Practicality of gas masks in the modern day.

This article is actually just a copy and pasted paper i wrote but without the works cited. The actual essay can be downloaded at the bottom of the page.

The Gas Mask Essay

By Mario Hobbs

2/15/24

M/D/Y

In this essay I will go over some of the useful reasons why everyone in this country should own a gas mask, It will be broken up into these segments: 1. Emergency, 2. Defense, 3. Style.

Emergency: Gas masks are not just cool looking masks, they could actually save your life. In the case of a fire a gas mask could prevent smoke from reaching your lungs through its filters, or in the case of extremely bad air quality protect your lungs if you have athsma. During the covid 19 pandemic people were at a scramble for masks, a useful one was the N95 although it only had a 95% success rate at stopping the virus, although N95s were rare, often people would be using cloth masks with significantly worse rates at stopping the spread of the virus. Unlike a cloth mask though a gas mask has around a 99% success rate at stopping toxins and viruses from entering, if it can stop chlorine gas and tear gas it can absolutely stop a pesky virus.

Defense: Chemical weaponry has always been a threat to America, if a hostile power were to drop toxins on the continental united states we would all be doomed. However with the use of a gas mask instead of having to huddle indoors and wait for the toxins to clear, or go outside and subject yourself to death you could simply put on the gas mask and not have to worry about the toxins. Or say you are a peaceful protest for women’s rights, but the government uses tear gas to disperse the crowd; well you don’t have to worry about that dreadful stuff that should probably be outlawed for use on civilians if you simply put on a gas mask. As the tools for genetic engineering grow cheaper the threat of bio-terrorism grows steadily, and as such we must be prepared. If we are caught unaware we’ll be dead before we know it, but with a gas mask you can be prepared, so when the air is deemed toxic you can just put on your gas mask and be along with your day while your neighbors die in the streets.

Style: Gas masks have existed for around a century as such have many varieties. Shortly after the attacks on pearl harbor the sun rubber company produced gas masks to protect children, stylized after mickey mouse, They worked very well although few were made. Many think gas masks may seem creepy, that is mostly due to the face they hide faces but that is no reason; by that logic many things may seem creepy: like medieval helmets and armor, or a guy Fawkes mask. Gas masks are good, not bad, very useful. Gas masks also can be used in cool costumes, here are some costumes you could use with a gas mask: Futuristic Plague Doctor, Steampunk costume, toxic zombie, Batman with a gas mask, WW1 Russian Soldier, Cooler Darth Vader, Pyro Tf2, British ww1 soldier, American ww1 soldier, French ww1 soldier, Samurai with a gas mask, 1920’s man, Mickey Mouse in the trenches, Magical girl with a gas mask, Psycho Mantis, Adrian Shepard, HL2 Metro Cop, Lethal company employee, Hazmat suit, and many more!

In conclusion: Gas masks are not only practical in the modern day, they are also stylish and may even save your life. And they still look cool, regardless of what many may think.