Gas Masks - SGE 400/3 (Update)

[Stereotypical Fear in a Capitalist Regime]

SO FINALLY after over a month the SGE 400/3 Gas mask I ordered FINALLY shipped. I put in the order on October 8th and today, the 21st of November it shipped. Can you believe that? When I called them mid-last month wondering what the status was the sales person told me (in a rather rude tone) that thousands of orders had been put in in a very short period of time and literally everything was back-ordered.

It's the perfect combination of the ease of modern capitalistic consumerism and that classic easy-spun public fear in the U.S. (of Ebola) that lead to this ridiculous situation. And of course shipping may be delayed because of winter storms. Maybe I'll get it just in time for Christmas and conduct a holiday review of it.

Ugh...

Original Post

Gas Masks - SGE 400/3

[New Paranoia]

Now that Ebola has skipped the pond to both North America and Europe I feel it is time to get a new and up-to-spec gas mask. With a new one I can retire my more or less novelty ex-Soviet and Czech masks as well. Just ordered an SGE 400/3 NBC gas mask to help ease my mind on the subject. I'll be looking for a decent-priced pack of 40mm filter cartridges as well to pair with it.

 Full review to come soon.
















*Update 10/27/2014*

Called the vendor to get an update on this mask and it seems that it's now back-ordered 2 months due to the Ebola scare. Sadly I'm not surprised.

Patience is Rewarded... with Gas Masks

More posts coming soon...

Photo taken by Jeff Provencher

Warsaw-Pact Gas Masks (a selection and review)

Continuation of an earlier post: Gas Masks

Gas Masks

They ARE important

There really isn't much in the way of opposing arguments on that point anymore with the current geopolitical climate being what it is as well as things like the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster in Japan still looming fresh in our minds and being an ever-present issue for countless Japanese citizens.

Only problem I see currently for people wanting a good quality gas mask is not wanting to spend so much money for one - plan on spending anywhere around $170-$400 for one that you can really trust.

In terms of real-use, life-saving gas masks I'd stick primarily with NATO gas masks and avoid most Warsaw Pact\Ex-Soviet bloc masks.  

I personally own two Soviet PBF EO-19's (one black, one white) and one Czech M10 gas mask that I usually only use during light work that will involve particles I'd rather not inhale, but other than that they're more or less not going to save me in a really bad situation that involves any kind of NBC event.

Some recommendations I would make:

Country of Origin	Gas Mask Models
Belgium	4GP
Britain	S10, SF10, FM12
Canada	C3 (40mm model), C4
Israel	M15
Russia\USSR	GP-7VM
United States of America	M17A2, M40, MCU-2/P, FM12

Another specific thing to look for (and to narrow your search for a good all-around mask) are masks that accept 40mm filters, which are still currently the most commonly accepted filters for modern NATO masks.  There are some 60mm can filters available as well for gas masks that accept them, but that are not as easy to find or purchase.

Most good modern masks are from the late 90's to present, anything earlier probably won't do you much good nowadays and quite frankly weren't very effective when they were first released either.

Tactical Note!

If you plan on using your gas mask while shooting a rifle, make sure to think ahead and get a gas mask that accepts filters on the cheek or use internal filters instead of having a filter right in front of you - it's hard to look down the sights of a gun if there's a big can coming  out of where your mouth would be.

Like everything else do your research on gas masks before purchasing, read reviews because there's tons out there - you just have to look!