fire escape hood

W

Will

Joined
Jan 4, 2003
Messages
659
Due to some recent incidences, I have been thinking about getting some sort of fire escape hood that I could easily carry around (as if I don't already carry enough "emergency" crap around with me!) If anyone here has expereince with these products I would appreciate some imput. Basically I am looking for something inexpenisve and simple that is compact enough to easily carry around.

Some of the products I am looking at are:

http://safetyproducts-store.stores.yahoo.net/emessmokhood.html

http://www.saferamerica.com/productDetail.asp?categoryID=12&productID=228

http://www.websoft-solutions.net/emergency_escape_hood_smoke_escape_hoods_p/pcmndhd.htm

http://www.improvementscatalog.com/home/improvements/8956-smoke-escape-hood.html

The first seems to be well reviewed and sounds pretty good, but is more expensive and bulkier than the others. The second doesn't offer protection to the eys and rest of the head. The last two seem more reasonable, but certainly the last one says it doesn't not filter out gases, only smoke. I wonder how that would compare to just tying a wet peice of cloth over the mouth?

What do you guys think about carrying one around in general? I know it is a specialized item that is really only good in one type of situation. It might at least be worth keeping in my appartment if I don't bother carrying it around.
 
I'm interested in this discussion as well.

One thing that I've thought about in the past was whether or not one or more of the hoods on the market would be good both for fire escape as well as a random chemical problem (whether accident or attack). I'm too lazy to do the research myself. :D
 
I knew an apartment manager that kept a special hood w/ an O2 tank on it just in case. It all folded up, and was about the size of a can of hairspray. He said it held about 5 mins worth of air. It was rather big for edc though.
 
Jeez, I'd rather have a wet wool blanket than a pastic bag over my head in a fire! Now, I can't say I know much about this stuff, but still. Or how about a surplus gas mask?
 
I recall an instructor at the fire academy when they were teaching us about SCBA and emergency procedures. Back in the day, they taught us that if we ran out of air, we should put the hose from the facepiece down inside our coats to filter the air. We asked this chief if that really worked or not, and his reply was, "I think this is just something for you to do so you feellike you're doing something useful while you die." I lump these filters into that category because while they might be great at filtering, they won't do a thing for you when the oxygen level drops and you pass out and die. Having been in many burning buildings throughout my career, I also have a big problem with putting shrink wrap over my face in a heated atmosphere. YMMV.
 
I understand the psychology of putting the "plastic bag" over your head in a fire, but it is heat and fire resistant to some 400°. Certainly better than not having it over your head.
 
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