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gas masks

redcedarsredcedars Member Posts: 919 ✭✭✭✭
edited February 2002 in General Discussion
Folks, I just took a little trip over to eBay. My buddy Nile wasn't kidding. Gas masks that sold for $20 3 weeks ago are going for over $100 now, and extra filters are at a premium too.By the way, make sure you are getting "real" filters, not "practice" filters. Nile tells me that the Army "practice" filters stop tear gas, but are ineffective against bios and nerve gas.redcedars

Comments

  • redcedarsredcedars Member Posts: 919 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    How many have them and how long will they last with nasty stuff. Years ago we had them and our vendor said if the nasty stuff hit you couldn't have enough filters or change them right. Makes a person wonder and please sound off. I know we had them in the service for gas and that was about all
  • NEEDCOLDNEEDCOLD Member Posts: 134 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I don't know why people are getting these things. With what I know about chemical agents, I'd rather die quickly than get a little breath of what is out there. The blister agents that affect the skin are brutal, too, and there is not a suit out there that is used that will effectively repel them.The filters, on the other hand, are all the real thing. It is just when the military goes somewhere, they get issued new filters as a precaution.How do you know if you were gassed? When you feel it, right? So then it's too late.And is everyone going to carry their masks 27/7? I don't think so. So they're wasting their money on something that will never help them.
  • badboybobbadboybob Member Posts: 1,658 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I agree Needcold.
  • bfairbfair Member Posts: 250 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    They need to save their money on gas masks.I bet the people selling them don't mention"Canister Cracker's" Just a little addition to the chemical agent to break down the canister. If have they the training a lots of spare canister's this can be overcome.One gas mask is not much help.
    Semper Paratus
  • PelicanPelican Member Posts: 1,061 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I think needcold has the right idea, take a big deep breath and get it over with. Had a friend many years ago during the cold war era always said rather than try to live thru the radiation he would rather be at ground zero.
  • bfairbfair Member Posts: 250 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Would somebody please pass the atropine.
    Semper Paratus
  • will270winwill270win Member Posts: 4,845
    edited November -1
    Yep, just suck it in and get it over with! That chemical warfare stuff will eventually get you if you are exposed to the environment. Heck you breathe in a certain nerve agent you die from a broken back in most cases from the violent reaction of the chemical. Bad stuff, please just shoot me if I have a choice.
  • competentonecompetentone Member Posts: 4,696 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    WAKE UP GUYS!A terrorist gas attack is not likely to involve nerve agents.The terrorist will use chlorine (just like they tried during the '97 WTC bombing). They can generate tons of gas with a few tracker-trailer loads of the proper chemical components--in the middle of a major city on a calm day, thousands could be killed and TENS OF THOUSANDS left with permanent lung damage. If you still won't take the precaution of carrying a gas mask (I've been carrying one for years--more with truck/train accidents in mind than terrorist attack) then remember this:If you find yourself in a cloud of chlorine gas, urinate (yes, you read that right) on a handkerchief or piece of clothing, then breath through the urine soaked fabric. There is ammonia in human urine, it will react with and nuetralize the chlorine and help to protect your lungs. Do this while you seek higher ground as chlorine is heavy and will settle "downhill". Unpleasant? Yes. But a smart-thinking Canadian saved the lives and lungs of a group of WW1 soldiers with this technique when the Germans first started their chlorine gas attacks and nobody had gas masks.
  • 30-0630-06 Member Posts: 6 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I cooked the soup beans today and let me tell you, one of those GAS MASK sounds realgood wright about now!(please remind me neverto let the wife eat soup beans again!!!)
    Got Mauser? Gotta love those numbers 91,93,94ect
  • redcedarsredcedars Member Posts: 919 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Comp is right on the mark boys. Just this evening I was discussing the potential problems with my nephew, a Tacoma police officer and former marine, and we both agreed that a possible next scenario would involve tanker trucks and chlorine gas. Nerve gas, anthrax, etc. just pose too many technical and logistical problems. In relative terms, chlorine is easy.I didn't know about the ammonia neutralizing effect though. Good to know.Actually, I started this thread as a comment on public reaction to recent events, nothing more. My interest was tweaked by a different thread, and when I talked to my buddy Nile, a mil-surp dealer, I discovered the run on gas masks and filters.redcedars
  • .250Savage.250Savage Member Posts: 812 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Heck, I've had a US Navy mask for a few years now, but I'm a survivalist. Never thought it would actually do me any good w/o a full NBC suit. Maybe I should be carryin' the friggin' thing, 'specially since I made sure to get two or three spare can-sealed filters at the same time. Bfair, please elaborate on "canister crackers".
    I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.--Voltare
  • bfairbfair Member Posts: 250 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Canister Cracker's...In modern Chemical Warfare, you have to assume that the agents will be delivered in combinations rather than a single agent.A canister cracker is added to the main agent. Simply put breaks down the gas mask canister contents (usually charcoal) making it ineffective. This would be more common with a nerve agent.Taban, Sarin or other VX agent. A vomiting agent also may be added, to any primary agent. Vomiting in your gas mask is not a pleasent experience, therefore ones instinct is to remove the gas mask. There is so much the civilian population does not understand about chemical warfare. They think if you have a gas mask you are protected. But what about, impregnated and impermable clothing, decontamation, and all the other things need to survive? I'm sure anyone in country during the Gulf Warfully understands Chemical Warfare.Those 600+ listings for Gas Masks on eBay with bids of $80 to $100+ indicate a lot of uninformed citizens are scared and some are getting rich.Here is a link that gives quite a bit of chem warfare info. http://www.opcw.nl/chemhaz/cwagents.htm I didn't just pull this info out my butt. I spent 3 years instructingUSN/USCG NBC
    Semper Paratus
  • RedlegRedleg Member Posts: 417 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    All, I just wanted to chime in here...1) Gas masks and the military chemical suits will only increase the combat life of a soldier for 4 more hours in an NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) environment, after which he/she must complete a MOPP (Mission Oriented Protection Posture) suit exchange. For the average citizen, buying just a gas mask would prolong the inevitable. The only use I've found for the MOPP suit is for deer hunting. The activated carbon on the inside of the suit sucks up odors. You can buy them at any surplus store, and outdoor companies are starting to get the idea (ScentBlock, etc.)2)You don't need all that expensive Sarin and VX to have an effective nerve agent. Normal household bleach and Dran-o mixed together will emit fumes that are exactly the same as mustard gas. (Don't try this at home)Another thing, in a different thread somebody asked what would be the next likely attack location (nuclear power, etc.). It's not going to be that obvious. These kooks live to be unpredictable. The next attack will be an assassination, a bomb driving over the Brooklyn Bridge, etc. That's the hard part of fighting these freaks.Redleg
    Crush your enemies, drive their horses before you, hear the lamentation of their women.--Genghis Khan
  • concealedG36concealedG36 Member Posts: 3,566 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Yeah Redleg, I think you're right. I deleted my post after royc pointed out the fact that we don't need to be supplying and ideas. I didn't think about that. In any case, I hope that we find those who are in our country before they get the chance to do us any more harm. If not, the next one could be even worse..
  • bfairbfair Member Posts: 250 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I ask 3 ebay sellers what gas does their gas mask protect you from. The standard answer is: " NBC(nuclear, biological & chemical). Specifications not known"Yea sure.
    Semper Paratus
  • ironsitesironsites Member Posts: 97 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I guess if I see a croud of people standing around peeing on their clothes, I'll know whats going on. Good info. from all of yall. Lets just hope it doesn't come to that.
  • BullzeyeBullzeye Member Posts: 3,560
    edited November -1
    I think it would also be prudent in the event of some sort of a major disease epidemic.I bought a Russian surplus mask for $25 at an Army/Navy store a year or so ago. It's skintight rubber, so no need for straps. I also have a high-quality poncho with a pullstring hood, a high-quality pair of poncho pants with a pullstring and belt-loops, a pair of dishwashing gloves and a pair of tall rubber barn boots.In an incident, I would tape up the ankles and wrists with duct-tape, and cinch the hood and pants drawstrings.Not very good, but it's better than nothing.Lets assume everyone is dropping like flies around you from Ebola or pneumonia-variety bubonic plague or something like that.This outfit will give you the time you need to get to the gun shop/supermarket/bank before you skip town and head for your escape area in the woods.You DO have an escape area, dont you?
  • robsgunsrobsguns Member Posts: 4,581 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    About the urination thing, I dont think you'd have much luck peeing on a handkerchief, as most people would probably already have done it in their pants, he he he!!
    SSgt Ryan E. Roberts, USMC
  • competentonecompetentone Member Posts: 4,696 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Who dragged this out of the archives?Bullz, was it you? Should I be sleeping with my gas mask tonight? (Not my first choice for a bedmate, but I'm hating Valentines Day this year.)
  • offerorofferor Member Posts: 8,625 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    robs --So, I just whip off my shorts and wrap them over my nose and mouth? What a strategy! I agree with those who are not impressed with the current run on gas masks. Most need filters changed every few hours. I've been told the smartest thing to do is stay in your house and tape the windows & door frames, close off vents to the outside, etc. I do have some of those cheap dust masks and goggles in case the air is full of crud in the aftermath of some kind of event, but I'm going to forego the artificially expensive surplus gas masks & filters. Have you seen the Israeli model? Makes you look like "The Fly." Not only that, I'm fairly certain that unless you get a "hermetic" seal around the edge of the mask when you put it on, all these will let tainted atmosphere in anyway. Most people probably wouldn't even get them on right if the time came.
    "The 2nd Amendment is about defense, not hunting. Long live the gun shows, and reasonable access to FFLs. Join the NRA -- I'm a Life Member."
  • robsgunsrobsguns Member Posts: 4,581 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    offeror, Thanks, LMAO, I'm picturing you standing there with your underwear over your head all safe and sound, with your weenie wondering why you arent offering any protection to him? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!
    SSgt Ryan E. Roberts, USMC
  • gruntledgruntled Member Posts: 8,218 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    There have been cases of people being overcome by mixing common household cleaning agents but this is clorine gas not mustard gas. I have read of the use of urine to combat clorine gas so many times for so many years that I am inclined to believe it.
  • wundudneewundudnee Member Posts: 6,104 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Did somebody say gas?
    "If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?" Will Rogers
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  • RUGERNUT3RUGERNUT3 Member Posts: 247 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Waste of time, effort and money to buy a gas mask...better put towards the purchase of another gun....
    "ANY" EXCUSE IS A GOOD REASON TO BUY "JUST 1 MORE".& VICIE-VERSIE!
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