filling it with alcohol/gasoline
You'll want to experiment, but a 50/50 mixture of gasoline and diesel fuel will give improved results. You can also dissolve Styrofoam packing peanuts and/or soap flakes in the gasoline to give it a stickier consistency.
That sounds awesome.
I would note that 30dB muffs over 30dB plugs does not provide anything even remotely close to 60dB reduction. It's more like 33dB, because both muffs and plugs block only noise propagated through the auditory canal. They do not block noise conducted to the cochlea by bone.
At noise levels above ~140dB, no amount of PPE is capable of reducing noise to "safe" levels.
Why should a soldier be required to injure themselves with their own weapons? Why should they risk hearing damage while training and fighting?
All small arms should be suppressed.
Yes, we can.
The three pieces of "common sense" gun control that we need are:
50-state reciprocity / National Concealed Carry licensure. It is obscene that a perfectly legal act performed by a person with no criminal record whatsoever, suddenly becomes an aggravated felony, simply by crossing a state line.
Public Access to NICS. A private seller should be able to ask a buyer for proof of a background check, and be able to verify that proof with NICS. Private sales are legal in most states, but private sellers have no access to conduct a background check. This leaves us with the absurd scenario where a private seller can sell to anyone. So long as the buyer doesn't indicate they are a felon, the seller can't be prosecuted, because there is no reasonable way for them to know. Provide that reasonable way, and such sellers can be prosecuted.
Remove silencers from the National Firearms Act. A prohibition on making guns quieter is a mandate for hearing damage.
Three common sense gun control measures we could and should implement immediately. Three common sense gun control measures that are broadly rejected by centrists claiming to be progressive.
The idiotic measures that Hillarycrats keep pushing - like Universal Background Checks, Assault Weapons Bans, Magazine Limits, Waiting Periods - are not "common sense". They are wildly unpopular attacks on mainstream gun owners.
Suppressors reduce the noise of a gunshot by an average of 20 – 35 dB, which is roughly the same as earplugs or earmuffs.
This screen shot is from your own link:
Note that the "average gunshot unsuppressed" is 165 to 170 dB. Note that hearing damage starts at just 85dB.
We are wearing our ear protection, so let's subtract 20-35dB, and we have 130 to 150dB. Definitely above the 85dB lower boundary for hearing damage. OSHA allows less than one second exposure per day at the lowest end of that range.
Is this my 1st purchase or 50th?
Oh, if you're trying to return it arbitrarily, it is definitely your first purchase. I've got years of data supporting that. Repeat customers just don't make arbitrary returns. If a repeat customer makes a return, it is because I screwed up, and I don't charge a restock fee on my mistakes. Quite the contrary, I usually offer a replacement without a return, and toss in some goodies as well.
Being anti-consumer
I'm not being anti-consumer. "You" are not a consumer. You're returning the product arbitrarily, not "consuming" it.
What you actually are is a "borrower". Which would be fine if I was a library, but I'm a small business with tight margins.
Catering to borrowers takes time away from serving my customers. I don't feel a pressing need to convert a borrower to a customer.
If they lose customers because of the fee, then aren't they in essence paying the price anyway?
If I buy something from you, and then return it for no reason whatsoever, am I actually a customer? Or am I just some asshole you never want to hear from again?
Four of the five examples you provided are warranty claims: The product is defective, or otherwise not-as-described.
The fifth one is the only one where I would probably insist on a return fee. My wrench would clearly have its dimensions listed, and you'd have all the information you needed to learn whether it would work for your particular application long before you hit the "buy" button. When it doesn't fit, I will be able to show you that you could and should have known that before purchasing. (I'd probably waive the restock fee if you were sufficiently self-deprecating and apologetic about wasting my time.)
If I look and realize I didn't include that information, that would be a warranty claim.
Ear plugs/muffs do the same thing
I reject the premise of your argument.
Ever use a set of bone conduction headphones? These sit on the temple, in front of the ear, and conduct sound waves directly through the bone of the skull. Wearing earplugs does not reduce the effectiveness of such headphones. Bone conveys sound waves exceedingly well. You can damage your hearing with bone conduction headphones, even while wearing earplugs.
The reality is that earplugs or earmuffs are not adequate for fully mitigating the harmful impulse noise of common firearms. Injury is lessened by ear protection, sure, but it is not eliminated. No amount of ear protection can prevent a sound pressure wave from being conducted to the cochlea by the skull bone. Earplugs and earmuffs limit sound passing through the auditory canal; not the skull itself.
Silencers reduce the harmful sound pressure wave before it can be conducted by bone. As such, they are much more effective at mitigating harm.
If we were talking about cars, motorcycles, or lawnmowers, would you be making the same argument?
Why should I be legally obligated to "disturb the peace" for a mile around when using my range?
Or am I supposed to get all my neighbors within a mile to wear ear plugs?
I read once that you can use a tampon instead of a rag, but I think that would likely blow out when you throw it. But, you could stuff a corner of the rag into the bottle, and then force a tampon in behind it to secure the rag/wick.
The US Army publishes a field manual on improvised munitions. I've been meaning to read it.