Kristal Kleer and respirator

QUOTE: Originally posted by Wizball Reminds me of the test you do when you do your military service here in Sweden. First you prepare your (standard issue) uniform and your face mask. You then enter a room wearing everything and the officer opens up two cans of tear gas. You then get the order to do jumping jacks...

heheee... sounds like my sister doing training at west point (us military academy- shes gonna be an officer) they went into the room, were ordered to take the mask off, so they can see how helpful it is, then do pushups. later, they opted to go back in, for FUN, with no masks, to sing the batlle song or whetever it was.... shes crazy i tell ya....

You should be able to fit your respirator just like you fit and test your protective mask. If all else fails see if your NBC NCO will give you a hand.

thin the krystal kleer as you need it with water and it will be fine. just dont thin the whole bottle at once.

When I worked for Paramount, our saftey coordinator would come around and test our respirators with these little things that looked like the ammonia inhalents that you crack and stick under someones nose. these things smelled exactly like banannas. If you could smell anything, you didn't have a seal.

Reminds me of the test you do when you do your military service here in Sweden. First you prepare your (standard issue) uniform and your face mask. You then enter a room wearing everything and the officer opens up two cans of tear gas. You then get the order to do jumping jacks... Belive me, you'll notice if the fit wasn't right and you made pretty sure you had been extra careful with your razor. You want every little straw gone and you DON't want to have any cuts if your skin gets exposed to the gas. Bonus tip: if you get gas under the clothes or in you mask, DON'T remove it while you still have gas around you...

I tried putting water and then a little windex into the Kristal Kleer and stirred it well. Then I applied it on th window and it worked very nicely.

The respirator is a medium fit. I have a medium fit GAS mask issued by the air force and it seals nicely. I'll keep fiddling with it and see. I may have to get a larger size. I wasn't aware that facial hair had an effect so I'll take that into account.

Thank you for the info

If you have facial hair, getting a seal will always be a problem.
I have a moustache/beard and when I snorkle I can't get a seal with the facemask unless I smear petrolium jelly around the seal.
you could try that.

Sounds like Reggie's got it right on the respirator. I keep my goatee short so that my respirator can get a good seal under my chin. What you'll want to do is "clear your mask". While wearing your respirator, breath out while holding your hand over the exhalation port...you shouldn't be able to blow any air out of the mask. Then cover the filters completely with both hands and suck in...again, you shouldn't be able to pass any air through the mask.

If you can, the mask isn't sealed against your skin properly. Readjust and try again. It should be a relatively simple process, and once you get used to it, it'll go quickly. Make sure it fits before continuing to use it...if you still can't get it and are still smelling fumes, try a different mask. Your respirator is your best friend when dealing with these noxious chemicals.

Best of luck!

I have thinned my Krystal Kleer with just a little water and it thinned it out nice.

if krystal kleer is the same as future, i would use windex/windolene/amonia based window cleaner to try to thin it. not 100% sure though.

as for the respirator, my bet is that you arent getting a good seal on your face, since its brand new. if you have facial hair it wont help cos that will degrade the seal between the mask and your face. try adjusting the fit, that should solve things.