Field Expedient Gas Masks

It has happened before. It will happen again. Civilian populous will be attacked with chemical and/or biological weapons. Think not? Indians were killed in America with small pox a biological weapon. Civilian populous has been hit in America with tear gas. ther countries have used sarin and anthrax against their own peoples. !e are not immune to t"rann" and heignous crimes against humanit". The militar" trains for a scenereo where the" are hit with a gas attack# and have onl" seconds to dawn a mask before the" die. In realit"# that scenereo isn$t that common. %nless "ou are a targeted militar" unit# "ou stand a good chance of not having a chemical or biological attack dropped right on top of "ou. &ut the time ma" arise when "ou need to go through an area that is contaminated with a chemical or biological agent. 'as masks are expensive# bulk" to carr" around# and not needed that often# so odds are# when "ou need one "ou won$t have it strapped to "our butt. (ven soldiers don$t carr" one around with them in garrison all the time. In this case "ou can make a practical field expedient gas mask that will serve its purpose using eas" to find components. )ow I$m not advocating that a field expedient mask be used in lieu of a commercial or militar" grade gas mask but if the need ever arises# and "ou have nothing else it is better to tr" cobbling a gas mask from what "ou have around "ou than to simpl" give up and die. In realit" the onl" wa" to defend against A** agents is to use an air tank# which unless "ou work in a scuba shop "ou won$t have with "ou when "ou get hit at work. +or most chemical/biological agents however# the best method is a filtered mask. +irst lets examine the chemical/biological agent# and how the mask works, Chemical/biological agents come in two varieties li-uid and gas. The li-uid t"pes will sit on plants# vegetation# office desks# wherever as a li-uid. It won$t harm "ou at all until "our skin comes into ph"sical contact with it. The gas t"pes are actuall" particulates that float in the air around us. These need to be filtered out of the air we breathe in order to make it so we can continue on past the contaminated area. *i-uid t"pes are eas" to defeat. .ou simpl" make sure "ou don$t come into contact with it/ 0ubber boots# rain coats# and rubber gloves are great for keeping it off "our bod". A well made field expedient gas mask will also keep it off "our face. The arm" makes a 1mopp suit2 for such situations# but even when soldiers carr" a gas mask with them# the" normall" don$t have a mopp suit with them all the time. The reason for this is that the li-uid t"pe chemical weapons 3usuall" blister agents4 are not highl" effective# and b" chainging "our route can often be avoided easil". n the other hand 'as t"pe chemical weapons are more difficult to work "our wa" around# and the wind can even blow it into "our path when it wasn$t there before. 5nowing what gas "ou are dealing with can help. An earl" adopted 3Canadian Arm"4 field expedient mask that was used took advantage of the ph"sics of gasses. 6ome gasses are heavier than others. It used a snorkel 3a rubber hose4 that dangled to the ground. This allowed its wearers to move through the affected area without harm because the" were breathing the heavier clean air that was below the rising gas.

7ost modern gasses sta" where we are# and can$t be so easil" defeated. The" also ma" be colorless# odorless# and onl" detectable b" seeing people drop around "ou/ 8ow do "ou combat against that? *ike I said earlier# gasses are particulates. The" are tin" particles that float in the air. 6ome ma" be visible# some ma" be so small "ou can$t see them. In either case the same method is used to avoid them, 6eal and +ilter 6eal no matter what kind of gas mask "ou make it has to have a good seal against "our skin so that when "ou breath it does not let air in. Think about putting "our head in a plastic bag to suffocate "ourself. In cases where the chemical agent is onl" over a ver" short distance this ma" be the best thing to do 9ust cover up# hold "our breath# and run through it -uickl". :ust make sure that the affected area is small enough that "ou can hold "our breath until "ou are out of it. 38ow far can "ou run in ;<=>< seconds?4 +ilter :ust like a coffee filter# or an air filter for "our home furnace b" filtering the air# "ou can pull particulates out of it. Those particulates must be *A0'(0 than the holes in the filter# or the filter will be useless. In some cases a shop mask ma" be good enough. In most cases it will not. 8owever# several la"ers of cotton cloth 3think a tightl" rolled up T=shirt4 ma" be 9ust the trick. In other words the ver" clothes "ou have on ma" be enough to fend off most C8(7ICA* attacks. In some cases 9ust covering "our mouth and nose with several la"ers of "our T=shirt ma" be enough to get through the contaminated area unscathed.... &reathe minimall"# close "our e"es if possible and 0%)/ A method of modif"ing a ? liter coke bottle into a gas mask has been circulating the internet for some time now. This ma" be semi=effective for C6/Tear 'as but from what I$ve seen most of them don$t seal well# and can$t keep gas from seaping around the sides of the cloth. !hile it I6 possible to fabricate a functional gas mask out of a coke bottle I wouldn$t recommend it for an" gas that is life threatening. I ma" later add to this post a wa" to make this t"pe of mask more effective but at present know that the methods presented on the web to date 9ust let too much gas in. &iologicals 3and true gas chemicals4 on the other hand are a bit tricker. 8ere the arm" uses a special filter# that incorporates Activated Carbon. Activated Carbon is carbon with thousands of tin" pores# or holes in it# that A&6 0&6 various different elements. 6o if we could !0A@ our cotton cloth around the activated carbon we have basicall" created a militar" spec gas/biological filter 9ust like the ones used in expensive# militar" gas masks. k so lets examine the function and components of a field expedient mask. A4 It has to seal tight against "our skin ?4 It has to be able to filter out most chem/bio agents. *ets start with out plastic bag. It covers "our whole head if possible but at minimum the lower part of "our face. Buct Tape does a fair 9ob at sealing things in. It was designed to seal air vents. It isn$t perfect but I$d rather have 6 7( protection than ) protection/ 6o "ou$ve taped this plastic bag to "our face and now "ou can$t breathe/ That was dumb. Cut a small hole in the plastic bag so "ou can breathe.

Cuickl" make "our filter. &egin with the activated carbon. Activated carbon is actuall" a common substance used in fish tanks to filter out impurities. .ou can bu" at "our local pet store or !al=7art read" made filters that can fit in "our shirt pocket. !rap some duct tape around the edges of this. )ow + *B 3not wad4 a portion of cotton T 6hirit to fit as snugl" against that filter 3and inside the duct tape4 as possible. )ow use "our duct tape to tape this cobbled filter to the sealed mask "ou 9ust made. It should be difficult# but not impossible to breathe. .ou are now wearing a 7I)I7%7 field expedient gas mask. ptionall" "ou could indeed make the filter first# and tape it directl" to "our nose and mouth. )ow for the kicker.... 6 7( chem/bio weapons attack not onl" the breathing# but the e"es and skin/ +or better protection# "ou need to make sure "our whole face is covered. This means that "ou optimall" want a C*(A0 plastic bag or "ou need to fabricate something that seals around# sa"# a pair of protective e"e goggles. 7ake sure# though# that the protective e"ewear has no holes or air gaps or it won$t work. 6o lets take inventor", Clear @lastic &ag# Buct Tape# Cotton T=6hirt# wallet siDed activated carbon filter. That is all "ou need to have with "ou in order to fabricate a minimal but effective gas mask. All that can fit in the plastic bag# and can be carried in ver" little space in a bug=out bag. 0emember no gas mask is designed for extended use. The" are onl" to -uickl" get through a contaminated area. +inal note 0(7 EA* After leaving a contaminated area "ou will have to decontaminate. 7ake sure "ou are in a safe area free of contamination. If it was 9ust a gas attack simpl" remove "our expedient gas mask and toss it aside. .ou reall" don$t want to tr" to re=use a field expedient mask. If it was a li-uid attack things get more trick". *i-uids ma" turn to gasses if hit with water# so "ou have to leave "our mask on until "ou are done, &egin with a washdown. Almost an" agent in the world can be removed with the ; universal cleaning agents, Birt# 6oap# and !ater. 3If "ou don$t think dirt is a good cleaning agent tr" cleaning "our pots and pans with sand before "ou hit them with water. 6anding things off cleans them -uite well. Birt is also what filters "our water before "ou drink it from an underground well/4 !ash e-uipment off first. Top Bown. Then wash "our protective gear off 3mask# raincoat# 0ubber &oots etc4. Top Bown. 7ove 3A<< feet4 awa" from the area "ou 9ust washed off at# remove "our gear and toss it aside. .ou won$t be touching it again. +inall"# move another A<< feet awa" from that e-uipment and remove "our mask again tossing it aside.

.es this leaves -uite a mess for an" enem" troops to find... it also leaves a chemical/biological haDard for them to wander through# which will slow them down as the" are dawing their protective gear 3a great sniper opportunit"4.