IC :
BDSM Dictionary : Gas mask: history
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
This entry is part of the BDSM Dictionary hosted by Informed Consent.
| Contents |
Gas masks, often worn in connection with rubber fetishism or military fetishism, may be a fetish fashion accessory or be used in the sexual restriction of breathing (breath control, often regarded as a form of edgeplay). The later, being potentially dangerous, requires complete trust in a partner and should never be undertaken alone. In the former case, the gas mask is sometimes used to complete a transformation or objectification, but may also form part of a total enclosure fetish. Gas maks and the air hoses occaisonally fitted to them can also be used to administer Nitrite inhalants (Poppers).
The eye covers may be blacked out to act as a blindfold, or there may be a blindfold under the mask, to increase the sense of total enclosure. Sometimes gas masks are also modified to include a gag.
As well as standard military and civilian masks a number of companies
are selling custom made gas masks designed purely for BDSM play.Asbestos Safety
The filters in older gas masks often contained asbestos. The Imperial War Museum website (http://www.iwm.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.2789) recommends against wearing old gas masks. Many of Britain's asbestos fatalies have been attributed to gas mask manufacture during WW2 (e.g. see http://oem.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/63/12/85....
That advice is specific to British gas masks, but other countries certainly used asbestos - even beyond the war - and it can be difficult to find specific product information on foreign masks.
Aside from the filters, the other parts of the mask won't contain asbestos and *unopened* masks from the 1970s and later (e.g. the popular Israeli Mark V and Russian GP-5), are therefore 'low risk'.
Whether they contain asbestos or not, gasmask filters perish very
quickly. It is possible to buy new filters for masks with NATO attachments.See also
(This entry in the BDSM Dictionary incorporates text from the Gas mask article in Wipipedia.)
This entry is published under the terms of the GFDL. People with profiles on Informed Consent can improve this entry: see the BDSM Dictionary help page for details.
