Keep Breathing: Some Of The Best Gas Masks You Can Afford

We’re all aware of what a gas mask is; at least we have some idea about them. Gas masks (aka. respirators) are heavily used in society. The Police force has them, the Special Forces have them, the firefighters have them, spray painters have them etc. The basic use of a gas mask is to serve as a filter for the air you’re breathing in and to stop possible irritants and noxious substances from getting into your respiratory system and affecting your health.

The best gas masks (or respirators) are based on the same principle: the air is pulled into the canister that has a filtering system (on 3 layers: dust filter, charcoal filter, and aerosol filter) and then is released towards the interior of the mask; the filtered air is safe to breathe.

The air is sucked into the canister as the wearer breathes. There are also battery operated gas masks, equipped with a fan, that will siphon air inside, but become useless when the batteries die out. There are also some that work just like a scuba breathing system: they don’t have a filtering canister, but a pressurized air canister, that is completely sealed.

A gas mask is a real asset for any serious prepper. It’s an absolute must-have in case of a chemical or biological attack. Works just as well in a combat zone, as it’ll filter out heavy smoke and even dust clouds. There two main types of masks: half masks and full mask. I half mask will cover your mouth and nose only; they’re used in spray painting and are recommended only if you know what contaminant you’re dealing with. In case of an extremely dangerous contaminant or if you simply don’t know what you’re facing, a full gas mask is the way to go. Not only will it cover your respiratory system, but I’ll also protect your eyes and face from dangerous agents, like Anthrax etc.

Israeli Civilian Gas Mask

This gas mask was issued by the Israeli government, is NATO approved and it’s perfect if you consider the quality / price ratio (it costs about $80). Because of the relatively low price and good features, it’s regarded to be as the standard gas mask for civilian protection. It’s best used in an evacuation scenario from a contaminated area. The mask itself is made out of a soft but durable rubber that covers the whole face (full mask); it offers great protection not only for the respiratory system but also for the entire face. It has extremely efficient filters (NBC filters) that will keep you safe from almost everything, from nuclear and biological agents (like Anthrax) to chemical agents. This particular gas mask comes in both adult and child versions.

M61 Finnish Gas Mask

The MA61 model was developed in Finland and it’s meant to be used as a heavy-duty gas mask. It’s a side-mounted mask, which means the filter is screwed into the side of the mask, rather than in the font. The rubber it’s made from is extremely durable, but rather soft flexible at the same time. Its flexibility means that the mask will incase the face of the wearer perfectly, making it airtight, so that noxious fumes or chemical agents won’t find their way inside. It uses a twin goggle system rather than a single visor. The exhalation system has a plastic valve with an integrated speech diaphragm, for better communication.

ADVANTAGE 1000 CBA-RCA Gas Mask

The 1000 CBA-RCA mask is 100% American and it was developed based on a US Military design that was used by the USAF during the Operation Desert Storm. It has a Hycar face piece which is about 40% lighter than most full gas masks and also a customizable fit. There’s also a standard nose cup to eliminate visor fogging and a mechanical speaking diaphragm. The visor is a one piece that’s extremely tough and offers great field of vision. The canister can be mounted on both the left and the right side and it’s effective against all sorts of biological and chemical agents, like Mustard, Lewisite, GA, GB, GD etc. The head harness is adjustable and stable. There’s also an ID tag attached and it includes a CBA-RCA canister. The whole package comes at about $300.

There are plenty of models that are available on the market, it’s only a matter of personal choice. The price of a certain gas mask does not necessarily reflect its quality, so you don’t have to spend a lot of money for a good product that will filter well and fit great. But you’ll need to educate yourself in the matter a bit so you won’t throw your money out the window. Luckily there’s many manufacturer’s and sellers and price ranges vary from one to the other. So keep hunting for bargains, you’ll most likely find them.

By My Family Survival Plan

How To Survive The War

A general view shows damaged buildings and debris in Deir al-Zor, June 13, 2013.Picture taken June 13, 2013. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi (SYRIA – Tags: CONFLICT) – RTX10N7S

One might never know exactly the day when war comes to your homeland, leaving you no choice but to grab a few things and run – if you are lucky. It happens unexpectedly: events are moving so fast, have such an immediate and strong negative impact on your life, even though you are far from the epicenter. War dramatically overturns usual way of life, since you never expect anything as terrible as it is in reality, never guess the extent of an imminent disaster. Since then every first day of your life is war, with all deaths, terrors, looting, famine, soldiers, casualties, and increasing physical fear.

Caught unawares, civilians have to leave their homes in search of either hospitable land to wait through or remain home, hiding in a less hospitable bomb-shelter. Most of the people choose to abandon their homes and seek refuge in the remaining peaceful parts of the state or move to neighboring countries. The decision is tough, but obvious: protecting your own nest is a right impulse, but it must not overlap the self–preservation instinct. Due to applications of guided missiles, the destructive capacities of conventional weapons have increased drastically. Thus, the value of human life has decreased tragically.

There are several advice from those survived in the war zone to give you a clear insight of how to behave in wartime:

1. Search for and remember the location of all bombs-shelters in your area, make sure they are accessible and have enough room for every family member. Owing to underground bomb shelter arrangement, an intense humidity allows to keep canned food (lots of water, beef, pork, vegetables, and fruit), tea, pasta, flour, oil, salt and sugar without refrigerator for the relatively long time. Prepare flashlights, matches, and candles; plaids, blankets, and a cushion; saucepan and pot to cook on fire and boil water; personal hygienic items and first aid kit.

2. Watch your relatives closely, do not lose sight of them during the day; especially kids should be taken over the control 24 hours a day. If you did not have a chance to flee your home, do everything possible and impossible to provide both physical and psychological protection to your family. Do not allow them to see people suffering and hear cries for help. It is important to keep composure and encourage people around you to hope for the best, because this is the only right direction for psychological adjustment.

3. Keep your phone charged all the time, try not to waste battery power and save for an emergency. Do not let the battery drain, recharge frequently, as far as possible. Due to the hostilities, the system voltage may continuously appear and disappear. Fill with tap water all available reservoirs: jars, saucepans, basins, buckets, etc. Water is probably the most important substance during the wartime, of permanent shortage.

4. Make sure you have enough provisions for all family members for a specified period, during which you do not have to think of what to feed the children. Make purchases on the wholesale markets, which is cheaper than retail acquisitions. Count every penny, because you obviously have no job and the future prospects are difficult. In addition, any conflict area suffers from economic blockade, with all the negative consequences for your already very limited budget. Get ready for the total deficit of the food, fuel, and other daily necessities.

5. Change your habits, become unpretentious, economical, and enduring. Learn to leave off many usual things, such as the Internet, rich and fancy food, gadgets, fashion, regular socializing, and all the signs of usual daily routine, which you thought was boring. Learn to accept the war as a significant part of your current being, since your life will never be the way it used to before the war.

6. Remember: there are many indigent people around, who urgently need your sympathy and protection. Share everything you do not urgently need, like some groceries and canned fish/meat, good conditioned clothes and shoes for kids and adults, good old toys and books. You can live without a heap of rags permanently squeezing your wardrobe and feel better helping out.

7. Learn the specifics of communication with armed individuals, who aim and get used to kill the same human beings. They are running the show, not you, regardless the rank and influence you had in civil life. Keep up with their requests and follow their advice, because they naturally have at disposal a broader image of the existing circumstances in the war zone. Even if you do not support them and your heart and mind resist, never demonstrate it, never stir up a discussion and never let it involve yourself. If it is impossible to support soldiers, at least do not jeopardize your family and keep neutral.

8. Do not trust television/radio broadcasts, because there is no objective reality in the war. If the very notion of objectivity no longer exists, it means that all stories are equally true. To distinguish more evident and obvious story from fake, you should apply your own personal experience. Remember: modern war is not only conventional confrontation but also confrontation in politics and information field.

9. Prepare your car for a long journey through outside the warzone: inflate all tires, check the oil level, empty the trunk, put the toolkit in, tire inflator, a can for gas, check a spare tire, and fill up the tank. Do the vehicle inspection to prevent an unexpected breakdown on the way to peaceful life.

10. Remember: your paramount goal is to save your family, their lives, and your own. Do not risk for no reason, never hurry and follow the designated itinerary: there could be minefields along the roadside, unexploded missiles, and hidden grenades.

War changes human personality definitively and irrevocably, for your surroundings luckily avoided war, you will not be the same any longer. Independently of the age, your outlook has radically altered. To survive the war would be the most challenging task you had accomplished, but not the last. You would have to subdue the memories, or even erase them all connected with the war to continue your new old boring life in harmony with yourself and surroundings.

When Technology Backfires: The New Warfare

A couple days ago, I stumbled upon this very interesting article on Wired:

A very trendy subject nowadays, when we’re on the brink of getting into a war or two… when Europe is crashing down to pieces… the Arab world is angry at pretty much everyone… and the Asians are now working on weaponry taken straight from Star Trek…

We’ve got to face it: war is much scarier and more complex than ever before. Cyberspace has officially become the “fifth domain” for warfare, next to the classic: land, space, air, and sea. The Anonymous hacker organization has already won several battles against governments all around the world, with just a touch of a keyboard.

This is the future of warfare: a few brilliant youngsters and their supercomputers. The times of men freezing in trenches, waiting to shoot the enemy without getting bombed first is soon to be over.

Today, the US drones can shoot down a target with one single “laser death ray”, as tests have recently shown.

source: unsplash.com

According to CNN, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), the service’s technology development arm, announced the new Laser Weapon System had successfully tracked, engaged, and destroyed a drone in flight, during an over-the-water engagement at San Nicholas Island, California.

Next step on the list: controlling the death ray with nothing more than thoughts. That’s right, as you’re reading this, scientists are working on ways to control machinery with the power of the human mind. And, but the looks of it, it won’t take long until they’ll turn this sci-fi scenario into reality.

source: www.scientificamerican.com

If you can’t read the chapeau of this article, it says: “The idea that paralyzed people might one day control their limbs just by thinking is no longer a Hollywood-style fantasy”. Indeed, it’s already happening:

I was blown away by this video! That man can move a prosthetic arm with his thoughts. So why couldn’t a trained soldier control a drone in the same manner? Right now, it sounds very likely, doesn’t it?

In fact, a lot of the things we used to watch on Star Trek are now about to take shape into the real world.

According to Russia Today, the National Intelligence Council (a US-based coalition of spy agencies) has just released its “Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds” report. The most amazing minds of this century have gathered to write this 140-page report and share with us their predictions for the next two decades.

These include: physical enhancement (aka turning yourself into a superhero), limb-replacement, retinal eye implants that enable night vision and neuro-enhancements that could provide superior memory recall or speed of thought. Also, human-like cyborgs could very well walk among us in as little as 18 years’ time.

source: rt.com

It all sounds amazing, doesn’t it? People enhancing their bodies to get stronger and live longer and healthier lives… no more war victims… cures for today’s most destructive diseases… oh, yeah, and mind control over every top-notch machinery. Sounds amazing… and pretty scary, doesn’t it?

After all, if a soldier can fly a drone by focusing his thoughts on his mission… what stops a brilliant hacker from taking over? Can you be 100% sure that a more powerful mind and/or a more powerful technology won’t force a US drone to start shooting its death ray the other way around?

I tend to believe the US intelligence is overestimating their technology and their staff… while underestimating our enemies. It’s not the first time they do it. Right after the government set up TrapWire and installed “hi-tech” surveillance cameras all across the country… hackers have already found a way to cheat the system.

Here’s just a comment one of them left on a forum: “Pretty awesome hack to make your face invisible to cameras!”

And let’s not forget about the computer virus that infected a nuclear plant in Iran, controlled from a PC miles away:

source: news.cnet.com

Today, you can control anything with technology and, soon enough, you’ll be able to control any technology with the power of your thoughts. That will be the moment when the human mind becomes the most sought-after battlefield. As the article on Wired very well puts it:

“This new battlespace is not just about influencing hearts and minds. It’s about involuntarily penetrating and coercing the mind.”

By Alec Deacon