"Airsoft Ready" Gas Masks

[Hav0c]

How can you tell if the Gas Mask you are purchasing is "Airsoft Ready"?

 

I've seen many different types advertised as this on eBay etc but I don't entirely know how to tell if the lenses in them would suffice for use in Airsoft.

[Mike636]

If its an S10 ( which are the old style British ones ) no the lenses will crack or pop out completely. As for the new style I've no idea. Anything pre 1970 the lenses are likely to be glass so again no.

 

Although you can get replacement lenses for the S10 which are safe for airsoft.

[Guest PT247]

I can't imagine anything worse than running around in a gas mask on purpose, horrid things to wear even when not moving. Look cool tho I guess

[n1ckh]

Running around in a respirator (gas mask) even the modern ones, is like trying to breath through a straw, its even worse if your unfit or have breathing problems, you can breath easier if you dont have the canister attached

 

The things I hated most of wearing them was eating with them, hot weather and lack of peripheral vision

[Happy]

I presume you're referring to the rubberised m04 gas masks with the built in fans? If so they don't hold up to prolonged AEG fire - sometimes the force of the impact simply knocks the lense out if not completely breaking it.

 

You can buy Airsoft lenses for s10 masks on eBay though - worth looking into if you're set on a gas mask.

[Chock]

I have one of the M04 type airsoft gas masks, it's not bad but (as it came) I wouldn't have put money on the lenses stopping a shot from my A&K SVD Dragunov (490fps), because although I don't think the lens would have smashed, I suspect the lens could possibly have popped out from its fitting, which would have left the next shot seeing me exposed to no protection, thus I reinforced the lens fitting a bit with some Araldite, now I trust that it will stop anything it ever comes up against in airsoft.

 

Judge for yourself how effective it is with these videos (be sure to watch them all, the last one is a point blank range shot with a paintball gun, and it takes the lens out, which you would expect since it isn't designed for that kind of hit, so don't use one for paintball and consider reinforcing the lens fitting if you do get one):

 

 

 

 

Some further info:

 

Keep in mind that the M04 may look like rubber, but it is in fact hard plastic, so all the rest of it will definitely stop a BB, but that hard plastic means it does not fit like a real gas mask, more like a typical airsoft full face mask, which it of course is. Nevertheless, there is a rubber face pad on the inside, which is sort of similar to a WW2 pilot's oxygen mask in shape and size; that's the bit which actually rests on your face, so it is comfortable to wear and this also means that the mask is not sealed up to your chin as a real gas mask would be, although it does look like it is to observers. The fan in it does do a pretty good job, but to be honest you don't need it most of the time because the rubber insert on the inside keeps your breath away from the lenses, so the fan can simply be used briefly to clear it of fogging in the unlikely event of that occurring, and then switched off, so some duracell batteries will last a long time in the thing and it's more of a novelty that it has a fan than a necessity, although you could actually leave it running since it's basically the same as a PC cooling fan, i.e. it's not noisy.

 

The mask doesn't do wonders for your peripheral vision when wearing it, but it's not desperately bad. It is extremely lightweight though and does not impede breathing at all, so not at all like wearing a real gas mask respirator, which on the contrary, is a pain in the ass. I attached the fan to the left side of my mask (you can put it on either side, or the front), it does not foul my rifles when I pull them in close to aim, as some airsoft masks can do, so that is a plus point in that it is nowhere near as cumbersome as you might think it would be.

 

The other appealing plus point is of course that it looks quite cool - it's a fact that most military/SF gas masks are deliberately designed to look a bit intimidating, for obvious reasons - and it certainly does make you look pretty badass if you have all the rest of the gear to match it, i.e., I usually wear black SWAT style gear with a black PASGT helmet, and with that black mask added to the mix, it really does make you look the part. So if 'looking cool' appeals to you, then it's a good choice for full face protection. With four straps as per a typical mask, it does stay securely in place, and although the lenses do distort the view ever so slightly, it's a negligible amount, i.e. I could easily read this forum page whilst wearing that mask.

 

Shop around for one btw, I've seen them on fleabay for around about a tenner with free postage, think I paid about twelve quid for mine at the time i got it.

[CaptainSwoop]

OK for a 'Fallout' Loadout I suppose.

[Airsoft-Ed]

There's an airsoft mask company called Cactus Hobbies who have made a face mask that's modelled to look like a gas mask.

Take a look at that, might be more suited to what you need.

I've been thinking doing a 1980 Embassy Siege loadout lately, with the new WE MP5, and I wanted the gas mask as well so I'd look the part, but I want to make them breathable... Do you guys think it'd be better to buy an S10 and try to modify it, or get someone like Heroshark or DevTac in Japan to just custom make me an airsoft mask, S10 replica from the ground up, with build in fans and mesh lenses and shit like that?

Once I've found a job it'll be probably be a money no object project, but obviously if it can be done on the cheap to a satisfactory standard then that's always going to be the more appealing option.

[Chock]

Yeah, you could modify an S10 pretty easily, they can be had for about 25 quid, stick a PC cooling fan in the filter bit - like that M04 basically has - and swap the lenses for some tough perspex and Bob's Yer Uncle. SAS hooded coverall about 40 quid, rappelling harness, maybe 30 quid, boots 30 quid or so, tactical holster and you've cracked for just over a ton, minus the cost of a pistol and MP5.

[Airsoft-Ed]

Yeah, you could modify an S10 pretty easily, they can be had for about 25 quid, stick a PC cooling fan in the filter bit - like that M04 basically has - and swap the lenses for some tough perspex and Bob's Yer Uncle. SAS hooded coverall about 40 quid, rappelling harness, maybe 30 quid, boots 30 quid or so, tactical holster and you've cracked for just over a ton, minus the cost of a pistol and MP5.

Aye, MP5 will add another £500 onto that with ease, and then I need to get a pistol. Guessing they used the Browning Hi Power, if indeed they were issued one at all, and typically, the correct model doesn't exist in airsoft to my knowledge

 

Might just modernise it a bit and get a Sig P226...

[Hav0c]

According to the documentary I watched on the embassy raid, Mack (first guy on the balcony), spoke about a Hi-Power in it so I'm guessing they did have them just incase they got dead mans click.

[cropzy]

I have one of the M04 type airsoft gas masks, it's not bad but (as it came) I wouldn't have put money on the lenses stopping a shot from my A&K SVD Dragunov (490fps), because although I don't think the lens would have smashed, I suspect the lens could possibly have popped out from its fitting, which would have left the next shot seeing me exposed to no protection, thus I reinforced the lens fitting a bit with some Araldite, now I trust that it will stop anything it ever comes up against in airsoft.

 

Judge for yourself how effective it is with these videos (be sure to watch them all, the last one is a point blank range shot with a paintball gun, and it takes the lens out, which you would expect since it isn't designed for that kind of hit, so don't use one for paintball and consider reinforcing the lens fitting if you do get one):

 

 

 

 

Some further info:

 

Keep in mind that the M04 may look like rubber, but it is in fact hard plastic, so all the rest of it will definitely stop a BB, but that hard plastic means it does not fit like a real gas mask, more like a typical airsoft full face mask, which it of course is. Nevertheless, there is a rubber face pad on the inside, which is sort of similar to a WW2 pilot's oxygen mask in shape and size; that's the bit which actually rests on your face, so it is comfortable to wear and this also means that the mask is not sealed up to your chin as a real gas mask would be, although it does look like it is to observers. The fan in it does do a pretty good job, but to be honest you don't need it most of the time because the rubber insert on the inside keeps your breath away from the lenses, so the fan can simply be used briefly to clear it of fogging in the unlikely event of that occurring, and then switched off, so some duracell batteries will last a long time in the thing and it's more of a novelty that it has a fan than a necessity, although you could actually leave it running since it's basically the same as a PC cooling fan, i.e. it's not noisy.

 

The mask doesn't do wonders for your peripheral vision when wearing it, but it's not desperately bad. It is extremely lightweight though and does not impede breathing at all, so not at all like wearing a real gas mask respirator, which on the contrary, is a pain in the ass. I attached the fan to the left side of my mask (you can put it on either side, or the front), it does not foul my rifles when I pull them in close to aim, as some airsoft masks can do, so that is a plus point in that it is nowhere near as cumbersome as you might think it would be.

 

The other appealing plus point is of course that it looks quite cool - it's a fact that most military/SF gas masks are deliberately designed to look a bit intimidating, for obvious reasons - and it certainly does make you look pretty badass if you have all the rest of the gear to match it, i.e., I usually wear black SWAT style gear with a black PASGT helmet, and with that black mask added to the mix, it really does make you look the part. So if 'looking cool' appeals to you, then it's a good choice for full face protection. With four straps as per a typical mask, it does stay securely in place, and although the lenses do distort the view ever so slightly, it's a negligible amount, i.e. I could easily read this forum page whilst wearing that mask.

 

Shop around for one btw, I've seen them on fleabay for around about a tenner with free postage, think I paid about twelve quid for mine at the time i got it.

I know its paintball but I would not recommend that mask at all, its super unsafe.

 

[Chock]

According to the documentary I watched on the embassy raid, Mack (first guy on the balcony), spoke about a Hi-Power in it so I'm guessing they did have them just incase they got dead mans click.

 

True. And something else worth pointing out about 'Mac', i.e. John McAleese, is that he was a big fan of airsoft, or as he put it: "People read books about this SAS stuff and now they can do something similar.". Which is a quote worth remembering when anyone tells you they think it is uncool to play airsoft.

[Chock]

I know its paintball but I would not recommend that mask at all, its super unsafe.

 

 

Not an very valid comparison, not least because it is not a paintball mask. You might as well push a Ford Mondeo it out of the back of a C-130 at ten thousand feet and claim it isn't crashworthy for all the relevance that video has. Here's a more detailed comparison...

 

A 0.43 gram BB at 500fps, which is probably the worst you'd ever risk at a regulated airsoft site, will impart 4.99 joules of energy onto the target. The guy who did that test says he was shooting his paint balls at between 250 and 275 fps, so let's give him the benefit of the doubt and go with the lower figure of 250fps and say it was a fairly typical 3 gram paintball. That paintball will be putting 8.71 joules of energy onto the target. In other words, the absolute worst case scenario of a .43 BB doing 500fps, is still only about half the energy of a typical paintball at half the BB's fps. A more typical airsoft BB hit, would be a 0.20 gram BB at 350 fps, and that would only be putting 1.14 joules of energy onto the target, which is approximately seven and a half times weaker than what that paintball was doing.

 

You will notice that even then, the paintball doesn't smash the lens, it knocks it out of the mask, and I'd already said that I'd recommend securing the lenses a bit more to prevent that from happening, which is what I have done with mine, courtesy of some Araldite, and if you've ever used Araldite, you'll know how secure that stuff glues things down. The only stuff that sticks more securely than that stuff, is the remnants of cornflakes left for a day without washing the cereal bowl

[Guest PT247]

if anyone was running 0.43 BBs at 500fps on my site I'd punch the **** in the face!
You are not allowed to run that set up anywhere in the UK (I hope). 500fps on 0.2BBs (or poss 550fps max). A 0.43BB should not be hotter than 340fps on a bolt action sniper which is 2.31 joules

[Hav0c]

TBH I was never thinking of getting one of those M04 masks as I think that they look hideous, and also with them being hard plastic would feel extremely tacky and cheaply made.

 

I was leaning more towards a Russian PBF mask and getting some new lenses in them or adding a layer of perspex as a lens guard.

[Chock]

if anyone was running 0.43 BBs at 500fps on my site I'd punch the **** in the face!

You are not allowed to run that set up anywhere in the UK (I hope). 500fps on 0.2BBs (or poss 550fps max). A 0.43BB should not be hotter than 340fps on a bolt action sniper which is 2.31 joules

 

Yup true, I was simply comparing the worst case scenario with what that paintball did to point out the vast differences in energy a paintball and a BB putting onto what they hit. A sniper rifle would be really dodgily hot if it could push a 43 BB to 500fps, and if it was my Dragunov doing that, which is already a bitch to cock, I'd probably need Arnie to cock it for me lol.

 

Anyhow, the spec sheet, in case anyone is curious, for the M04 lenses says:

 

Lens Ballistic Protection: 150 m/sec (Approx. 500 FPS) with 6mm 0.20g BB