r/Firefighting • u/MightAsswell • 17h ago
Photos Would you as a firefighter wear these?
I'm hoping to become a firefighter. In situations where I'm not wearing a SCBA, but there's still smoke or ash around, I think something like this would be a good idea to wear to help prevent inhaling some of the toxic shit in the air. Has anyone tried this before?
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u/thatdudewayoverthere 17h ago
Why?
We have multiple other options besides SCBA for example have you heard of masks?
The were quite popular 5 years ago
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u/MightAsswell 17h ago
masks are bigger and much more obvious and look silly. these would barely be visible
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u/thatdudewayoverthere 17h ago
I care about my personal health Alot more than looking silly
And honestly a normal face mask looks less silly than sticking filters up your nose
Besides all of that they wouldn't even be effective since you can't breath through your mouth which Alot of us do during physical tasks on the job
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u/6TangoMedic Canadian Firefighter 8h ago
That's the stupidest reason I've heard in a long time.
And the main part, what about your mouth? You just going breathe through your nose the whole time?
Plus, those nose filters filter considerably less particulates than an N95. So you're increasing your risk of inhaling dangerous things because "masks look silly"
you do you man....
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u/ButtSexington3rd 17h ago
I've got a mask that's basically the nomex hood material with a velcro close in the back, it's pretty much like putting your hood over your face without it slipping or being already filthy.
That being said, don't be the guy who gets bullied into taking his pack off. Not wanting to work with a heavy ass bookbag is one thing, but not wanting to look like a dork is quite another. My first officer told me when he was a firefighter he had some older guys telling him to drop his pack, he shone his flashlight around and there were solid particulate chunks floating in the air and he was like "naaah I'm good". What you do with your body is ultimately up to you, but you're going to be the one living the consequences.
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u/MightAsswell 17h ago
Definitely appreciate your comment! Haha I feel like a lot of the other commenters are the kind of guys that would bully you into taking off your SCBA to be more macho. I appreciate your comment!
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u/Darth_Pink 17h ago
The solution for smoke and cancer in the air is an SCBA. There is no appropriate situation for a half-measure as PPE.
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u/Double_Blacksmith662 17h ago
And its just one entry point anyways. If you could overhaul with your mouth closed the whole time that would be impressive. They probably would not stay in place with the amount of movement and sweat that would be happening. Plus SCBA/hood covers your jawline area. As others have said, SCBA is the correct solution.
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u/ThePureAxiom 17h ago
Isn't going to offer much, if any protection on a scene, it's not designed for it. These are for allergies, so probably akin to just the electrostatic layers on an n-95 given what it's describing as target particles, don't know that it'd help with smoke, and definitely wouldn't help with toxic products of combustion that we monitor for.
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u/doscervezas2017 17h ago
Mate, if you're worried about inhaling toxins and pollutants, you need to wear PPE properly approved by a standards process, like SCBA, a PAPR mask, or n95 masks, not random snake oil trinkets you see on Wish dot com.
There is zero chance these are as effective as PPE tested and approved by ANSI, NFPA, NIOSH, Underwriter Labs, etc.
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u/mrsheenscrackpipe 17h ago
I would not. if I’m in an environment with smoke and ash around, I’m probably working / exerting myself in some manner. So if I’m gonna breathe through just my nose with my mouth shut and there’s little filters shoved in my nostrils, There’s a high likelihood I’d keel over on the fire ground from not getting enough air.
I work for a large urban department with a long history in the fire service. Wearing an N95? Nobody bats an eye. You wearing these things ? Probably end up with a nickname in about 15 minutes and you’d be clowned on ruthlessly. Just my opinion though.
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u/HazMatsMan Career Co. Officer 14h ago
LMAO, no, these things are ineffective and a stupid idea. As soon as you relinquish conscious control of your breathing, your body will have you breathing out of your mouth, the same as when your nose is stuffed up. We have particulate filters for our SCBA facepieces and can switch to those if we need protection from "nuisance" levels of particulates. If the atmosphere is still toxic or hazardous, you should still be on air.
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u/CB_CRF250R 17h ago
Bad news friend… the dangers of breathing in toxins go wayyy beyond when there is still smoke and ash around. Your gear, your skin, the inside of your apparatus, and likely the inside of your fire house are all sources of bad shit. Research has even shown that firefighters children have higher cancer rates than those whose parent isn’t a firefighter, because of the shit we carry home with us/on us. Departments are getting better about decontamination procedures, but unfortunately, we aren’t there quite yet.
TLDR: All the toxins that a fire/smoke puts out sticks to you and your gear, and without taking the proper precautions, you will still be exposed long after you remove your silly nose filters. The bad stuff is invisible. Best of luck!
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u/chuckfinley79 27 looooooooooooooong years 12h ago
Based on how my head feels right now I’d definitely give them a try. For mowing my lawn.
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u/Verdqy 17h ago
I feel in most situations where there are toxins in air, despite what some members of the old guard might say best practice is to keep your SCBA on... Your health and safety come first.