I’m a retired army vet. On the firings we always used hearing protection. I have never had time to put on hearing protection when facing hostile activity. To hesitate that long might just get you killed. Arm yourself first, make the weapon ready to fire, assess the situation, put yourself where you need to be and then put on hearing protection. Protect life first.
I use this type of hearing protection now while on the range but no other place.
Agreed. Seconds count...but I can only base what I post here on my own experiences and my own environs. In my setup, there would be time, 99% of the time, to don hearing protection.