Finding the Best Ear Muffs: Our Tests

As a native born Coloradan, I know cold—and trust me, when your ears get cold while skiing, hunting or just plain walking outside, it goes downhill from there. Cold ears = cold everything. 

So when our staff tested ear muffs, we were excited to see which ones could stand up to a Colorado winter. 

Good news: there are several styles of ear muffs available today:

  1. Traditional banded. These are the ones you think of when you hear the words ear muffs—a band on the top of the head connects the two muffs.
  2. Behind-the-ear. Also called behind-the-head ear muffs, this style has a band that goes behind the ears, instead of on top of the head.
  3. Bandless. As the name implies, these ear muffs fit directly over the ears . . . no bands!

After trying several different styles, here are the winners.

About the Authors

Denise & Alan Fields are consumer advocates and best-selling authors. The Fields have authored 12 books with three million copies in print, including the best-selling guide to baby gear, Baby Bargains.

The Fields have been featured and quoted in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times.

As consumer products experts, the Fields have been guests on the NBC Today Show, Good Morning America and ABC’s 20/20.

How We Pick Products To Recommend

We often turn to our readers (3 million strong!) to find products to recommend. We ask our parent readers for their favorites and consider their real-world experiences in our recommendations.

When we test a product, we always purchase it with our own monies. We do not take free samples, as we believe that compromises our independence.

We also fact check manufacturer information with our own measurements. If a maker claims a product weighs X pounds, we will weigh it to make sure. If the battery life is supposed to be six hours, we will see how it stands up in the real world.

In some cases, we will do interviews with experts in the field to get additional feedback on products.

To get hands-on time with products, we regularly meet one-on-one with gear companies and even tour manufacturing facilities. (When we do this, we pay our own travel expenses).

Why Trust Us

We’ve been rating and reviewing products for the home and families since 1994. We do extensive research, evaluating products with an eye toward quality, ease of use and affordability.

We make our living from affiliate commissions, but we always recommend what we think are the best bets for our readers (not the ones that are the most expensive). We are always looking for products that offer the best bang for the buck.

Our independence is a key reason why we have been doing this so long. As we mentioned above, when we purchase a product for hands-on testing, we do so with our own money.

Here’s another key point: we don’t take money from the brands we review. No free samples, no sponsors, no “partnerships.” Our work is 100% reader-supported!