Gas Masks?

[paratus]

Hi everyone,
I'm a bit loss and would welcome opinions/advice. I live right next door to a Thames water treatment plant and in the event of an industrial accident, there's a very real chance of chlorine leaks/nasty stuff leaking out. As such I have purchased a Gas mask (British Army GSR) and am now looking to get some more for the family. So questions are this:

1= I bought my GSR from Ebay; was this a silly move? It appears as described, unused/brand new, genuine and came with new (sealed filters) but appearances aren't everything I know. Any experience buying specialist kit like this from Ebay?

2= Does anyone know a good source for children's respirators?

As well as the credible threat of the local treatment plant I figured having CBRN kit was sound prep.

All opinions welcome.

[poppypiesdad]

Sorry but they don't use chlorine gas in a water treatment works , chlorine is use in swimming pools , and is usually bubbled through n introducer to chlorinate the water

You would mostly find aluminium sulphate /chloride , which is usually in a liquid form , unless thete are different methods from scotland to down south ,

They also fluronate the water , can't remember which particular derivative of fluoride is used

Jamie

[paratus]

Sorry but they don't use chlorine gas in a water treatment works , chlorine is use in swimming pools , and is usually bubbled through n introducer to chlorinate the water

You would mostly find aluminium sulphate /chloride , which is usually in a liquid form , unless thete are different methods from scotland to down south ,

They also fluronate the water , can't remember which particular derivative of fluoride is used

Jamie

Cheers mate,
Are you essentially saying not to worry? Chemistry not my strong suit!

[madmedic]

Jamie is right but it is possible to get a chlorine cloud.. difficult but possible..

as for GSR.. (if it is GSR not an S-10/FM12) they are very good. and i have never had any problems with it.. or in fact the others too.. if the mask fits you then it will work as intended..

your main problem could be the canisters..

firstly. are they open or sealed in a foil packet?
if open they are now training only

second.. what colour band it round the cartridge or code on the foil?

the military respirator is aimed at weaponised chemical and biological agents

what you need are TIC canisters (toxic industrial chemicals) as the army ones only offer limited or no protection from these.(there are several different canisters for different chemicals. the codes and banding colours are on the Avon site.

as for your question about childrens sizes.. respirators come in several sizes, (think GSR is 1 size fits all, S10 = 1-4, FM12 =1-3) the fm12 sizes are essentially the 1/2sizes for s10. the small sizes would work for children down to about 5 if you are lucky.

as for CBRN protection suits are quite important, the military one is good as are the SR3 (quick don) and CR1. and the sizes are easy to work out. you can get these on ebay (again need to be sealed) or from Remploy

if you are going down the CBRN route look at getting spare suits and canisters and learning the drills. you can get copies of "survive to fight" and if not i will find the link to down load a copy.. if you go SR3 or CR1 the drills are the same it is just a different suit, i do have dressing and undressing for these too..

if you want any more info feel free to PM or ask here.

for those who ask for references.. i am a CBRNI

[TomW]

Just an add 1 to the industrial filter reccomendation. Not.necessarily cheaper but will be sealed and in date as opposed to the bulk of surplus filters. I would also be inclined to go with industrial masks too mostly for blending in and personal preferance.
It's worth a search on here too as it has been covered and had some great input from a guy called Ian who was involved with the development of the mod gear.

[paratus]

Thanks to both of you. Madmedic, the GSR came with vacuum sealed filters but I opened them and attached assuming I'd want them on the respirator ready to go. I take that was a mistake? I thought the filters only deteriorated on contact with contaminated air?

I do have back up sealed filters: DETAILS ON PACKET batch No 402936, manufacture date JAN2011 expiry date JAN 2026 also has NATO number, bar coding etc.

Thanks for the other advice; as is obvious by now I'm a complete newbie so I'm all ears to everyone.