Since another thread is primarily about the fires ongoing in CA, I thought it might be timely to start a thread about respirators to deal with one of the by-products of wildfires. First though, what is Smoke? ... so while a particulate filter like an N-95 mask might work well at a distance where all you have is particles and otherwise okay air, nearer the fire there are other gases.

I have two respirators; the first is a 3M half-face which has two filter mounts left & right, (currently w/ P100 particulate filters). While the P100 filters are great at removing particles, they don’t do much for gases. I use this mask for shop work when I’m putting lots of sawdust in the air. Sometimes I just where a simple N-95 mask, almost as good.

Then there’s my Sundström full-face respirator, which has a single filter mount on which you can stack/piggyback multiple filters of various types. Of note, the Sundström H05-6121L Wildland First Responder Respirator Kit is similar to mine although in a half mask design. This system comes with both an SR-232 OV/SD/CL/HC/HF (organic vapor, sulfur dioxide, chlorine, hydrogen chloride and hydrogen fluoride) Chemical Cartridge, the SR-510 P100 Particulate Filter and the SR-221 Pre-Filter which can be piggybacked. The Wildland First Responder Respirator Kit also has a Spark Arrester which I don’t have.

I mention what I have not as an expert (which I’m not) on what is needed, but as a point of departure for discussion. I’ve never tested my system near a real wildfire. I’m confident it will help a lot as I’m driving away from the area, but if a wildfire is that close, I screwed up by waiting too long.