They do work to quet a kit down for personal drum practice - may be a bit too quiet for a quiet band rehearsal though. I checked the price of dampers when LBG got her Mapex kit recently and a set for a 5-pc kit was only R500.
Have you tried blasticks/bundlesticks (the sticks made of thin rods bundled together - kind of like a wooden brush)? They bring down the level quite a bit, you'll see they often use them for "unplugged" gigs or TV performances where the band is miming. You have to stuff the kick drum with extra pillows, but the sticks bring down the level of everything else.
The drum riser - only if you have a wooden floor and want to stop the vibration from getting to the floor, transmitting to the connecting walls and through to neighbours. On a concrete floor it won't make an appreciable difference.
Otherwise, what I did for band practice was make rubber O rings from rubber sheeting. Brought the level of the drums down quite a bit and left me able to play on the skins themselves, which is a more natural feel. You'd still need commercial cymbal dampers though.
And yes the drummer has a hearing problem like all drummers!!!!
Goes with the territory of playing with guitarists that play at ear splitting volumes.
