Gas masks: Awesome or Annoying?

[ENDIF]

I'm thinking I might bring one of my many gas masks out with me this year, but my more experienced friend thinks they're more trouble than they're worth.


Thoughts?

[Rice]

when its 110F, would the gas mask not be extremely hot??

[ENDIF]

That was one of his arguments, yes.

Would a respirator be a better choice for keeping ovaltine out of the mouth/nose/lungs?
Or is ye olde bandana and a set of goggles a better choice?

[gaminwench]

windworship silks work fine for me...

[Rice]

That was one of his arguments, yes.

Would a respirator be a better choice for keeping ovaltine out of the mouth/nose/lungs?
Or is ye olde bandana and a set of goggles a better choice?

Uh, I am not sure what the best option for ovaltine is? Playa dust is what usually in the air.

I use goggles and a silk scarf when I need them. The goggles fit over my glasses and have clear/tinted lenses for day/night use.

The playa dust is extremely fine. It affects different people in different ways. If you are concerned, bring something more than a bandanna.

Whatever you bring, plan to have it with you 24/7 - cause you never know when a dust storm will blow up... (2011 was an unusually dust-free year, in 2007 we had a 12 hour dust storm - where you could not see your hand)

[trilobyte]

I've got a gas mask that's been suitably tricked out for playa awesomeness, but it's too bulky and cumbersome to be of any kind of practical purpose (I wear as part of a particular outfit). Your mileage may vary, but for me if it's a pain in the ass to carry around with me everywhere, I won't. And if it's not with me all the time, it's not really very effective as a dust mask (darned storms and kickups never follow a set schedule).

[Bin Noddin]

Goggles and a doubled over bandana worked fine for me, even in dust storms. Kept the bandana moist.

[trilobyte]

I agree Bin Noddin, a bandana's been the easiest & most effective thing for me. The 3M N95 air filters (available cheap online or at most hardware stores) also do the job and are a close 2nd, but if you jam a lot of stuff into pockets or pouches they can get pretty scrunched.

[FIGJAM]

Walmart onesie $2!!!!!!

Wear it around your neck till needed.

[moonrise]

>you're more experienced friend thinks they're more trouble than they're worth<

Sounds like you've been out there for the burn, don't you think it would be a hassle? If you're famous you won't be recognized, not that we care anyway, aye?

The dust wreacks havoc on my breathing so I have a bunch of various dust masks. The $2 each, 3M P95 fits great, is comfy, you can breathe and talk easily and it isn't noticeable under bandana/scarf. I need to remember to wear the fricking things more often, smoke and all that dust, it sure adds up quickly.

I did buy a particle type respirator with extra cartridges and haven't used it, yet. 2012 is looking like it might be the year to break that puppy out.
Cost was about $45 with the extra cartidges.

[EspressoDude]

if the gas mask is part of an outfit, fetish, or look you want to convey, by all means bring it. As others pointed out a gas mask would be hot and likely not much fun during the heat, and limit your peripheral vision....a night time necessity

[TomServo]

It's really a personal preference. I just happen to love gas masks...and now have a practical use for them.

[mudpuppy000]

I wouldn't wear one the whole time but might be ok if you're just going to wear it during whiteouts. I wore a respirator one day during a particularly bad dust storm and it was pleasant for a while but eventually started to become uncomfortable.

[theCryptofishist]

Go ahead. Bring one. Unless you dont' have a lot of space or it will take you over some hard weight limit. It sounds like something that's important to you, so I'd say it's worth the bother. You may end up thinking that your friend (and everyone on this thread) is right, but at least you'll have satisfied the question for you. If you do bring one, don't bring one you're very attached to. I'm not sure what the playa can do to a gas mask, but I believe in the dust's ability to find a way to alter it forever.

[TomServo]

If you already love gas masks, you will love having one in a white out. At home, disassemble the mask give it a good scrub, new filters and you're good for next year! You might bring an extra filter (or two depending on the mask) to change on-playa, as they do get overloaded with dust and are less efficient.

[Canoe]

Goggles and a doubled over bandana worked fine for me, even in dust storms. Kept the bandana moist.

Bandana stage-coach bandit style. Worked great, but I don't have issues with dust. No goggles, but oversized sunglasses that fit over standard glasses worked great (only issue was the dust on the lenses making me think a mild storm was still on ). Shemagh for the dust storms.

The 3M Full Face-piece Respirator (small 6700, medium 6800, large 6900) is used with particle filters in cartridge or disc. Glasses ruin the seal to the face, necessary to draw the air through the filter (need special frames). Doctor on-playa said that the fine playa "dust" is 3 micron, but the P95 particle filters only filter to 5 micron. She advised that those with dust issues need a hepa filter. There's a number of filters available, but I can't make heads or tails out of which one is best.

3m 6000 series.jpg

[oneeyeddick]

Gosh, some one looking for advice....and no comments from Gyre yet??

He must still be busy online trying to figure out which ones he wants to recommend as being the best based on everyone else's reviews his own experience having used them for years across multiple environments.

[Mojojita]

I bought a bunch at a sale one time and decorated them as gifts - nobody ever wears them because they are bulky, hot, harder to clean, store, and transport than a bandanna.

[BBadger]

After last year, I am a big fan of the (wet) bandana. I was wearing it 24/7 the whole week, and it doubles as a neck scarf.

[EspressoDude]

re: gas mask: figure out how to clean and polish the lenses in a dusty place. Some come with a small bottle and a cleaning/polishing cloth, but the lenses probably need washed/dust removed first

[DoctorIknow]

Unless you want the military/survivalist look with the "gas mask", go for the 3M mask.

The advantages are:

-----Particle filters easily replaced and cheap. You won't need to change the charcoal type filters.
-----Very large field of view. Do you really what a gas mask that gives you almost no peripheral vision?

The full face mask (used mostly in spray painting cars) is a pain to haul around, and normally I only take the cheap-o paper filters, but for the HUGE white outs, put in some earplugs (you don't want your eardrums blasted with 60mph playa matter), put on long sleeved shirt, long pants, socks, and have a BLAST going around seeing nature roar and watching everyone trying to deal with the conditions. You will feel like an alien in a safe bubble looking at a strange planet with strange humans adapting quite stangely. If there are mini tornadoes, get on your bike and join the other crazies following it thru campsites, tearing them apart. However, if you see rebar flying, stop chasing it. One year about 5 of us followed a big one to the trash fence, and one burner yelled "Come back!"

[Playa+Tom]

[b]AWESOME: [/b]If you are wearing it as a costume.
[b]ANNOYING[/b] if you are wearing it instead of a paper filter

[Sail Man]

I've got a gas mask that's been suitably tricked out for playa awesomeness, but it's too bulky and cumbersome to be of any kind of practical purpose (I wear as part of a particular outfit). Your mileage may vary, but for me if it's a pain in the ass to carry around with me everywhere, I won't. And if it's not with me all the time, it's not really very effective as a dust mask (darned storms and kickups never follow a set schedule).

I'm with Trilo on this one. Mine has a drinking tube....you may want to consider that also

[ygmir]

I've got a gas mask that's been suitably tricked out for playa awesomeness, but it's too bulky and cumbersome to be of any kind of practical purpose (I wear as part of a particular outfit). Your mileage may vary, but for me if it's a pain in the ass to carry around with me everywhere, I won't. And if it's not with me all the time, it's not really very effective as a dust mask (darned storms and kickups never follow a set schedule).

I'm with Trilo on this one. Mine has a drinking tube....you may want to consider that also

does it have handles at the ears, and a flat place on top?

[Fufa]

I tried the big painters mask type at night when dust was kicked up by vehicles in the entry line my first year. I was mostly scared my asthma and allergies would flare up. I was fine, but the thing was was uncomfortable.

During the day, it was way too hot to handle.

N95 particulate masks, with the metal nose clip work just fine. I keep it hooked on the waist of my backpack, or around my neck for quick access. I just change to a fresh one each morning cause they can get a little clogged up. Those little things even saved me during an air quality alert back home when our city was full of smoke from a forest fire.

If you're doing it for fashion/fun: go ahead, wear it proud

If you're doing it for function: go with N95s instead

[illy dilly]

After last year, I am a big fan of the (wet) bandana. I was wearing it 24/7 the whole week, and it doubles as a neck scarf.

and a sweat rag, a napkin, a pot holder, a blind fold and in an emergency a bandage.

[ZaphodBurner]

I'm thinking I might bring one of my many gas masks out with me this year, but my more experienced friend thinks they're more trouble than they're worth.


Thoughts?

I'm bringing one, but mostly as a costume piece, and to have around in case of an emergency. They're ungodly hot. 30 minutes in my Darth Vader helmet on a hot afternoon is like something out of Jonestown. Hell, you've seen the movie. When Darth Vader takes his helmet off and his noggin is all melted, that's actually from when he went to Burning Man, back in his bohemian days before that sparkle-pony Deja Thoris (is that any good?) wannabe he married finally drove him to the dark side. 100% true fact.

A dust filter for the really bad days, plus SEALED goggles will do just fine although the old wet-bandana cavalry trick works best for me. The medical duck-bill filters are more than adequate otherwise, and don't melt your face off.

The things most people forget are ear plugs and eye drops. Goggles don't help you if you've just gotten a face-full of dust. A dumbass rookie move I do once every year is wipe my eyes with the bandana I've been wearing.

Let me tell you how fucking scary it is to have your eyes reflexively lock shut in searing pain, in the deep playa during a windstorm at night. 2008 and 2010 had not just whiteouts, but a blackouts. That was FUCKED because I was trying to navigate by sound--if I could get to Root Society, I'd be fine--but what I was actually doing is following some trance-spewing art barge that had been crawling out into the deep playa the whole time. I'd been homing in on a moving target.

So, this year, just in case it gets dusty at night, I'm bringing a gas mask too.

[Canoe]

...They're ungodly hot. 30 minutes in my Darth Vader helmet on a hot afternoon is like something out of Jonestown...

It won't help with your costume, but for those wanting the mask for utility, a Shemagh over top really keeps the heat down, and protects the ears for all I've encountered so far.

......not just whiteouts, but a blackouts. That was FUCKED because I was trying to navigate by sound--if I could get to Root Society, I'd be fine--but what I was actually doing is following some trance-spewing art barge that had been crawling out into the deep playa the whole time. I'd been homing in on a moving target...

I thought I was being smart by looking up above the dust blowing across the ground, and I found myself judging direction by the tops of art-cars - that were still driving in the whiteout. Learned to look up for the lamp posts, and at night for the lamps, and the man and judge direction from those.

[neonbutterfly]

I brought a gas mask the other year and it was cool, but I felt the bandana over the face during a dust storm is just as good. It is easier to transport too and doesn't take up a lot of space. Just carrying the bandana around the neck was easy and fashionable for any costume/outfit. I didn't wear the gas mask all the time, just during a dust storm because it was too hot.

[Timezone LaFontaine]

I used small industrial dust masks the first few years, then just a bandana more recently. I did fine with just the bandana, but I'll tell ya... it's really not a one-size-fits-all solution. Different people are gonna have different degrees of sensitivity to the playa dust. If you don't know for sure in advance, you oughtta err on the side of caution and bring something more heavy duty, along with the lighter options like bandanas. On a somewhat tangentially related note, the playa dust wrecks my cuticles no matter how much I moisturize... it just seems to happen within a matter of an hour or so, even if I'm just handling my playa gear at home during some other time of the year. I've never had playa lung or playa foot, but playa cuticle is the bane of my fingertips. Fortunately it's not really painful at all, but it could lead to some ouchiness if I get a cut right around there. Anyhoo, the point I'm a ramblin on about is, everyone's got different bits and pieces, and ain't that a beautiful thing? What were we talking about again?