Please search the past threads on this issue. When using the search feature of the site make sure you set the filter to be all threads - by default it will only show the posts from the current week. To recap some salient points:

1) Terrorists don't announce their attacks. If a terrorist were to send a bio weapon (say anthrax) to a victim the first notification that anyone would have is the actual delivery of the weapon. Anyone within immediate reach would be dosed without warning - no time to put on any protective gear. As happened in Daschles case.

2) With months of training the army was able to get full protective suits on in under 9 seconds and that was considered the survivability limit. Without a full protective suit all of the nerve agents will quickly infiltrate any exposed skin making the mask and hood a delaying tactic at best. The army had the benefit that all of the delivery systems they were vulnerable to were on the tip of a missile and could be detected on the way in providing decent forewarning. The gov. of Isreal supplies masks to it's citizens for protection against missiles that would allow for warning and reaction time. The gov. of Isreal doesn't provide any specific defensive gear for it's citizens against suicide bombers or any other terrorist action.

3) Most (if not all) mask / hood combinations can be useless or dangerous if not properly fitted and this is not something that can be determined by an amateur.

4) The filters used for many of the worst agents have a useful shelf-life and are expensive. If your's is out of date don't bother with it it won't help.


There are a lot of nifty survival tools marketed to us. Some are bonafide useful in almost any situation - such as the Spark-Lite. Some are simply sold because they can be and aren't worth it - such as those hollow handled rambo knife survival kits, which snap at the junction of the blade and hilt and spill their contents on the ground the first time you catch it on the brush while running.

If your employer offers you a mask/hood combination ask what scenarios they are preparing for. If they are helping you prepare for terrorism ask what amount of warning they expect to give you in which you can don the hood. If they are helping you prepare for inbound missiles you might want to consider relocating or enlisting so that you get the proper training and a full suit.

These are just my recollections. BTW, shortly after 9/11, I bought masks for everyone in my family and I live in rural NH. I have since learned that the army surplus that I bought would be mostly useless, the adult ones which I bought would probably kill my kids due to differences in air exchange rates required for the smaller folks, the filters were not only out of date but also out of spec for the current threat. I would be glad to sell them to your for your use at the $90 that I spent. <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />