Gas Masks

A military gas mask is what militaries use to protect their troops from various battlefield threats such as smoke and gases. A full face gas mask will save your health or at least your life when confronted by something unbreathable in the air. Additionally it will have a positive effect on your odds for survival in situations where incapacitation is as deadly as suffocation – like in combat.

There are various types of gas masks. Some are designed for civilian use, and others for combat. Combat gas masks usually have the option of placing the gas mask filter on either side, depending on which side you shoot your rifle from.

The gas mask filter filters particles, gases, and vapors according to its specs and standards. A gas mask will not create breathable air in oxygenless spaces such as underwater or inside a smoke and carbon dioxide filled room. To be clear: Firefighters do not use ordinary gas masks to enter burning buildings, they have air bottles and pressurized mask apparatuses.

Doing anything while wearing a gas mask requires practice. Especially your weapon handling skills will need some adjustment to be able to shoot with a full face gas mask on. You will probably have to tilt your weapon to get a sight picture, and/or install a taller riser under your red dot. Also, if you need to manipulate items in your kit, and you will, learn to do it without looking down, because that will most likely not be possible with a gas mask on.

You will not wear your gas mask all the time. Instead, you will need to carry it in a pouch on your fighting load. There are specifically designed gas mask pouches, but a correct sized general purpose pouch will do also. For example, a Scott Promask FM3 will fit an L-sized Särmä TST general purpose pouch.