Army gas mask series#

United States: Formerly used by all branches of the U.S.

Thailand: Adopted by the Royal Thai Army.

Malaysia: Used by Malaysian riot police.Australia: Adopted by the Australian Army.It is recommended that users continue wearing it until the biological or chemical agent is identified and verified cleared from the area using standardized unmasking procedures. The mask is not meant to be used for firefighting and does not provide protection from radiation, however the filters will stop irradiated particles from entering the respiratory system of the wearer. The mask offers protection from chemical and biological warfare agents, but does not function properly in places where oxygen content is low. The US armed forces henceforth returned to 'traditional' designs of mask where filter canisters are mounted externally and thus can be changed if needed without the wearer having to remove the mask. The design of the mask with its internal cheek filters means that it must be removed by the wearer to change the filters once they are expired or clogged, thus compromising its protective capabilities in a contaminated environment. It was for this reason that the resuscitation tube system was no longer issued for the A1 and was dropped on the M17A2. The casualty would remain unmasked, and would continue absorbing the contaminated environment. The problem with it being the exposure of both soldiers to contamination, the soldier giving aid ran the risk of encountering resistance from the airway of the casualty, pushing air back into his mask and breaking the seal on it. The M17A1 was designed with intent to allow a masked soldier to provide artificial respiration to an unmasked casualty, the resuscitation tube was a noble idea gone wrong. Other components attached are mask hoods to protect the head and neck area, a winterization kit to prevent frost accumulation during cold weather conditions and optical inserts for soldiers with vision defects. It also contains a M1 waterproof bag to protect filter elements from water damage. The mask is packed in a carrier that also contains other items like a nerve agent antidote kit (NAAK), a convulsive antidote for nerve agents (CANA) and an M-258A1 decontamination kit. Old, clear outserts tended to yellow with time and was considered a deadlining condition for the mask since accurate color vision was required to assess sometimes subtle color changes on the M256A1 chemical detection kit required for unmasking procedures. Three varieties of outserts were available for the mask clear for general operations, gray tinted for bright environments, and green tinted to protect the wearer from battlefield lasers. These protective masks have inbuilt voice emitter systems that facilitate communication, a tube for drinking water from the M1 canteen cap (A1 & A2), and a pair of outserts to protect eye lenses and an air pathway that reduced fogging. Notable copies include the Bulgarian PDE-1, Japanese Type-3, the Polish Mp-4 and the Czech OM10 or M10M. Many countries have copied the M17 design. An experimental transparent-silicone model called the XM27 was designed in late 1966, but was turned down in favor of the XM28E4.

Army gas mask series#

The M17 series includes three types of masks, the M17, M17A1 and M17A2. Filter elements in the face piece prevent harmful agents from entering the mask. The mask has different components including a filter, a face piece and outserts.