Ok, I'm no expert on this, but I don't find these arguments entirely convincing...

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Gas masks or APRs (air purifying respirators), APRs are good to protect the user from a know toxin (or range of toxins). APRs are not viable protection when the toxin is unknown, or in an oxygen deficient atmosphere.


Of course you won't have guaranteed protection against an unknown threat, but military-type filters are designed to protect against a wide range of threats. (Activated charcoal/carbon will bind with or filter out all sorts of stuff, IIRC.) If I was in a situation where I thought I might benefit from one, I'd much rather have it than not.

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Now, one could argue that one of these military gas masks would be good to have. However, when would you don it? When would you take it off? Without detection equipment it how useful would it be?


Some possible scenarios:

  • You are warned of nearby chemical leak, or a big fire with unknown pollutants in smoke.
  • You are in a city and there's an explosion. It could be a dirty bomb or chemical device (though it probably isn't).
  • You get caught up in a civil disturbance and the police use CS/tear gas.
  • Others (say, a crowd spilling out of a tube station) have burns/eye irritation/breathing difficulties/other suspicious symptoms.


When to take a respirator off? When you have to, or are somewhere you are reliably told is safe.

Of course, I'm not arguing that a respirator is a good investment for any particular person (or most people). They do seem to be an expensive solution for a fairly unlikely problem.

As I said above, I'm no expert on this, so please tell me why I'm wrong... :-)

eeph