British S10 NBC Respirator part 2 - 2009 model
Manufacturer: Avon UK
Model: S10 respirator
Country: United Kingdom
Year: 2009
Size: 1
Price: £15.00 including postage
Condition: like new, excellent
Source: eBay
Issuer: Royal Navy
Location: HMS Richmomd
Almost a complete S10 kit
Well here we are again and this time the Long awaited second S10 on my collection.
This time a gas mask with a bit of a back story. A name to tie it to,
Apparently a former possession of petty officer D Griffiths of the British royal navy. How good is that?!
I stumbled across this S10 quite be accident. I wasn't really looking to buy another after the bargain 1989 model I picked up a few weeks before but I can't resist a bargain, and this 2009 model was going cheap. I played the eBay bidding game and snagged it for £15 which seems unbelievable considering the amount of stuff which came with it. It's almost complete. Just short of the chemical indicator papers that's all. I can live with that!
Now I'm not really going to go into too much detail with this mask as I did that already in part 1. It's the same mask essentially. So it's just a quick look at what came with this kit.
For the first part of the S10 (1989 model) review click HERE
The Face piece
The star of the show is the S10 face piece and this example is in perfect used condition. not one blemish and not one scratch. Not surprising really as the need to use a gas mask on board ship in peace time is virtually non existent. I suspect this mask was only worn during a training drill or something. No complaints on appearance from me anyway, its immaculate.
It will be interesting to see how the drinking system works on this mask now that I have the water bottle adapter. Apparently its works well and much better than the ones found on lesser soviet bloc masks.
The eyes have it!
This 2009 model S10 came with the prescription lens fittings. Basically a piece of rubber with two circular forms which sits just in front of the eye pieces. These are designed to hold specially made specticle lens for visually impaired service personnel.
After months of trawling eBay for an S10 I never saw one with this fitting an interesting feature none the less.
Extra round eye pieces to hold prescription lens!
The extra eye piece things inside the mask look really strange from this angle. Surprisingly they don't hinder your vision and so there is no need to remove them if you don''t wear specs like me.
Making the S10 respirator accessible to the visually impaired is a clever idea if you ask me especially if non spectacle wearers can use the mask too without removing the modification. Avon certainly innovate.
The Filters
The Filters supplied with this S10 kit were made by Scott safety UK, Just a few miles down the road from me in Skelmersdale, Lancashire..
The Skelmersdale site is also where the new Scott GSR respirator is manufactured. The mask which replaced the S10 a few years ago. Many will say that the current GSR is a steaming pile of shite and a poor replacement to the S10 but that's a story for another day!
Lucky for me this 2009 kit has a brand new and sealed filter in the bag. These filters carry a ten year shelf life so it should be good for another year or so officially. However, if this filter remains in its sealed state it should be good for twenty years or so. It's true that filters will degrade over time but not that quickly. The MOD have to have best before dates on their stuff to cover themselves in case something happens. Especially in today's world of suing and court cases.
The Haversack
The red dog tag is for identification during training exercises
Not to see here except for a typical S10 haversack in pretty good condition. It's a 1999 issue which suggests this bag from from an earlier issued mask that the sailor had.
A 1999 vintage Haversack by the looks of it
The haversack is in good order, the velcro on the top flap is still effective and not clogged up with fibers or dirt. It's been well looked after anyway.
The Accessories
What we have here are two different Osprey water bottle caps. One normal screw top cap and one specifically designed to work with the S10 drinking tube. Handy.
Survive to Fight NBC drill (revision 3 1995)
The included booklet has many pages within, far too many to be arsed taking photos of them all so I selected a few listed below.
The original booklet!
Everything you need to know about the S10
How many other gas masks kits come with this sort of thing?
What do we have here? The trusty "Survive to fight" instruction booklet often missing from S10 kits. This plastic cased bendy book outlines everything a service person needs to prepare and survive a CBRN (Or NBC if you prefer) attack.
It's actually quite a good read and really useful in highlighting how to use protect yourself and maintain the S10 properly.
It's usual home is just inside the top flap of the haversack behind the elastic straps.
S10 Service log book
A very interesting service record
Another nice personal touch in this S10 kit is this rare service record with the mask being officially tested for safety on board the ship HMS Richmomd . It's not something I have seen before except for the odd blank service cards you get with ex Soviet bloc masks. They are a nice addition to the kit.
Something doesnt't add up?
Those who are paying attention would have noticed that the paper service record could not possibly belong to this mask. take another look at the photos again and it becomes obvious that the record pre dates the mask. It also refers to a mask which is a size 2 and this mask is actually a size 1. This could mean two things. Either this mask was a replacement to the one the sailor had originally or the ebay seller mixed up the mask with with another kit he had.
My suspicion is that the former is true. it's a replacement mask. oh well
Featuring the original dog name tags fitted!
It's fascinating to know this once belonged to a sailor in the RN (probably) - issued but very well looked after I would say.
whatever the real story, I don't really care, I won't be selling this fine specimen, that's for sure!