Common Gas Mask Scams to Avoid

Hello, so this is going to be a video all about scams I've seen online of gas masks. So this is nothing to do with the Israeli mask in particular, but all the sort of various scams I've seen that I can think of off the top of my head to do with masks and filters that are kind of prevalent, especially when I get people trying to tell me I'm wrong about something because the seller said so. So let's look at them. So what I'll first mention, I know this isn't a GP5 filter on here, but I'll go over this over and over again. Basically with the Soviet filters, yes, they contained asbestos in the particulate layer, not the activated charcoal layer. The reason that's important is I still get loads of people to say, well, the seller says that there's activated charcoal in his mask and not asbestos, so there you're wrong. Yeah, every mask that had asbestos in it also had activated charcoal in it. So that's just a note about filters. Another note about filters, a couple of things to look out for. Some of these are going to be the same sort of points as the mask. If a seller says a filter is new, always check that it actually, you can see what the date is for the filter and when it's expiry is. The reason is I've seen lots of places on eBay where the seller will say, new filters for sale, and then like the small print, it might say expired and they're already out of date, so they're not new, are they? I suppose they might not have been opened, but then like they're new old stock and with a filter that's not good enough if you're buying it for protection. And also make sure you're aware which filters are 40mm NATO or RD40 and which are Warsaw Pact 40mm GOST filters. The reason being I've also seen some sellers sell Warsaw Pact filters saying they're NATO filters. I've had lots of people tell me the old Czechoslovakian filters in my videos on Czechoslovakian gas masks are actually NATO filters because some people are passing them off as NATO filters when they're definitely Warsaw Pact GOST filters because why would a Warsaw Pact nation at the time Czechoslovakia make filters not to fit its mask but to fit NATO masks? Exactly. So that's most of the points out of the way with filters, so let's get on to the mask. So basically, speaking about age, this is a big thing with masks, is if the seller is saying the mask is new, make sure you check when you get the mask, especially if it's made only within the last one or two years, make sure you check the date on it. So with date stamps they're normally on different masks, they can be in different places, I've got a couple of masks as well where I can't actually find a date stamp. So with this Israeli M15, this is one on a chainless mask, there's 1979 here, the 79 will just mean 1979. On the strap there is also, the interesting thing is the strap actually says 69 on there, you can probably see, 69. Now the interesting thing about this strap as well is it says 4.1, so I don't know if this is a 4A1 strap that's actually just been put onto this mask for whatever reason, but there you go. But you can find sometimes masks that individual components are older than other components, I guess if a factory did loads of components at one point they then spread those out over different masks, and I think this Israeli mask also has a stamp on the inside, yes it does. So to make this more confusing, you've got one date stamp there that's almost expired, one that's like a chalky kind of ink stamp, but what you've also got there is another date stamp that says 1973 on it. So what that means is various bits of the mask were made at various points in time. You can also see this date stamp says 83, maybe? Yeah, 83. So basically I assume that it was a 10 year shelf life of the mask, that it was made in 73 to last 10 years, you know, retire from service in 1983. So the point being obviously that if you are buying a mask that's advertised as new, like a brand new mask, not a surplus mask, make sure when you get it you check the dates on the rubber, because I've had masks where they're advertised as new and they're like 20 years old, so that's the case when you can actually contact the seller and say I want a refund or I want a partial refund, because obviously don't get scammed if a seller is saying oh it's a brand new mask, you know, literally made in the last year and it's an old Cold War one, or whatever else. So those are kind of the main points to pay attention to, but basically it's just double checking the stuff on the mask is as the seller says it is, and don't really, I don't have a problem with sellers, I'm just sort of saying don't trust the seller's word on it, just like if anybody is selling you anything, never trust their word over independent kind of sources. Again, like I said, I'm not selling you anything really, so I can be quite impartial on this, but I mean this as a general rule for anything. This is like the problem I have with camouflage as well, where a certain site will be selling a certain camouflage pattern, so they'll take photos of it in the perfect environment for that camouflage to work, and then people say, well this is clearly the best camo because look how good it looks in this photo, and as I covered before, that's because it's a promotional photo, where they make it look as good as possible and probably photoshop it as well, it's not a trusted independent source. You wouldn't trust, you know, like for example a company that makes a film to then review the film, you know, otherwise it would be a meaningless review, wouldn't it? My own film is really great, look how great it is. So that's, you know, some points to go over. Again, there's probably other points I can't think of off the top of my head, or think of with enough time to jot them down on a list and then do them in a video, but in general, always check the dates of everything, and when a seller says something is a certain type of thing, you know, double check that, because I've said I've seen lots of Warsaw Pact filters passed off as NATO filters, simply because either the seller doesn't know or the, you know, they're assuming you as the buyer doesn't know, and lots of people saying GP5 filters or whatever don't contain asbestos, they contain activated charcoal, which as I've gone over loads of times, we know, yes, they do contain activated charcoal, but they also contain, you know, 1-3 odd percent asbestos for the most part. So that's the point, sorry to keep going over them, but this is a good video if you're new to gas masks and want to buy one. Remember, if you do buy on eBay, the great thing about eBay is that you've got buyer protection, so you can use that, if you get something and it's not as intended, the seller, you can sort it out, you can get your refund, partial refund, whatever, but yeah, do be aware that obviously just because a seller says something doesn't make it true, so see ya.