Thing about the events is they sit high, so their is a clear gap to your lug hole. Grillz have much much better ear coverage, and i'd be very surprised if paint actually got anywhere near your ear. So I wouldn't worry.So if I got hit in the ear it would be unlikely to burst my eardrum? Paranoid about this since my friend had e-vents, got shot in the soft ears and now he's deaf in one ear!