Top products from r/redpreppers
We found 2 product mention on r/redpreppers. We ranked the 2 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
1. Cyclone Tube - Assorted Colors
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
Create awesome cyclones at homeEasy to use instructions includedTake science home and make it fun
Show Reddit reviews2. Fox Labs 1.5 oz. Lock-On Pepper Spray Grenade
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
Now available to the public, this is the hottest pepper spray used by POLICE and Military worldwideFox pepper spray is refined to 5.3 million Scoville heat unitsDepress tab, nozzle stays open, toss into position immediately1.5 oz (43 ml) - Filled and assembled in the U.S.A
Show Reddit reviews
Ok, there's a lot going on here.
First, this looks unreliable as balls. The masks worked for a minute or two standing still against essentially an aerosolized oil. Contrary to what they said in the video, they were using pepper spray, not tear gas. This sounds nitpicky but it makes a difference as the actual stuff that wrecks your mucous membranes is, as I mentioned, an oil and that's relatively easy to extract from air with something like charcoal pellets. I don't see this working for much else. Certainly not for things like gases.
They also mentioned that breathing quickly made the masks not work. That's fine if you're standing still and don't need much oxygen but between the possibility of having to leg it somewhere, panicking, and the inefficient exchange of air in the masks you stand a pretty good chance of passing out from insufficient oxygen or breathing so deeply you end up breathing in whatever you're trying to keep out if you wear these for any length of time.
I'm also sold on the idea of breathing in activated charcoal. There aren't any specific negative effects to charcoal dust that I am aware of but there are risks associated with general dust inhalation.
Second, 50/50 antacid and water works. 50/50 mint antacid and water does not. Try a little experiment; get some toothpaste, put a little in a cup, and squirt some water in there until it's pretty liquid-y. Now dab that around (not in) your eyes. You'll note that that really fucking burns. If you're getting antacid for combating pepper spray, get the non-flavored variety.
Side note, this mixture does fuck all for tear gas exposure.
Third, if you are just bent on doing this, don't fuck around with soda cans and duct tape. Screw all that. Get a couple vortex tubes, they're a few bucks, and screw a small bottle on. You can even pre-prepare other "filters" and change them out as you need them rather than ditching the entire mask.
Overall, I feel like this is a terrible idea except under very, very particular circumstances that most people who are thinking of making these won't encounter.