I was informed that my workplace is pretty close to some nasty chemicals in storage. Also the ebola spread is a little unsettling. What is the best gas mask available for a good price. And where to buy

What kind of chemicals? It makes a difference as to what cartridges you would use.

For a half face I use this:

3M 6000

With these multi gas cartridges:

Cartridges

Just like with rifles- if you stick with something the military uses, you'll probably never have a problem finding filters, hoods, spare parts, accessories for it.

If you go with something commercial, you may or may not be able to find parts, filters, etc. long in the future.

Think US or a NATO country or Israel, think 40mm "NATO" threaded cannister.

Ideally you want something with a drinking tube, voicemitter and defogging valves. Most military masks will have those features, some of the newer civilian masks like the Israeli 4A's will have them.

M17 gas masks hoods can be modified to fit a wide variety of masks and are relatively cheap- box of TEN for $19. or less. You'll need more than one cause if you have to modify the hood to fit your particular mask, you'll cut up one of the other hoods to make the modifications.

IDEALLY, the mask you buy will have it's own hood. Another option is to get a protective suit with a built in pullover hood. Something like the British MKIV suits. Avoid the older MKIII suits with the "anorak" style top. Like a sweater, it has to be pulled over the head to remove. Think about it....... It's going to be contaminated, you really want to have to pull the damn thing over your head to remove it?? The MKIII was a dumb design.... However it's a cheap suit as the British gubmint literally dumped them.   The MKIV is the more current version with a zip up jacket top- easier to do MOPP exchange with.

Obviously your aware that with Ebola a lot of folks are buying these items right now so availability can be hit or miss right now.

In 40mm filters, your looking for M96 or C2A1 for your go to filters- again IDEALLY. The M96's aren't cheap, but again remember what the hell you are buying these for!! LOL

Backwards.  It's almost impossible to find parts for military specific products.  Maintainable commercial respirators, call up the company and order.

"Long into the future" you should have a new mask.  Depending on the material, masks should be retired somewhere between 10 and 20 years after manufacture.

Drinking tubes are a frequent failure point in masks and strongly recommended that you avoid.

I would strongly advise looking for proper filters for whatever threat you are facing, or a CBRN rated combination cartridge for general preparedness.  Military filters sometimes offer limited to no protection against some common threats.

In your case I would save up the money and get an M50 Joint Service General Purpose Mask or its civial counterpart. The difference between these latest respirators and the previous ones that used the 40mm nato canisters is worth it if you can afford it. They last longer and have better air flow and better visibility. Doesnt seem like much given that the older ones do work, but when you put one on for a few hours you'll see the difference.If you cant afford it then an m40, m17 or Birt S10 will work with the right canisters. The S10 is a damn fine mask for the money. If you buy one that isnt too old or beaten it will seal nicely and it accepts nato 40mm. You can snatch one on ebay with full kit, inlcuding a spare sealed canister.
FerFAL

you need to determine what chems, as filters do not work on everything equally as well



 

We are obviously preparing to two very different things and have extremely different horizons for preparing.

I can remember more than a few people buying commercial masks that are now discontinued and buddies had helluva time finding parts for. Yet even the cheap $4. Israeli surplus gas mask from the 70's can be found parts for.

No need for a drinking tube huh? Really? So your planning on actually being in the mask for what 10-15 seconds?

Ever worn MOPP4 for a day or so? I have. You'll DIE without a drinking tube and a way to take in water, it might not be of GB, but you'll die.

Even the "plastic and duct tape" crowd realizes the need to take water in through the masks. Witness the newer Israeli civilian masks- the 4A's they have defogging valves and drink tubes. Cause even if you believe the "plastic and duct tape will save you" crowd, your going to have to be in your little bubble there for a good long while.

I submit that your thinking about this from the context of a dude in a lab that needs a respirator for a minute or so every so often. I'm thinking about this from the standpoint of survival and possibly having to be in the mask AND chem suit for at least a few hours moving UPWIND of the release point in order to escape the grasp of (insert nasty) GB, VX, etc.

Can you expand upon these two statements? I assist in administering a Respiratory Protection Program. We routinely vet new potential purchases. I've never heard of either of these issues.

What kind of failures are encountered with drinking straws? One very large LE agency near us uses MSAs with drinking straws, as well as our state police.

What agents/threats do military grade filters not protect against?

Remember as you exfiltrate that You are the warm zone.. one thing i have been thinking of a lot lately is how to decontaminate .. fuck that up and you might as well not have bothered.  Something like a shower on a stick connected to the outside hose plus a garden sprayer load of chemical antibacterial.  

Good Greif,

Just tell everyone they're in anything less than a $2k positive pressure system anyway, not including decontamination and a suitable and equally positive pressured shelter.

First, the mechanism in them generally can't be inspected or tested for seal, and the seals do sometimes fail.

Second, if you're in a contaminated environment, attempting to use a drinking system will result in a mouthful of contaminant washed down with your beverage.  

Military filter cartridges are designed to protect against chemical warfare agents.  While there is certainly overlap, there are entire classes of industrial chemicals that are generally not protected against by the military filters, most prominently the ammonia/methylamine class.   Some military filters have protection tailored to warfare agents and may not be as effective against other kinds of chemicals even within the same classes.

The newish "CBRN" rating for filters is specifically intended for emergency escape or first responder use against the widest variety of hazards which is really the best choice for general preparedness.  It's exponentially more likely that one would face a common industrial chemical hazard instead of a true chemical warfare agent.

Aside from all of this, my understanding is that the P100 filters protect against the same classes of things as CBRN filters, they just can not do it for as long.  Essentially, the P100 filters are meant for industrial/commercial applications for which they must remain under a certain weight to meet certifications for ergonomic reasons.  The CBRN filters must function in the contaminated environment for a longer period of time to meet their certification, thus needing more "filter" (using the term loosely) media and resulting in a heavier filter.   I seem to remember this intel from a previous gas mask thread that was provided by a knowledgable person.  Can anyone confirm that?  40mm CBRN filters such as the 3m products are roughly 50/each.  Wondering if it would be plausible to get your hands on a 3m industrial full face mask like the 6000 series, and then obtain a large quantity of the p100 filters at the cheaper price of roughly 10/each.  Thoughts?

Incorrect understanding of filter specifications.

P100 is a rating for particulate filtration.  There is no chemical protection at all from a P100 filter.  In the general respiratory protection field the term "filter" only refers to protection against particulates.

Chemical protection is referred to as "cartridges", and are specified by what kinds of chemicals are protected against.  For example, Organic Vapor.  There are many choices with multiple categories included.

For general preparedness you would want a "combination cartridge" which has wide-spectrum chemical protection plus the P100 particulate filter.  As an example, MSA's wide spectrum combination cartridge is a "GME-P100"... GME being MSA's designation for their multigas cartridge, plus the P100 particulate filter.

I am trying to source more PAPR's for my work, good luck finding anything. If anyone has a Neoterik cartridge that is not expired I need some. I know the NIOSH got yanked but we have 50 brand new Neoterik hoods and blowers but exired cannisters. I want some non expired ones for training/SHTF. I am also looking for a good full face I like the positive pressure though.

For personal use getting a full face and a combo cartridge would  be what I do.

You do know that Ebama ... I mean Ebola spreads through mucosal surfaces like your eyes too
so a mask that doesn't protect your eyes isn't as effective
and there are chemicals that will affect your eyes