So my runs and bike distances are getting up there. I am spending a massive amount of time out on the road. I live in a pretty industrial area so I get allot of Big Rig diesel exhaust. I not only get it when I am biking and a meter away from a automobiles exhaust, I also get the smoke of people who are along the sea wall, or the bus stops when I am running.

So the other day I noticed a bike courier with a mask on his face. I started to do some research and I came across this mask.




I went to this website http://www.respro.com/ and did a little more research and found I could pick up the mask at Mountain Equipment Co-op. http://search.mec.ca/?N=10&Ntt=respro&bmUID=1242613725415

The mask was $46.00. I got an extra set of filters for $26.00 and two extra Valves for $14.00. So for $86.00 I get to look like this.






I used the mask for a quick bike to the store the other day, and then today I used it on my hour and 40 minute run through town. While I did get some smells through it. The intensity of the smells was very small. I got no exhaust, and I got no smoke. The only thing that came around was this group of guys (not kids by the way but older guys) sitting in parking lot in the Quay smoking a joint. I did get a sense of the smell, but it was either really bad pot, or my mask worked. I figure because I am in BC the quality was probably pretty good ;*)

I did notice a cop circle the block when he went by me. I guess a guy running down the street with a mask, running hat and glasses looks a little wierd. I got a few other wierd looks buy the waterfront, but I did notice a person on a bike wearing one.

I choose the Techno Mask because it filters out hydrocarbons, sulphur dioxide, lead oxide, and smoke, as well as sub-micron particulates including pollen dust, rapeseed dust and other irritants. The other masks filter either the Hydrocarbons and smoke, or sub-micron particulates.

To me this means it either filters out allergins (I have no idea what a rapeseed dust is but it sounds bad) or it filters auto exaust and smoke (Hydrocarbons and sulphur dioxide) The mask I got covers both.

The mask feels a little weird and I have run into a problem when I put on my hat, or helmet, and my glasses. So there is a little adjustment to happen. The mask comes in two sizes, large and medium. I got the medium.

Like wearing glasses for the first time, I did notice some slight iratation on my nose where the filter touchsed my nose. Other than it worked really well.

I know this comes right at the time of the H1N1 (swine) flu. I am not really worried about that. It is actually the cigarette smoke of the people I run past at Stanley Park, or the Quay. Even when I run by an outdoor restaraunt where the smokers all congrigate.

On a side note, I knew that there was something I needed to do when I ran buy a guy on the boardwalk or exausted a massive of cigar smoke right in my face as I was running by him. This happened just as I was taking in a deep breath, and I not only got his excelled smoke, but I got a nice bit of the smoke right from the cigar itself.

Not one of my best moves ever, I grabbed the cigar and threw it in the river. I didnt say anything to him. I just kept running. I think I left him stunned. So that was the big push to get me to think of a saver way to keep my lungs healthy.

So all in all I recomend this product. It get's a little wet, and it's a little hard to get a drink while wearing it, and I found it hard to blow my nose. Nothing that I couldnt get used to.

The only question I have now is, How long do the filters last?