Then wear a LPR-100. It is bulkier than a TR1 or TR2 from Project Black which is what I wear for practice and it doesn't have comms integration or proper helmet integration like a SOTR which is what I wear for work. If it is just good to you then save your money and drive on with it, I have already said that the SOTR isn't for most people.Originally Posted by Xhado
So, I have a question. I totally get the purpose of the SOTR, especially given our shoot house is limited to 45 minutes per day of exposure. That's very limiting to our people, and the SOTR has an actual purpose for them.
However, the SOTR is not NIOSH rated and such is a requirement by 1910.134 when issuing a respirator. So, how is your work going about that, or is this a personally acquired item on your end? Are you civilian LE or military?
"Are you ready? Okay. Let's roll."- Last words of Todd Beamer
I personally bought both the TR1 and the SOTR after seeing some coworkers have issues with lead and other contaminants impacting their respiratory health and talking with some guys from a Scandinavian unit that practically won't even look at guns without inhalation protection. High volume suppressed rifle fire and shoot house work can quickly add to unhealthy exposure levels. I know there are a couple different on going evaluations of different products to fulfill the need within the military and have heard of a few hiccups along the way. For me it is better than nothing when not wearing a full mask until there is something issued with the FAST SF and AMP package.
Bane? Is that you?All I can say is no one cared who I was until I put on the SOTR.
... nor did they care after. Except for some odd looks.
The Project Black TR1 is just a repackaged and more expensive 02 Curve which is more than twice as expensive as a LPR-100. It's still not NIOSH rated and does not have an easily obtainable filters. The lack of an exhaust valve may be an issue as well.
The TR2 has mic integration but is significantly more expensive, still not NIOSH rated and the same supply chain issues that the TR1 has. At this point you might as well spend the money on the SOTR.
If you don't need helmet/mic integration, there's really no need for a "tactical" respirator. I'll stick to a properly rated $25 respirator with $10 filters that I can pick up at a store in town.
The lack of NIOSH ratings on these "tactical" respirators is really concerning. It shows the companies aren't going after unit purchases, but would rather hand out free samples to influencers to try and get individual purchases.
Have you got any actual hands on experience with any of these products?
The TR1 has two exhaust valves.
The TR2 is much more low profile than a SOTR and is going for a NIOSH rating last I checked but has not yet been fully released yet.
If you don't have a helmet then you won't care about being able to hook into the O2 mask hooks on an OPS-Core but if you wear a helmet then being able to have the mask hang without having to move ear pro out of the way or take your helmet off is a incredibly valuable feature and having a mask with comms integration is a must.
Both companies are actively seeking to develop products to be purchased on a large scale but if you believe that OPS-Core thought that individuals on instagram were going to purchase SOTRs in large numbers when most people have cheap ear and eye pro then you must think there are a lot of idiots working at Gentex. Both masks were readily available before people started panic buying them for COVID-19.
Enjoy whatever mask you choose to or not to wear, it doesn't affect me in the slightest either way. I will say for a third and final time that all of the above products are not for everyone and add that 99% of civilians don't shoot enough to warrant a mask.
I've handled the SOTR and the O2 curve (TR1). I was not impressed with the curve, SOTR was pretty cool though. If I had a comms requirement I would use it.
I hope that the SOTR gets a proper NIOSH rating. Back when I was working in SOF where we had more money than we knew what to do with, I would have been laughed out of the office for trying to procure PPE without proper PPE ratings.
You keep acting like I'm coming after you bud. It doesn't bother me what mask you choose to wear. I'm just here, just like everyone else to discuss our opinions on masks.
I don't think you are coming after me, I was just trying to be polite instead of telling you that I think you don't have a clue what you are talking about and were deliberately obtuse to begin with. It takes one breath out of a TR1 to know that a has exhaust valves so I don't put much stock in your handling of it. That coupled with the fact that you ignored a large half of my first statement of the thread when recommending another welding half mask only to now literally restate my earlier conclusion about using the SOTR if you have a helmet/comms requirement and are shooting a rifle.
Thank you as well for the lesson on how SOF procurement works, I wonder if that has anything to do with me having to personally purchase the two masks I have used the most and make a running joke at work about how they are only fashion accessories and not PPE?
Tech forum, keep it polite and not personal.
#RESIST
My apologies, your house and your rules. I will bow out.
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