Anyone know how or who to get new M95 gas masks and NBC filters,  without having a pole slipped through the buyers buttcheeks ????

Save your money

Forget ASOD. They've raised prices since 9/11 and are only selling to students now.

Tend to agree, as you're not going to be able to maintain any kind of NBC readiness and at present the risks are low.  How do you keep your mask with you? New Filter every 48 hours or do you pop the filter seals at event?

Right now I wouldnt pay the inflated prices I've seen.  Then again I've got my bases covered, but I dont tote my mask around based on terrorist threats. After the Gulf War, masks got real cheap.

I'm not so worried about nerve agents. More realistic threat would entail some sort of Bhopal type event utilizing industrial toxins used for manufacturing. A mask might have a great deal of utility at that time.

Buying a mask is slightly more rational than buying a gun in response to the WTC destruction. But, how much stuff do you have in your basement right now based on "what if"? Buy the mask if you feel it's warranted, develop an emergency plan that will allow you to utilize if needed and pray it doesnt.

Where to get one right now? I'd try my local Safety Supply store, anyone dealing with mining, chem supply, fire and police supply etc. They might have them and they might not have raised prices. M-95's a little more specialized, so Safety Supply houses may not stock them. I'd think they'd be cheapest there.

M-95 is imported by Micronel Safety. I beleive they are in MD or NJ, maybe DL. Doubt they sell direct but might be worth exploring. As this mask is restricted, doubt you could source it out of Europe and get it past customs.

Luck
Alac

But, only get it if they'll give you a quantitative fit test for it right there.  Also, remember that you have to be clean shaven for any type of mask to work.

IF you're not properly fitted for the respirator you have, its not useful to you.

I recently talked to someone very helpful and courteous from ASOD. They have recieved 1000's of orders, and are expecting more masks very soon. The gentleman stated that it would take him approx. 10-14 days just to process and authourize the credit card payments, so if you were to send ASOD a Money order or Cashiers check, you would immedietaly get bumped up to the front of the line, to get your order filled. He mentioned NO INFO pertaining to filling orders of ONLY PAST SCHOOL patrons. I am also assuming (and I think a few of you who critised ASOD should consider this) that any increase in price would be from the manufacturer and/or the fact that ASOD is going to have to hire more people, buy more equipment, etc., to fill the huge amount of orders from customers, in a timely fashion.
For those of you who do not or have not owned or operated a business, these factors
can EASILY and QUICKLY increase overhead, so ASOD had to increase the price of their products to compensate for this. Can ASOD control price increases from their manufacturers also...... I think not. So, I would not even consider the possibility that ASOD is raising their prices slightly to price gouge customers ( past and new )

Save your money. Who's goning to tell when an attack occurs.

That was your experience. I can't get an answer to my emails.



I'm not surprised he didn't mention it. Did you ask him about the notice prominently displayed at the top of the gasmask page of his website?

[url]http://www.asod.org/id9.htm[/url]



That's right: You're assuming. If you didn't ask, you don't know, so please don't preach. If his overhead costs went up so much from hiring new staff and getting more equipment, why is it taking 10-14 days to process a credit card transaction, which is ordinarily pretty instantaneous?

Relax, Jarhead 22,  it normally takes a minute or two to fully complete a credit card transaction, and then match the authorization to the right order.  Can you imagine doing this to over 20,000 credit card orders ?  I am not preaching about business, since I own one myself, and would not want to be in ASODs shoes right now, with the amazing influx of orders and how to deal with them promptly.  

I'm totally relaxed, AC_Doctor. What gave you the idea that I was anything but? Your post sounded a little strained, if anyone's did...all that emphatic CAPS LOCK business.

While I don't own my own business, I've made purchases with credit cards online, on the phone and in person. Unless their system is down, it's never taken more than a minute to scan the card, get authorization and bill the card. You're right, thousands of those one minute transactions can sure add up, but that's the cost of doing business.

Did you take a look at the link I posted? Oh, and I copied my response to you over on assaultweb as well, in case you were wondering. The long thread they contributed to over there, then suddenly disappeared from when people started asking about availability and price has been deleted, for some reason. Curiouser and curiouser.

I have actually communicated with a person at ASOD,  and was just trying to dispell rumors floating around on some message boards.
The real reason behind having people take the course of theirs, before buying a mask, is a liability issue,  and can be easily explained in this current link to World Net Daily article:

[url]www.taipeitimes.com/news/2001/10/04/story/0000105672[/url]

Well, that's certainly possible, but if someone will sell me a gun without making me take their course, if I can buy a rapelling harness without taking REI's climbing course, if I can buy a motorcycle helmet without paying Shoei a bunch of money for a course that the Marine Corps has already put me through five times, I don't see how that notice, which you didn't know about ten minutes ago when you first posted your response to me, but now have apparently gotten some intel on, can be anything but an attempt to profit by forcing people to pay for the course before they're allowed to buy the mask.

What rumors are you trying to dispel? Have you refuted anything I've said?

As I said, it's nothing personal here, but it just doesn't add up to me.

I have a couple Fire Department issued North brand air packs in my shed. They just need to be hydro'd.

Business question for the critics:

SitRep:  There is an extraordinary demand for a product of limited supply.

Question:  Do you service you existing, loyal customer base or sell [i]"first come, first serve"[/i], know that many of those will be fair weather buyers that may even try to return the product when things settle down?

Are those the only two choices?

What about giving prior customers a priority, but not excluding anyone? "Fair weather buyers?" What business can afford to turn away one-time purchasers? What about informing customers that there will be no refunds given, only exchanges for sizing issues?

I think you've narrowed your options a bit too much.

Good point Jarhead.



Trust me, I'm not defending ASOD, just pointing out the problem.

Chevrolet comes to mind with the new Corvette in 1984.  They wanted new buyers and basically screwed existing customers, knowing they would wait.