Safety skinning your mask

PS: The Preventive Maintenance Monthly, July, 2004 by Michael Ebanks

Dear Editor,

If you're not; careful when you remove your M40/M42-series mask's second skin, you can break the drink tube off where it connects to the mask facepiece. Then the mask is ruined.

At the U.S. Army Chemical School, we teach this method For removing and installing the second skin to prevent damaging the drink tube.

Work the second skin off from the top to bottom of the mask. When you've worked the skin off to the outlet valve, pull off the skin first from the opposite side of the valve from the drink tube. Then slide the skin off over the drink tube.

When you put the second skin back on, first put the drink tube through the outlet valve hole and then work the skin over the outlet valve, beginning with the side with the drink tube.

Once the skin is in place around the outlet valve, you can fit it on the rest of the mask without danger to the drink tube. The whole point of "skinning" the mask this way is to keep pressure off the drink tube.

(Editor's note: You do know mask skinning', pardner. Thanks.)

SFC Michael Ebanks

U.S. Army Chemical School

Ft Leonard Wood, MO