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. Other countries have used sarin and anthrax against their own peoples. We are not immune to tyranny and heignous crimes against humanity.

The military trains for a scenereo where they are hit with a gas attack, and have only seconds to dawn a mask before they die. In reality, that scenereo isn't that common. Unless you are a targeted military unit, you stand a good chance of not having a chemical or biological attack dropped right on top of you.

But the time may arise when you need to go through an area that is contaminated with a chemical or biological agent. Gas masks are expensive, bulky to carry around, and not needed that often, so odds are, when you need one – you won't have it strapped to your butt. Even soldiers don't carry one around with them in garrison all the time. In this case – you can make a practical field expedient gas mask that will serve its purpose using easy to find components.

Now I'm not advocating that a field expedient mask be used in lieu of a commercial or military grade gas mask – but if the need ever arises, and you have nothing else – it is better to try cobbling a gas mask from what you have around you than to simply give up and die.

In reality – the only way to defend against ALL agents is to use an air tank, which unless you work in a scuba shop – you won't have with you when you get hit at work. For most chemical/biological agents however, the best method is a filtered mask.

First – lets examine the chemical/biological agent, and how the mask works:Chemical/biological agents come in two varieties – liquid and gas. The liquid types will sit on plants, vegetation, office desks, wherever – as a liquid. It won't harm you at all until your skin comes into physical contact with it. The gas types are actually 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.

Liquid types are easy to defeat. You simply make sure you don't come into contact with it! Rubber boots, rain coats, and rubber gloves are great for keeping it off your body. A well made field expedient gas mask will also keep it off your face. The army makes a “mopp suit” for such situations, but even when soldiers carry a gas mask with them, they normally don't have a mopp suit with them all the time. The reason for this is that the liquid type chemical weapons (usually blister agents) are not highly effective, and by chainging your route can often be avoided easily.

On the other hand – Gas type chemical weapons are more difficult to work your way around, and the wind can even blow it into your path when it wasn't there before.

Knowing what gas you are dealing with can help. An early adopted (Canadian Army) field expedient mask that was used took advantage of the physics of gasses. Some gasses are heavier than others. It used a snorkel (a rubber hose) that dangled to the ground. This allowed its wearers to move through the affected area without harm because they were breathing the heavier clean air that was below the rising gas.

Most modern gasses stay where we are, and can't be so easily defeated. They also may be colorless, odorless, and only detectable by seeing people drop around you! How do you combat against that?

Like I said earlier, gasses are particulates. They are tiny particles that float in the air. Some may be visible, some may be so small you can't see them. In either case – the same method is used to avoid them:

Seal and Filter

Seal – no matter what kind of gas mask you make – it has to have a good seal against your skin so that when you breath – it does not let air in. Think about putting your head in a plastic bag to suffocate yourself. In cases where the chemical agent is only over a very short distance – this may be the best thing to do – just cover up, hold your breath, and run through it quickly. Just make sure that the affected area is small enough that you can hold your breath until you are out of it. (How far can you run in 30-60 seconds?)

Filter – Just like a coffee filter, or an air filter for your home furnace – by filtering the air, you can pull particulates out of it. Those particulates must be LARGER than the holes in the filter, or the filter will be useless. In some cases – a shop mask may be good enough. In most cases – it will not.

However, several layers of cotton cloth (think a tightly rolled up T-shirt) may be just the trick. In other words – the very clothes you have on may be enough to fend off most CHEMICAL attacks. In some cases – just covering your mouth and nose with several layers of your T-shirt may be enough to get through the contaminated area unscathed.... Breathe minimally, close your eyes if possible and RUN!

A method of modifying a 2 liter coke bottle into a gas mask has been circulating the internet for some time now. This may be semi-effective for CS/Tear Gas – 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. While it IS possible to fabricate a functional gas mask out of a coke bottle – I wouldn't recommend it for any gas that is life threatening. I may later add to this post a way to make this type of mask more effective – but at present know that the methods presented on the web to date just let too much gas in.

Biologicals (and true gas chemicals) on the other hand are a bit tricker. Here the army uses a special filter, that incorporates Activated Carbon. Activated Carbon is carbon with thousands of tiny pores, or holes in it, that ABSORBS various different elements. So if we could WRAP our cotton cloth around the activated carbon – we have basically created a military spec gas/biological filter – just like the ones used in expensive, military gas masks.

Ok – so lets examine the function and components of a field expedient mask.1) It has to seal tight against your skin2) It has to be able to filter out most chem/bio agents.

Lets start with out plastic bag. It covers your whole head if possible – but at minimum the lower part of your face. Duct Tape does a fair job at sealing things in. It was designed to seal air vents. It isn't perfect – but I'd rather have SOME protection than NO protection!

So you've taped this plastic bag to your face and now you can't breathe! That was dumb.Cut a small hole in the plastic bag so you can breathe.

Quickly make your filter. Begin with the activated carbon. Activated carbon is actually a common substance used in fish tanks to filter out impurities. You can buy at your local pet store or Wal-Mart ready made filters that can fit in your shirt pocket. Wrap some duct tape around the edges of this. Now FOLD (not wad) a portion of cotton T Shirit to fit as snugly against that filter (and inside the duct tape) as possible. Now use your duct tape to tape this cobbled filter to the sealed mask you just made. It should be difficult, but not impossible to breathe. You are now wearing a MINIMUM field expedient gas mask.

Optionally – you could indeed make the filter first, and tape it directly to your nose and mouth.

Now for the kicker.... SOME chem/bio weapons attack not only the breathing, but the eyes and skin!

For better protection, you need to make sure your whole face is covered. This means that you optimally want a CLEAR plastic bag – or you need to fabricate something that seals around, say, a pair of protective eye goggles. Make sure, though, that the protective eyewear has no holes or air gaps – or it won't work.

So lets take inventory: Clear Plastic Bag, Duct Tape, Cotton T-Shirt, wallet sized activated carbon filter.That is all you need to have with you in order to fabricate a minimal but effective gas mask. All that can fit in the plastic bag, and can be carried in very little space in a bug-out bag.

Remember – no gas mask is designed for extended use. They are only to quickly get through a contaminated area.

Final note – REMOVAL

After leaving a contaminated area – you will have to decontaminate.

Make sure you are in a safe area – free of contamination. If it was just a gas attack – simply remove your expedient gas mask and toss it aside. You really don't want to try to re-use a field expedient mask.

If it was a liquid attack – things get more tricky. Liquids may turn to gasses if hit with water, so you have to leave your mask on until you are done:

Begin with a washdown. Almost any agent in the world can be removed with the 3 universal cleaning agents: Dirt, Soap, and Water. (If you don't think dirt is a good cleaning agent – try cleaning your pots and pans with sand before you hit them with water. Sanding things off cleans them quite well. Dirt is also what filters your water before you drink it from an underground well!)

Wash equipment off first. Top Down.

Then wash your protective gear off (mask, raincoat, Rubber Boots etc). Top Down.

Move (100 feet) away from the area you just washed off at, remove your gear and toss it aside. You won't be touching it again.

Finally, move another 100 feet away from that equipment and remove your mask – again tossing it aside.

Yes this leaves quite a mess for any enemy troops to find... it also leaves a chemical/biological hazard for them to wander through, which will slow them down as they are dawing their protective gear (a great sniper opportunity).