Comment by donohoe
None of which are practical if you need to wear glasses.
None of which are practical if you need to wear glasses.
Honestly the 3M 60923 cartridges don't restrict breathing at all. They have great airflow. I've used them all day long in chemical plants, no one complains about that.
Seconded. I've used those exact cartridges. Not for as long of shifts as you, but I'd say the face mask fit is much more important for that.
My DIY-perspective tip is that when you're getting to know the respirator, you can take the filter cartridges off and put your hands over the input ports to feel what fully restricted breathing feels like, make it a known sensation in case it ends up happening. Likewise you can cover the output port and breathe out to do a kind of rough fit test.
I usually put those in a parts drawer for use when opening electronic devices built with clipped together plastic cases.
Good tip, though! I'll have to try that next time I'm using the bayonets.
There is a glasses kit available for the listed 3M 6800.
In many cases, especially for the higher end models, you can spend in the neighborhood of $100 to get an Rx face-shield. On the note of matters that didn't seem to come up much in the article, but that I feel like people should know:
The kind of cartridge you need to withstand teargas is not an N95, as the top comment points out it's quite a bit more involved. The downside of that other than cost and duration of the filter is that you'll feel a lot more resistance on inhaling than you're used to. For some people the combination of something on their face and the feeling of restricted breathing is unbearable, and mid-tear gas attack is a terrible time to realize that.
Consider also that this becomes far more important if you're working hard, say running around or fighting. Anyone who has it in their head to give this a try should keep those factors in mind, as well as get a kit to properly fit-test because again... mid-attack is a terrible time to realize that your fit isn't up to snuff. Likewise with training to don and doff.
In a lot of ways the article feels like clickbait that's extremely self-aware, but not really concerned with the practical reality of what they're implying.