Airsoft granades db

[todor]

 

Has anyone actually tested the real decibel (dB) levels of different airsoft grenades indoors?

 

Manufacturers often claim up to 145-150 dB, but some players say they’re not that loud. I’m trying to find real measurements — especially for common types like:

 

9 mm blank

Pyro (thinder b, dynatex)

CO2 grenades

TAG 

209 primer grenades

 

 

If anyone has tested them with a sound meter (especially indoors or in small rooms), I’d love to hear your results!

 

Edited March 28 by todor

[Lozart]

It's highly unlikely anyone has done this due to the spectacular array of confounding variables.

 

For example - EG say their MK5s are 120dB at 10m. Obviously the closer you get the louder it is and it's NOT a linear progression. Once you put that measurement into an enclosed space you change the way that the pressure waves behave so a small space can make the listener perceive a higher noise level than the same distance in the open. Add to that the material that any room is made from will also affect the way that the pressure waves behave and you have an enormous range of measurements to try and deal with.

 

As for manufacturers "often claiming 140-150dB" I don't know that I've ever seen any pyro that is covered by site insurance that goes that high with the exception of things like the TAG grenades.

 

More to the point, why do you want/need to know?

[todor]

If airsoft grenades can reach up to 150 dB (for example at 1-2 meters, and I wear both earplugs and earmuffs (combined NRR ~31 dB), that still leaves around 120 dB reaching my ears — which is not safe 

Edited March 28 by todor

[Lozart]

18 minutes ago, todor said:

If airsoft grenades can reach up to 150 dB (for example at 1-2 meters, and I wear both earplugs and earmuffs (combined NRR ~31 dB), that still leaves around 120 dB reaching my ears — which is not safe 

 

Good point very well presented.

 

The main danger will be indoor events, I don't know of any that would actually be covered by their insurance (assuming you're in the UK) for anything over a MK5 indoors so that would immediately drop you to around 120dB. Personally I've never had an issue with anything in the UK while wearing active hearing protection (Earmor M32s and Howard Leight Impact Sports) so I would think you'd be fine. If your local site is allowing TAG grenades like the M67 indoors then I'd be looking for somewhere else to play.

Also important to know is that your dB calculation is a bit off:

 

Quote

How Does Headset Hearing Protection Change Decibel Exposure Levels?

Noise reduction ratings are important because they indicate the functionality of a device, and the ability of that device to protect hearing in noisy environments.

In order to approximate an NRR, a little math is required; the equipment used to protect hearing does not reduce the decibel levels within a given environment by the precise decibel number that is tied to the NRR for that device. For example, a person who is working in a loud occupational environment may be exposed to noise as great as 100 dB(A). If an individual is wearing hearing protection equipment with an NRR of about 30 dB(A), the noise exposure amount would not be lowered to 70 dB(A). Instead, it would be lowered to 88.5 dB(A). Take a look at the following steps taken to determine the level of noise exposure after reduction:

• Subtract seven from the NRR number, which is given in decibels
• Divide the result by two
• Subtract the result from the original noise exposure level in decibels

 

[todor]

Even Thunder B is 125 db.

Indoor at 1 meter .. idk 140-150? 

 

120 db is enough to damage your ear

 

Edited March 28 by todor

[Lozart]

Fair, the combination of earplugs and earmuffs is often more than just the sum of the two devices though: https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/893191O/earlog-13.pdf?fn=EARLog 13.pdf That shows that the NRR of combined devices can be as much as 50dB.

 

The other thing to consider is situational awareness. If you're wearing ear defenders AND ear plugs to deal with a potential flashbang then you will NOT hear anything else.

 

Attenuation due to distance is governed by an inverse square law which equates to 6dB per doubling of distance. Something that is 120dB at 10m will be 146dB at 0.5m (calculator here: https://www.wkcgroup.com/tools-room/inverse-square-law-sound-calculator/) IN OPEN SPACE!

 

As for the Thunder B - while I can find references to "up to 130dB" I don't see anywhere that it says what distance that is measured at?

 

[Adolf Hamster]

1 hour ago, todor said:

120 db is enough to damage your ear

 

then wear active hearing protection, even something like a set of howard leights will make a mk5 or thunder b at your feet sound like a party popper (speaking from direct experience), keep your ears warm and protect them from bb's, the latter of which imo is by far the biggest factor.

 

granted that's primarily outdoor play, so factor that in but i've never left an airsoft game feeling like there's hearing loss from it, the same cannot be said for rock concerts. think by far the loudest was a 9mm blank firer which was the games' McGuffin going off.

[todor]

The maximum protection is
31 decibels.

Edited Friday at 18:03 by todor

[Chev Chelios]

So I shoot Shot Gun, sometimes firing up to 300 shells in fast succession when shooting clays.  Shotguns emit 150-170 decibels. Have used COMTAC 3, FMA AMPS and good old foam ear plugs with no ill effects. 

 

Safety is important but in this case unless one goes off directly next to an unprotected ear I don't think its an issue. I have been playing cowboys and indians for over 20 years now with extensive use of pyro (with 12 gage blanks being a lot more prevalent in the early days) without issue. I can also not remember anyone ever posting about it on any forums that existed before this one.   

[Rogerborg]

1 hour ago, Adolf Hamster said:

then wear active hearing protection

 

If one person needs to wear it due to the environment likely to be experienced on site, why doesn't everyone?  🤔

 

 

 

23 minutes ago, Chev Chelios said:

I can also not remember anyone ever posting about it on any forums that existed before this one.   

 

Maybe you just didn't hear them?

 

It's a pretty low risk, but it's both a cumulative one, and acute if something big goes off right by your ear.

 

Purely personally anecdotally, I have mild tinnitus that's probably from biking - even though I always wear moulded earplugs - but which I didn't notice until I started earsofting, so, eh. Could be either, a bit of both, or something else that I'm not even aware of.

 

I'm not going to get on a high horse about it, I don't wear ear protection while airsofting, but I would say that big bangs, like wankerguns, 40-Mikes and 10 billion lumen lights, are a lot more fun for the pitcher than the receiver.

[Adolf Hamster]

1 hour ago, Rogerborg said:

If one person needs to wear it due to the environment likely to be experienced on site, why doesn't everyone?  🤔

 

A fair point, my experience is that active hearing protection was never something i felt necessary for its primary purpose, but the secondary benefits of warm ears, protection from bb's and the tactical look made it worthy for me.

 

I'll openly admit loud noises arent a thing i typically am concerned about and will willingly listen to a rock concert at full volume even with the temporary loss, but i dont begrudge those who are less cavilier with their hearing.

[Tommikka]

For someone of the Walkman era, followed by gigs, festivals and clubs prior to playing with pyro (we’ll gloss over having Salisbury plain as my play ground and hunting dropped blanks to  play with and blow stuff up) my ears are a lost cause

 

If you are young / have good hearing then keep it that way 

 

Therefore use some form of hearing protection will help preserve hearing  - (even the most basic foam will take the edge off) 

Be more careful indoors, open your mouth whenever near something about to go bang

 

Avoid sites that will let people use high powered pyro indoors.

When I began to play the norm was mk9s.  But mk5 is perfectly fine, and if you cant hear that then your hearing is worse than mine

 

Do bear in mind that the design of a piece of pyro contributes to its sound effect.  
Enolas Dr John can do very clever things with designing the chemical mix for explosive effect on how quickly / slowly it bangs, and then couple that with how packed the grenade  is / how it directs the blast through the ‘tube’ and one way / two way blast

 

A ‘lesser’ explosive can appear to pack a harder punch, and indoors is very different to the woods - not only being open / enclosed but also hard / soft surfaces bouncing or absorbing the blast/noise

 

 

 

[Lozart]

On 28/03/2025 at 19:44, Adolf Hamster said:

I'll openly admit loud noises arent a thing i typically am concerned about and will willingly listen to a rock concert at full volume even with the temporary loss, but i dont begrudge those who are less cavilier with their hearing.

 

 

Seriously - protect your hearing while you can. You WILL miss it when you lose it. I have hearing loss and tinnitus caused by noise damage (both industrial and music related - I used to play in a death metal band) and it SUCKS.

 

 

[Lozart]

 

 

Also - I will caveat this by saying that I was told all of this in the past and I never paid attention to it either.

[Colin Allen]

1 hour ago, Lozart said:

 

 

Seriously - protect your hearing while you can. You WILL miss it when you lose it. I have hearing loss and tinnitus caused by noise damage (both industrial and music related - I used to play in a death metal band) and it SUCKS.

 

 

Agreed; I lost some of my hearing and developed tinnitus in service and then did more damage while managing very loud rock bands, including Hawkwind.