Designer gasmasks: 2 who are making a change

One only needs to peruse the images of World War Two to see what kind of horror was wrought on the children of Japan, Europe, and Germany with the advent of chemical warfare and the need to use gas masks to try to circumvent those horrors.

That is why these two designers are doing something that anyone who is a gas mask aficionado will understand to be a good move that is long overdue. The attempt is to remove the dark image that is associated with these devices, as well as to remove the utilitarian concept of them and to make them both easier to don and more aesthetically pleasing to the eye and mindset of the victim/wearer. Here are two new concepts in gas mask design.

1. The Social Gasmask. Presented by Yanko Design and developed by  Zlil Lazarovich, this design is made to be more fashiobnable than utilitarian; however, it may very well find a use in the wardrobes of future sophisticants and aristocracy. "The nature of a gas mask has a negative connotation as it is, but in this example it’s used as a tool with psychological coping during emergency situations. It’s called the Social Gas Mask, and its large eyepieces, cheeky filters and small mouth opening work together to offer an empowering image and positive experience. It facilitates better communication between individuals spending time together in a stressful situation. It’s as friendly as a gas mask could be!"

2. The Minimalist Gasmask. Presented and designed by Bradly Hood, this design is created with a utilitarian slant more so then a design function. The idea was to trim the fat and make it easier to don the mask with any style of helmet. "This mask is designed to let users breathe easily without encumbering their ability to see or speak. Since the Samsonite Breathing Mask is not a face-covering mask, it could be mixed and matched with other helmets and goggles to provide the maximum protection possible." 

The fact is that the times, they are a changing and with them are coming many different designs and concepts for the modern gas mask. With the world being like it is, it is likely that gasmasks will be the wave of the future in some way, shape, or form. We might as well get used to the idea and even embrace it if we may.

Military Surplus gasmasks... 3 things they are not good for

• ...A mask may afford complete
• protection under outdoor conditions and break down at once when
• used indoors, where a gas container has burst and filled the room
• with gas. It must also be remembered that the absorbents in the
• Army respirator, which filter out the poisonous gas, are specially de-
• signed for the gases used in warfare, and as a matter of fact do not
• protect against- the more common industrial gases as, for example,
• illuminating, natural, producer, and blast-furnace gas... (ARMY GAS MASKS UNSUITED FOR USE IN INDUSTRIES 1943)

While it is presupposed that the military surplus gas mask is adaptable and usable in most all situations, the fact of the matter is that the majority of these masks are designed to work in very specific environments only.  Therefore, you would not want to purchase a used or new military surplus gas mask for certain situations even though the common consensus is that they will work in such conditions.  Here are three things you wouldn't want to trust your life or your families lives with a military surplus gas-mask for.  

1. Protection from smoke inhalation. While these are very good at keeping mustard gas out of your lungs, they are no real defense against the threat of smoke from a fire. Understand that the usefulness of a gas-mask is dependent on the amount of oxygen in the environment as the mask separates the chemicals from the air, thus giving you life saving oxygen. They don't, however, create oxygen.

2. Protection from dust in a mine or other detritus rich environment. Understand that the gas mask works on filtering concepts, it's not magic. So if you expose your gas mask filter to a dusty environment, it is likely to clog and prevent the inhalation of oxygen. 

3. Protection from industrial or blast furnace gasses. Again, these are designed specifically for outside use in an oxygen rich environment. Anything that produces gas from some type of combustion is going to deplete the oxygen from the atmosphere and will not correspond well with a military surplus gas mask. What you want to buy in these instances are respirators which come equipped with oxygen tanks. 

The Gasmask and the ADA: How functionality comes to fitabillity

The laws of Newton being what they are, it stands to reason that - at least where I am concerned - whatever can go wrong will go wrong. Therefore, it was no surprise to me on a cold November night as I huddled around a burn barrel trying to keep warm and I was wearing my newly acquired military issue gasmask, that I kept hearing a whistling type of noise and feeling a draft across my face from within the mask. Commander Cunnigan was shrieking and yelling at the troops in his normal manner as we stepped up two by two to enter the gas house, a square utility shed made out of sheet metal into which we were to be thrust, while a cn/cs gas canister was exploded and we were exposed to it's vile contents.

As I stepped up to take my turn, Cunnigan clapped a meaty hand across the filter of my mask and screamed: "inhale" into my rubber masked face. I pulled in air and was immediately rewarded with a cool breeze across my lips. Peering into my mask closely Cunnigan asked: "Have you gottcher glasses on?" I nodded in the affirmative and he shoved me into the gas house... 

Over the years I have learned how to don a gasmask sans my eyeglasses. It's not the easiest thing to do, I kind of need them to see, however, it isn't the easiest of times to see anyway because chemical irritants have a tendency to cause a disruption in eyesight. 

In any event, these days we do have an insert that can be used to give you the opportunity to wear your glasses under your gasmask; however, this is an uncomely and burdensome thing and is the same design, roughly, of what they had come up with as far back as WWI when the use of gasmasks became prolific. I have discovered, firsthand, the folly of using a set of contact lenses with a gasmask. The biggest problem with this insert is the fact that it has to be completely dedicated to the gasmask, (it  can serve no other purpose or function), and as such isn't necessarily considered a  reasonable accomodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Perhaps the time has come for some entrepreneur to come up with a customized lense for a gasmask that can be modified to hold a prescription so that each individual can see clearly through the haze of the gassy fog he or she finds themselves in.  

Gasmask erotica: how the gasmask has come to sexuality

It is called BDSM. For those of you who are unfamiliar, BDSM is a complex acronym that represents many different activities within the kink practices, for example: Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, and Sadism and Masochism... I say it is complex because this acronym has dual meaning in some aspects. 

In any event, power play is a huge aspect of the BDSM phenomena and it is in this practice that the gas-mask has reached further iconic status. 

The advent of gas mask in art  is not a new phenomenon, the Mystery, power play differentiation, and ambience of the man in the mask has been around for a long time. However the gas mask as a sexual stimulus is fairly new and surprisingly it is showing up in modern-day erotica.

For some reason there is something appealing about sexuality and anonymity. Researchers would theorize perhaps that it is the concept of sexual aggression that is free from the responsibility of morality, a trace of evolutionary ancestry perhaps on one end of the spectrum, and a testimony of the sinful nature of man on the other.

In any event it is hard to deny the draw of silken bare skin that is somehow more accessible without the responsibility of placing a face or any emotion to it. It is this anonymity that draws so many from the BDSM community to gas-masks and masks in general; the notion of sinful delight in the flesh of another without the responsibility of the  causal effect of your acts on them as a person.

The effect it seems, on a root level, is to objectify the wearer into a sexual object as opposed to a sex partner. It is this power play that appeals to the artists who portray the gas-mask erotica that is somehow so appealing, even to many who are not into the lifestyle.

This type of erotica is being capitalized on by Hollywood as well. Series such as American Horror Story seek to bring erotica and bondage along with power play to a new level, that of an every day entertainment source that is in every American home.

One thing is certain, the icon of the gas mask in America has changed and evolved, from a source of fear inducing anonymity to a sexually charged catalyst of powerful proportions.

The gasmask as an icon; terror in the new age

Japanese schoolchildren before the atomic revolution. A foreshadow of things to come?

AN ICON OF MANY THINGS

As discussed earlier, it was the industrial revolution that seemingly brought a new face to war, that of the rubber faced, soulless, inhuman dominatrix.  With it came the fear of the masked tyrant, that anti-christ of legend who would take charge of the world's population and compel the masses to do his or her dark bidding. From this persona arose the legend of Darth Vader who made the Stars Wars trilogy a smash hit. 

The concept of unbridled power and dominion is apparent in the advent of the gas mask - as an icon of such - on many other levels as well. In another session I will delve into the phenomena of the gas mask as a symbol of erotica and discuss why it is that the threat of domination from a soulless beast can be a way for certain people to get off on the sensual allure of complete and total ownership and consummation. For as many power hungry and bloodthirsty oppressors, there are at least as many who wish to be oppressed and this phenomena has given rise to an entire culture of adult fantasy aficionado's who are everywhere within mainstream society, though they are in fact hidden in a dark place where their secret actions are seldom seen and only whispered about in the most private of conversations.  

As a sociological media, the gas mask has become THE icon of terror and oppression as it stands as an ever present symbol of terror and death to most of the civilized world. Those aboriginals who have thus escaped the influence of the gas mask culture have, at the very least, escaped the threat of total and complete subservience and dominion and may in fact be the luckiest people left on Earth.  

The gasmask as an icon; an introduction

There is possibly no greater icon representative of the struggle of the human population than that of the gas mask. One does not have to look too far into history to see the effects that the issuance of gas masks had on the general population up and until the nuclear age, which usurped the chemical threats of the industrial revolution.

As an icon, the gas mask would be expected to have outweighed -on some levels- that of the hazard materials suit, (which is representative of course of nuclear fallout); however, for some reason the hazmat suit is lacking in the production of sheer terror that the gas mask is still historically able to elicit. Consider if you would this article from Military Science magazine published in January 29, 1938:

"EUROPEAN nations are piling up stocks of gas masks for civilians and spending huge sums in the construction of gas proof shelters, reports Lt.-Col. Augustin M. Prentiss of the U. S. Army chemical warfare service. England is engaged in manufacturing 30,000,000 gas masks, in an effort to provide protection for every person in the kingdom. France already has accumulated 8,ooo,ooo for its active civilians, Germany has on hand 7,5oo,ooo, and Italy 5,000,000 for the same purpose. Cost of gas shelters ranges from $I50 for a single room to $Ioo,ooo for large communal shelters capable of accommodating several thousand persons. In France, plans have been drawn for the construction of fifty large gas shelters in the subways, at an estimated cost of $s,ooo,ooo. Germany believes in a decentralized gas defense system, and it is claimed that more than half a million such small shelters have already been built. Similar construction is also under way in Japan. According to Lt.-Col. Prentiss, civilians are classified into "active" and "passive" groups. The former, about ten per cent. of the total population, comprise police- men, firemen, decontamination squads, and others who must stay out even in the thickest of the gas attack to preserve order and clear out the gas after the raiders have flown away. The great "passive" bulk of the people can best meet a gas raid by taking shelter until it is over. For the active civilians, elaborate gas- proof suits have been designed, together with military-type masks giving full protection. For the passive group, less elaborate and costly equipment, effective during short exposures only while they make for the gas proof shelters, is considered sufficient." (The Science News-Letter, Vol. 33, No. 5 (Jan. 29, 1938), pp. 76-77)

In retrospect it is easy to see that the chaos of the era of World Wars I and II left the world population scared. The industrial era had brought about weapons of mass destruction which were second to none historically and which were immediately capable of rendering the majority of the world's population either dead or disabled. Finally the world had evolved to the point that it could easily orchestrate it's own destruction. It very nearly did, and the gas mask stands now as an eternal reminder of the fact that there is always someone out there who would like to kill you, and there is always a means by which to do it.