Hearing while Shooting

Yosemite Sam and I are getting ready for our holidays. We're taking a mini-vacation and plan on getting a little shooting done.

Speaking of shooting, we went to the range last Sunday. While there, I learned that I have to do something about my hearing loss. I was eight-years old when I started shooting. I shot outdoors, but without hearing protection. It just wasn't done back in those caveman days. Since then, I'm religious about making sure I wear plugs or muffs in or around my ears. Still, I'm hard of hearing (ask Yosemite Sam about my preferred TV volume setting).

What happened at the range you ask? Well, I was practicing bullseye shooting and in my defense I was deep in the zone. I had blocked out the rifle shooter on one side of me, the rapid-fire pistol shooter on the other side, and even my dear Yosemite Sam. The range officer called a cease fire and guess what, I was still potting away at my target. Yosemite had to get right up to the back of my head and yell "cease fire."

With that, my gun went to the table and my hands went up. I wondered what had gone wrong and to my relief found out it was no worse than a target carrier that had fallen and the range staff needed to repair it. No harm done, but I still feel bad. I know that when anyone calls a cease fire, it must be immediate and unquestioned.

I'm going to need muffs that block loud noises, but allows one to hear normal speech. I've seen ads for these electronic things, but have never tried them (they're a little spendy). Can anyone recommend a specific brand or model and mention how well they work? Thanks in advance.