Old gas mask

[A-BOMB]

I was at my local gun shop on wensday and saw that he had some surplus gasmasks on sale so I bought one ($15 cheap) that came with a filter I cleaned up the mask and got out my can opener and opened the can with the filter in it and I notice that the filter has the date "6-4-54" on it and I think is that the experation date or date of manufacture? I know that it must be expired but do you guys think it is useable for some light poison gas work(I have hornets that must DIE! :mad: living in a hole in the siding on my house (can get to them with spray)) The filter is a US M11 the lot: BS-337-8526 and there is also this (not idea?) 261GM and the 6-4-54

[Sarevok]

Gun shop?

Don't use this junk! It might be dangerous to you. Keep the mask, if it is worth a shit, but replace the filter with a new one. More important, remember that there is more than one kind of filter available. There are filters using activated carbon, for protection against organic compounds, and filters using I don't know what for protection against some inorganic compounds, such as NO2 and NH3. (There is also some masks who doesn't filter the air, they provide air for you instead, isolating you from the atmosferic air - which are good against any kind of gas.) Buy the right kind of filter and use it with your mask.

If your mask doesn't protect your entire face, INCLUDING THE EYES, buy a new one. Remember that some compounds can be harmful if they touch your skin, so you may need protective clothing too.

[A-BOMB]

Well It does have a port for attaching a bottled air source so I guess I'll try to track down where I put that bottle of medical oxygen, And If any one knows were I could get a new M11 filter I would be much in you thanks.

[simply RED]

I killed my hornets with lambda cyhalothrine (karate insecticide) it acts for 3 hours killing them and is harmless to anyone of proceeded carefully.

[A-BOMB]

RED, is that a gas? I've tried that usual spray that shoots about 15' but they are in there rather far and the nails and faring strips cut up the stream of insecticide in a few feet.

[nbk2000]

If the filter was sealed in a can, and the can was airtight, then the filter would still be good, as it wouldn't have been exposed to anything that would fill up the pores of the activated charcoal filler.

Now, the rubber of the mask might be cracked, so check that by grabbing one of the head straps firmly in your hands and pulling on it to stretch it. If it stretches and you see cracks, then you've got a bum mask, and need to replace it. If not, and the negative pressure check goes well, then you're OK. :)

[vulture]

Why don't you just use a smokebomb? Insects hate smoke. All vermin hates smoke.

[A-BOMB]

The problem with smoke is, I either put the smoke bomb in the hole and have it light the side of my house on fire, Hold the smoke bomb and then get swarmed by angry hornets, or the smoke gets the hornets out and then seeps threw cracks into the house. Or all of the above can happen at once. I want something that will kill them dead, not something that will just make them mad.

[Ropik]

You are right, A-BOMB, about the smoke + hornets = house full of pissed hornets.
You can modify a big can of spray insecticide with strong rubber band to hold down the push button and place the spray as stopper to hornets hole(or nest).
I used this when some hornets lived in my tool shed. It made hornets rather dead.

[A-BOMB]

Spray can't get to them were they are at, so I'm thinking of makeing a form of gasious DDT or cockroach killer that should kill them.

[Ropik]

Hmm... so obtain some container. Glass with tin top should work nicely. Punch a hole(3/8 in.) in the top and glue it on piece of PVC pipe. Drill similar hole in pipe. Attach one end of hose on the pipe and the other end on old hairdryer. Duct tape help alot, but you must have "cold" turned on on your dryer, otherwise you will melt the glue. Fill the container with DDT dust(or similar), screw it on top, place the pipe in the hornet's hole, turn the dryer on, leave the place, plug the hairdryer in the electric current. Hornets will be dead. If not, they are mutated and should be disposed by other manner. Flamer probably. Or A-bomb ;) .

[aikon]

As far as i know hornets have just one entrance to their home. Just wait until all the hornets are at home (1 to 3 hours after sunset) and plug the hole with cement or something familiar.

[Ropik]

Aikon, this is very bad idea. Though hornets have only one entrance, they can VERY rapidly chew a new one and then terribly big cloud of raging hornets come out and go to way of revenge and death.
LITERALLY
I once plug entrance to wasp's nest(in 4x4" timber) with hot glue(I am practically permanently in war with hornets and wasps). Next day the timber was from 1/4 chewed off and everywhere around my house was swarming wasps. Nothing funny.
One thing I find to be useful, is to plug the hole with hot glue or similar material, but leave a injection needle in the plug. You suck a full syringe of formaldehyde and inject it into nest. Conservated wasps forever :) .Works only on smaller nests, though.

[A-BOMB]

I have a older brick home (1915s-20s) that has many holes in the cement, So I have some siding put on the side instead of haveing the brick repointed. So if I plug the hole they are probably going to come in and say "hi". So gas is my only option, I'm still trying to find where the nest is under the siding. I see the hole were they come in is but were the nest is left, right, up, down, I don't know. So this evening I'll pump in as much gas as I can and hope it kills. I just can't stand getting stung every time I come out my front door.

[nbk2000]

Pocket dragon and bucket of water would do the trick. Timing the bucket is the tricky part. ;)

[A-BOMB]

I already tried the flame method, but I did find something semi-useful for target practice. Wood boring bees, (the real big bees (i don't think there real bees) I was over at my fathers house and he was on his back porch with a .22lr revolver with bird shot shells shooting the bees as they buzzed around. So I got the pistol and tried to shoot some, at the 12 feet I was shooting at the spread of the shot was about 3-4 inches, and those bees are hard to shoot, its like a 3D target practice game. I only got 4 bees out of 9 shells, rather bad for me compard to my trap scores but clay pidgons don't do loopty-loops and dive at you. So if any of you guys have a older wooden house that has wood bees, try it I found it rather challenging.

[Arkangel]

Can't you work out the position of the nest in the wall of your house, then drill a smallish hole really close to it and fire your spray through that at 'em?

[aikon]

I guess drilling a hole next to the nest is a hazardous attempt, because the hornets will notice that and come for you. It seems that the gas method is the only way to success. Good luck

[Skean Dhu]

wear white/light clothing, or a bee keepers suit if you can borrow one, and stake the hose of your shop vac a few inches infront of the nest. let it run for a few hours till you've collected most of the wasps as they try to leave/return, then move it(leave it on) and stake it in front of your muffler and let the car run for 30-45 min, the carbon monoxide will kill them in short order. lather rinse repeat.

[Ropik]

Good idea, Skean Dhu. But I would be worried that hornets chew off guts of my vacuum cleaner and come on me. Suit for bee keepers does not help so much against hornets. But wasps, maybe... I would not try that, I'm alergic, so two hornets and I am pretty much dead.

[xperk]

the vacuum cleaner approach Skean Dhu suggests is surprisingly effective if the exit of the nest is fairly small, don't use a fresh bag - the wasps / bees seem to get killed/paralyzed by the already vacuumed dust somehow... you could even vacuum up a small amount of ant poision prior to engaging the nest

if you are allergic to the stings you probably should have someone else to do it.

By the way Trichloroethane (a component of DDT) can sometimes be found in white correction fluid thinner bottles - it makes for a hazardeous yet very potent improvised insectide poison.

[Flake2m]

Try using a bait 'n waity method.
This works with wasps, not sure about hornets. When wasps find a good source of food they will normally return to it and with all there mates as well.
Try getting some food source that wasps/hornets like and then lacing it with insecticide. They will be attracted to the food and then bring it back to the nest, since its poisoned the food will start to kill off the nest and they won't realise it until its too late.
Just make sure the bait isn't in a place to get eaten by any pets.

[A-BOMB]

Well there dead, I found DDT is great! I used a shop-vac and a nebulizer-ish setup to make a DDT vapor/mist and the exaust from the vac to pump it in. I also found another hole, where they were coming out as I pumped it in, so I hooked up the suction hose of the vac to there and I got the DDT recirculating. Now I just hope that dead hornet don't stink

[Bigfoot]

A-Bomb,
Did that mask come with the bag, as well?
These masks have been around cheap for about 2 years, typically sold in the complete can, containing the mask, filter, and carry bag. $15 is a fair market price if the bag is included.
BTW, did you get the left-filter model (if you're right-handed; right-filter if you're left-handed)?