Finnish Kemira Sabre Gas Mask

Hello, so I have a very strange gas mask to show you today, or a very strange combination of gas mask parts in a way. I spotted this mask on eBay, the seller didn't know lots about it although they thought it was a World War II mask, but I don't actually think it is, but I think they got that because it said 1942 on the strap of the carrier. So the carrier bag for it is a British light anti-gas respirator carry bag. I think this is dated 1942, let me just see because I think that's on the strap that it's printed. Yep, 1942 is printed on the strap of the carry satchel for the bag. However, this is not a British light anti-gas respirator inside the satchel. So to start with you might think, oh is it a Danish surplus thing where they've bought a load of British light anti-gas respirator bags and then put their own masks in them, or you know other masks they bought the surplus in. No, it doesn't seem to be that. So anyway, let's get this open and here is the mask. So looks pretty advanced doesn't it, but the strange thing is it still uses retro filters. So as you can see there, here is a British World War II style filter that's basically taped or sort of attached to the mask via friction, and it has the arsenic pre-filter in front of it. Now I know Sweden as well in World War II used very similar filters to the British system, but the mask is actually, you know, a panoramic lens and it's got an oral nasal cup in there and everything, so it looks fairly advanced. So what can we find out about the mask itself? Well it actually says Sabre at the top, so I guess Sabre is the name of the respirator, and underneath in very, very small print you won't be able to see very well, it's made by Camira, or K-E-M-I-R-A, so I guess Camira, which is a Finnish company. It actually says made in Finland in English. Now whether or not the camera is going to focus on that I don't know, that's probably the best you can see it, but yeah, Camira made in Finland for the mask. So this is really interesting, you've got a British carry satchel with what appears to either be a British or a Swedish World War II filter, that's on a really advanced looking mask for the time, five-point head harness with adjustable rubber straps, you know, all of this stuff which is really advanced, and a panoramic lens. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to very briefly put the mask on, because this is obviously an asbestos British World War II filter, or similar, with the arsenic pre-filter on it as well, I'm not going to breathe through it. So there's this amazing technique I've developed, it's called holding my breath, and the reason I say this is because quite often when I've demonstrated this before with masks it's not safe to breathe through, people go, why are you breathing through a dangerous mask? And you say you hold your breath, no no you had it on too long, couldn't hold your breath. So anyway let me demonstrate this, oh it's got that same logo again on the inside there. Right anyway, so let me put the mask on. Fairly comfortable actually, I don't want to do it up too tight because I'm obviously holding my breath, but good field of view, oral nasal cup, obviously I'm not breathing out or in, so I can't demonstrate if that's working, but let's get this off now. So yeah, obviously I'm not breathing through this thing because it's an asbestos filter on here, but it seems really competent doesn't it? But I can't see a manufactured date or anything on this, so how did all this come together? What is, oh there's some information on the filter, but it's, oh 1957 the filter says in very small print, so this is a World War II style filter that's just been made much longer than normal, if you want to just see that, that's the standard thing, because the arsenic pre-filters hold on with that sort of stretchy rubber, or sometimes it would have been tape and you sellotape them on. Anyway I'll just probably pop that back in the bag separately. Now to make this even weirder, this came with some other bits as well. Now I do believe that this company, Camira, I do believe they make, and I think Scott makes them as well, because I think Camira is also the company that makes the Finnish version of the M95, and they do a modern like 40mm version of this which actually looks fairly good, it looks like a very similar mask except it's got a port with an exhale valve and a 40mm intake valve there. That's the point, where's the exhale valve for this? I guess you exhale through the filter do you on this? Because I can't see a separate exhale valve, so you must do. So yeah, there's no intake valve there look, so this is designed so you exhale and inhale through the filter, which people have asked me before, is it possible? Yes it's certainly possible, the only issue is you expire your filter a bit faster doing that, but I would certainly imagine this was for industrial not military use, but a very interesting mask. Now I imagine if you really wanted to, and obviously I don't because I don't like damaging antiques, you could take this filter off here and if you found a similar 40mm or 60mm intake kind of valve port, you could get the mask attached to that and actually modernise this and use this, but I don't want to do that. But what makes this mask weirder is some of the accessories it came with, so if I hang this around my neck, so you know I've got this hanging here so it's not in the way, let me show you what else was in the bag. So in one of the side pockets of the bag is this little tin and I believe this is either atropine in here, which is nerve agent antidote, or it is you know like a mustard gas thing. Now there's some instructions that are in foreign and I can't read them, so this one looks like it's in German, and then it's in another language on this side, so there's that. And then let's read what's on this side, maybe there will be an English one, nope. So here's another language on this side I think, it looks similar to German but it might be Dutch or something like that, and then there's another language there. Now because I know I've got subscribers from loads of countries, somebody can probably read one of the languages on here and actually tell me what this is, so just pause the video there. But to look at the stuff that's actually in the tin, you've got a little vial there and a cloth, so I'm not going to open this vial. Now this might actually be anti-dim paste saying that, it might be a stick of anti-dim paste that's sealed in there unless it's just something that's solidified over the years, and there's a cloth here. So yes, this might actually be either mustard gas ointment or anti-fogging paste in there, could be anything really, I don't know. I don't think it's actually atropine saying that now because of the fact that, you know, it looks more like it's a solid block or something, but there is a such thing as anti-mustard gas ointment which is like a cream you put on your skin if you've been exposed to mustard gas and it stops it doing as much damage, because generally mustard gas and lewisite don't instantly start causing the skin to blister, there's a delay of a couple of hours to, you know, days before it does the real damage, potentially anyway, not that you'd really want to wait around, but the idea is that if you know you've come into contact with mustard gas you can rub the ointment on your skin, it kind of neutralizes some of the effects before it happens. And what else we've got in it in the other side of the carry bag is this, it's a little tin that I've managed to do up too tight, it says rev 55 on there. How can I get this open? Because I opened it the other day and now I can't seem to open it again, there we go. So in here there's two rubber discs, or plastic discs, bake-like discs or something, not entirely sure what they're for, so there's jev 0455, so I guess 1955 is the date of a lot of this stuff, and in here there's some things, and I'm not sure exactly what they are, but they might be like sort of lens inserts or something, there we go. They do absolutely nothing in terms of being, you know, like amplifying, so it's not like lens correction type things. But yeah, there's two like plastic insert or very thin glass insert lenses in there, so again, strange, I wonder what they're for, unless they were something to do with the British light anti-gas respirator that this thing's in its satchel for. But again, very strange, so to go back over what was in here, if I can get this to close properly again and do it, I guess it just snaps together rather than screwing together. You've got whatever these are, the plastic discs, you've got your mustard gas ointment or anti-dim paste, in several languages, you've got your British WWII carry bag, and you've got what looks like British or Swedish WWII filters on a Finnish gas mask, so very strange. Like I said, the brand is Kymira, or K-E-M-I-R-A, as far as I can read it, and as far as I'm aware, they are still around as a company now, because I'm pretty certain it's them that do like a modernized looking version of this and the Finnish M95 variants. For people asking, will I get an M95, the same logic applies to every mask. If I see one at a great price, I'll snap it up, if I can't see any at a good price, I won't buy it. That's the logic I really apply to all masks. I know I am working now and I'm earning a lot more money than I used to be earning, but you know, I still, you know, just due to common sense, I don't want to spend loads of money on one mask, unless it's a modern one that would actually be used in a real situation, which I probably could with an M95 to be honest, but you know, I still don't want to. I'd rather get several masks for £100 for example, than actually just buy one mask for £100, that's the logic. But yeah, so very strange. But as said, the mask itself seems very good quality, panoramic lens, aural nasal cup, really efficient. This is also a bit like the Finnish M71, which was another mask when they had the M61, they had the M71, and I don't know if the M71 was intended for military use and never used for it, or if it was just intended for like, sort of industrial use, and that just wasn't used very much. They sometimes turn up on eBay for about £30, but one of my Patreon supporters who's Finnish said often in Finland they're like 15 euros, so again I'd probably rather try and find somebody in Finland who would sell it for around 15 euros plus postage and pay 30 odd quid for it. But there we go, this is the Finnish Sabre mask as far as I can tell, and yeah, it's pretty cool. It's just a shame it's not got a modernised 60 or 40mm intake on it rather than old asbestos WWII filters, but it's a very interesting thing for what it is, and it's always surprising when you buy a gas mask thing and you get everything seems to be mismatched inside, but it doesn't look like somebody's just done it themselves and put it in that carrier bag. You know, it actually seems to be a thing, and why a British seller had a Finnish industrial mask it seems in a WWII British carry bag I have no idea. It seems like it's set up for military use as well doesn't it, with the ointment type stuff in it and whatever those inserts are, so yeah, very very strange. I have no idea, maybe somebody will be enlightened. I did have a look on a load of the gas mask kind of archive sites like the Wiki and the Gas Mask Lexicon, I think Gas Mask King, and this mask is not on any of them. As I said, the closest thing I can find is the modern Finnish kind of industrial masks that Scott also make, or did make, and the Finnish M71s, but this thing is a mystery to me, but as far as I'm aware it is called the Sabre.