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Properly Displaying Gas Masks?

Article about: How does one properly display gas masks? Right now my collection resides on syrofoam and mannequin heads on shelves. Will this be okay for long term or will it cause excess wear to the strap

  1. #1

    Default Properly Displaying Gas Masks?

    How does one properly display gas masks? Right now my collection resides on syrofoam and mannequin heads on shelves. Will this be okay for long term or will it cause excess wear to the straps? I keep them generally not as tight as if worn but tight enough they hold to the display head. I detach filters from the masks unless attached by a hose. Due to the light weight of the heads the masks are either balanced by filter and hose sitting behind them, or in the case of masks made without hoses something propping them up under where filters would otherwise be attached. Is this all okay for my collection long term? Thank you. This seems to be a rather underdeveloped collecting niche so I can't find much info on it.

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    Default Re: Properly Displaying Gas Masks?

    I'd steer clear of the foam heads for display.....these give off fumes which can damage leather and textiles in the long run....I have a manaquin head, plastic, a bit more expensive but better in the long run

  4. #3
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    Default Re: Properly Displaying Gas Masks?

    Oh and don't wear them and tried to breath through the mask!!!!! A lot of them contain asbestos.....if the filter is undamaged it is fine to display with no real risk of asbestos leaking......just don't breath thru it!!!'n

  5. #4

    Default Re: Properly Displaying Gas Masks?

    Sadly, pretty much no matter what you do, some will deteriorate in the rubber parts etc eventually anyway. Glass hat display heads work good to set them out on(as said above, avoid the Styrofoam), but, I know, for example, that a WWI rubber lined gasmask will invariably harden and crumble over time despite what you try. We used to try rubbing on rubber treatments, etc, but no luck. They simply weren't made or intended to last for so many years. WWII now is in the 70 year or more range and WWI can be over 100! And, by no means Ever keep one inside the carrying canister, or else when you go to take it out someday, you'll end up pulling out Part of it and leaving the rest wedged inside the canister!
    William

    "Much that once was, is lost. For none now live who remember it."

  6. #5

    Default Re: Properly Displaying Gas Masks?

    I will hunt around the local shops later then for some plastic heads. I have one that is some sort of hard rubber like stuff so no idea what it would do. Nah I never wear any masks older than the Soviet ones flooding the market and I use surplus NATO filters. By the whole canister thing I meant the filter canister. None of my masks have the original storage canisters. I put the filter canister on the hose if they have one, then put it beside the display head and it counterbalances so that it doesn't tip forward under the masks weight. A shame there isn't much to do to preserve these. Oh well, I guess the best we can do is well document them. Thanks guys.

  7. #6

    Default Re: Properly Displaying Gas Masks?

    Been going over my collection, have a few new additions to it. Is stuffing them with paper a decent way to display them? I have them in an area that is kept at 72 degrees Fahrenheit, and they are out of direct sunlight. I have some glossy type paper that was used to wrap items that were shipped to me. I have read that paper stuffing is a safe way to fill out a mask for display, but am not sure if this glossy paper would be the right kind. I have shuffled them around, my new masks are on the styrofoam heads as it won't harm them anytime soon I'd imagine, and my older masks are paper stuffed and placed on lower shelves to better avoid indirect sunlight.

    At a gas mask forum, many people said the styrofoam wouldn't hurt, and that it is best to put a pin in the straps if possible when on the head, to keep the weight of the mask off the straps. So not sure who's right here. Nobody has posted there for months so I don't think I'm gonna get a second opinion there.

    Sorry if this is resurrecting an old post/beating a dead horse. I am just wanting to specialize in these masks, so would like to make sure I get it right the first time around. Very happy, I got an average condition corrected english model, without a carrier, for $5 at a flea market.

  8. #7

    Default Re: Properly Displaying Gas Masks?

    You need acid free museum grade paper.

    Cheers, Ade.
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