilation channel between lens and frame so it does not fog, and a non-slip rubber nose bridge. 99% ultraviolet filtering.
Sport Glasses with interchangeable lenses
Four lenses in the same case —clear, smoke grey, amber and yellow—, swapped without tools according to the light. Ratchet tilt adjustment, an adjustable nose pad that adapts to different bridges and a frame that lets air run through so it does not fog. It ships with a mesh bag, a nylon case and a watertight hard case.
Reference
Clearview
A one-piece wraparound, frameless on top, with an open frame so air circulates and it does not fog. High-impact polycarbonate above the ANSI Z87.1-2010 standard and 99% ultraviolet filtering.
Lens
Full Coverage
Designed to go over prescription glasses, which is the problem none of the others in the range solves. Wraparound and ventilated, with high-impact polycarbonate above the ANSI Z87.1-2010 standard and 99% ultraviolet filtering.
Lens
Accessories
What holds the muff when it is not being worn.
Universal belt holder
A clip that hooks onto any belt or waistband and holds the pair of muffs and the glasses at your side. It is what keeps them off the floor of the stand or off the barrel.
Reference
To read
Walker’s catalogue
This catalogue is published in Spanish.
Walker’s at the shop
Electronic and passive muffs, plugs, shooting glasses and accessories.
The shop is available in Spanish.