What is a practical respirator for emergencies?

Since 9/11 a lot of people have been buying various kinds of respirators to prepare for emergencies.

I have seen 4 different solutions from people:
- Regular N95(US) / FFP2(EU) dust masks.
- Surplus military gasmasks.
- Escape masks
- Brand new military/industrial masks

Dust masks
Regular dust masks N95(US) / FFP2(EU) (these are rating are not identical, but similar or higher grade will give good protection against dust and some biological hazards (viruses and bacteria need something to carry them through air). It does not protect against vapors.

Surplus military masks
Surplus military masks where design to give a good protection from CBRN hazards. However surplus masks are generally outdated. Rubber material will degrade and become porous. They might be airtight, but not vapor tight anymore. So protection against chemicals is compromised. The filter canisters can also be comprised by long storage (moisture and temperature).

Other problems with surplus masks:
- The cheap and very common Russian/East German GP-5 and similar masks are using real glass eye pieces. Creating a hazard for your eyes when they shatter.
- Real old masks might use asbestos as part of the filter canisters.
- Some specialist canisters are reactive (using chemicals to neutralize certain threats), but these can turn hazardous with time.
-When in use make sure the plugs are removed from both ends of the canisters (some canisters do not use plugs, but are vacuum sealed). A few people die each year, because they forgot.
- All military masks are made for military use. The amount of PPM (parts per million) of chemicals from a military chemical attack is usually much lower than a civilian chemical incident. Therefor the canisters can be saturated much quicker then expected.

In general they are to big to carry, performance of old masks are not know and may just give a false sense of safety.

GP-5 mask with glass lenses

Escape masks
Escape masks are widely used in chemical industry and usually carried on the person or mounted on strategic placed on walls. Protection from these masks varies a lot, due to the differences in chemicals in chemical industry. Mostly filter masks, but some SCBA variants are available too. These masks are only for escaping and therefor only provide protection for a limited time. When you buy one, do a lot of research on what threats you expect and buy the appropriate one.

These masks are more portable then full sized gasmask, however fairly big to carry. So not very practical for a normal person to carry everyday. They can also be fairly expensive.

Brand new military/industrial masks
These can be harder to get and are expensive, but give good protection against the agents it's design to protect from. Military mask can still have problems from being saturated by civilian chemicals due to the higher PPM's during use. Again fairly big and this time also expensive.

Regardless which option people choose, you should do the following:

- It's recommended to shave off any facial hairs to create a proper seal.
- Learn how to use them.
- Make sure you buy the right size.

Which protection level to choose from?
Some people choose a very high level of breathing protection. However breathing protection without skin protection is a bit useless. Skin protection is useless without decontamination equipment and you do not know when to decontaminate if you can't measure the threat. So this means either carry everything with you which is totally impractical or scale down and choose something more practical.

Mine recommendation:
If you do not carry a respirator with you, you can't use it. Mine recommended option would be a disposable particulate welding respirator. These are based on N95 / FFP2 type of masks, but also include a carbon layer. They are very cheap, light and small (especially the folding ones). Making the easy to carry and accessible for everybody. The often include a valve, making them reasonable comfortable to wear. I remember seeing somebody on NGC 'Doomday preppers' putting carbon between two masks to make there own. But since they actually make these, don't bother making it yourself. If you need a respirator with a higher protection level, you will need a lot more than just a respirator. Very few people will carry HAZMAT equipment everyday. Besides, don't stay in contaminated area's, a mask is just for getting out.