6 April 2014, 13:10
Anti pollution / irritant clothing
I would like to take a few thoughts from the thread shown below about masks for GHBs / BOBs and explore the whole issue of potential clothing issues.
http://forum.survivaluk.net/showthread.p...3#pid80213
Please indulge me as I am thinking about this as I type, after 911 and 7/7 and Madrid I picked up on the issue of eye and chest irritation / injury from the huge amounts of airborne debris caused by the exploding planes/ trains/ buses/ tubes. These agents included asbestos (lethal irritant), lead, powdered concrete, cyanide from burnt pvc cables, carcinogenic fumes from burnt aviation fuel and diesel fuel, powdered glass, microscopic fragments of glass fibre (severe irritant) oil vapour (causes dermatitis and burns skin) decimated and possibly dangerous human tissue remains, fumes from treated construction timber and paint etc.
The list of nasties urban survivors and preppers caught in town are numerous, often deadly and definitely something that can blight your day, delay your escape and impact your health.
So in the other thread we have determined a clear need for preppers to consider keeping activated charcoal face masks and eye protection to help them escape highly polluted areas or after a 911 event.
I would like to contemplate looking at clothing choices for urban preppers and preppers required to entire large urban conurbations. The reason for this is the multiple documented (and photographed) incidents of survivors fleeing 911 / 7-7 / Bali/ Moscow, Madrid type events who suffered injury and severe discomfort from highly polluted clouds of debris getting onto their skin. ( one noted report I read of a new Yorker commenting on how by the time he got to safety on 911 and got a shower his neck, waist, ankles, heels, groin were all rubbed red raw by the fallout getting between his clothing and skin.)
To be honest unless we all wore full NBC or MOPP suits it’s a pretty sure thing we WILL suffer some discomfort possibly to a debilitating degree, so what we should consider is how to MINIMISE the effect if we cannot stop it.
My initial thoughts are will our choice of clothing we actually wear and what we could also CONSIDER adding to our GHBs / EDCs/ BOBs.
Options?
Some of us could protect ourselves much better if we carried a set of cheap water proof fold up jacket and trousers like the budget Regatta range does that folds down into its own built in pouch, often cyclists keep a set of waterproofs and some motorists keep a set in their vehicle.
Other options are to move away from standard fleece jackets with their open pores and trap everything type fabric surface and instead use the water repellent close weave soft shell jackets instead, same style but much better at keeping muck and water out.
Bikers leather jackets are another option providing they have close fitting sleeves and close fastening collars.
Trousers and pants wise lightweight close cotton mix weaved sun / dust / water repellent travel and cargo pants offer good protection to your lower half. Regatta and 5:11 and Craghoppers all do good quality gear with very tightly woven fabrics that are often rip stop as well.
Extras
One step we should consider at the very least is reducing the risk of corrosive / toxic / irritant materials getting down our sleeves and collars, disposable or close fitting ordinary gloves would help greatly ( providing you tape the latter to your jacket sleeves to seal the gap) BUFFs ( semi elasticated multi purpose tubes of cloth normally worn around the neck) Bandanas, silk scarfs etc anything you can use that wont take up much space in your kit but you can use to protect your neck is another useful item to have.
I think at least one change of socks could be essential for comfort and durability thaey need to be wool or thick cotton types that wont make trapped debris worse,( a silicone blister kit could also be a good addition.
And of course we need to give some thought to head coverings, preferably something water resistant with a peak that will keep debris in part at least away from your eyes and scalp.
Basically if we think along the lines of wearing clothing into the city that would keep rain howers at bay that same gear generally but not totally should also keep toxic or corrosive or irritating dust at bay as well.
I would like to take a few thoughts from the thread shown below about masks for GHBs / BOBs and explore the whole issue of potential clothing issues.
http://forum.survivaluk.net/showthread.p...3#pid80213
Please indulge me as I am thinking about this as I type, after 911 and 7/7 and Madrid I picked up on the issue of eye and chest irritation / injury from the huge amounts of airborne debris caused by the exploding planes/ trains/ buses/ tubes. These agents included asbestos (lethal irritant), lead, powdered concrete, cyanide from burnt pvc cables, carcinogenic fumes from burnt aviation fuel and diesel fuel, powdered glass, microscopic fragments of glass fibre (severe irritant) oil vapour (causes dermatitis and burns skin) decimated and possibly dangerous human tissue remains, fumes from treated construction timber and paint etc.
The list of nasties urban survivors and preppers caught in town are numerous, often deadly and definitely something that can blight your day, delay your escape and impact your health.
So in the other thread we have determined a clear need for preppers to consider keeping activated charcoal face masks and eye protection to help them escape highly polluted areas or after a 911 event.
I would like to contemplate looking at clothing choices for urban preppers and preppers required to entire large urban conurbations. The reason for this is the multiple documented (and photographed) incidents of survivors fleeing 911 / 7-7 / Bali/ Moscow, Madrid type events who suffered injury and severe discomfort from highly polluted clouds of debris getting onto their skin. ( one noted report I read of a new Yorker commenting on how by the time he got to safety on 911 and got a shower his neck, waist, ankles, heels, groin were all rubbed red raw by the fallout getting between his clothing and skin.)
To be honest unless we all wore full NBC or MOPP suits it’s a pretty sure thing we WILL suffer some discomfort possibly to a debilitating degree, so what we should consider is how to MINIMISE the effect if we cannot stop it.
My initial thoughts are will our choice of clothing we actually wear and what we could also CONSIDER adding to our GHBs / EDCs/ BOBs.
Options?
Some of us could protect ourselves much better if we carried a set of cheap water proof fold up jacket and trousers like the budget Regatta range does that folds down into its own built in pouch, often cyclists keep a set of waterproofs and some motorists keep a set in their vehicle.
Other options are to move away from standard fleece jackets with their open pores and trap everything type fabric surface and instead use the water repellent close weave soft shell jackets instead, same style but much better at keeping muck and water out.
Bikers leather jackets are another option providing they have close fitting sleeves and close fastening collars.
Trousers and pants wise lightweight close cotton mix weaved sun / dust / water repellent travel and cargo pants offer good protection to your lower half. Regatta and 5:11 and Craghoppers all do good quality gear with very tightly woven fabrics that are often rip stop as well.
Extras
One step we should consider at the very least is reducing the risk of corrosive / toxic / irritant materials getting down our sleeves and collars, disposable or close fitting ordinary gloves would help greatly ( providing you tape the latter to your jacket sleeves to seal the gap) BUFFs ( semi elasticated multi purpose tubes of cloth normally worn around the neck) Bandanas, silk scarfs etc anything you can use that wont take up much space in your kit but you can use to protect your neck is another useful item to have.
I think at least one change of socks could be essential for comfort and durability thaey need to be wool or thick cotton types that wont make trapped debris worse,( a silicone blister kit could also be a good addition.
And of course we need to give some thought to head coverings, preferably something water resistant with a peak that will keep debris in part at least away from your eyes and scalp.
Basically if we think along the lines of wearing clothing into the city that would keep rain howers at bay that same gear generally but not totally should also keep toxic or corrosive or irritating dust at bay as well.