Riot face masks

[Code]

I recently got a nice new german gasmask with bullet-proof eyepeices and extra filters. Also in the other "face mask" thread it's just about swine flu :p So what masks do you guys wear? Also how easy was it to make 'em and how well do they work?

[Pogue]

To really confuse people I wear a face mask of my face.

Who really wears a mask?

[Killfacer]

Scarf will do fine for me.

[Code]

To really confuse people I wear a face mask of my face.

Who really wears a mask?

People who dont wanna get caught.
I personally just wear it for tear gas and rubber bullet protection :cool:
most of the time I dont even at all.

But this thread isnt just masks, It's face covers of all sorts! :lol:

[Invincible Summer]

I recently got a nice new german gasmask with bullet-proof eyepeices and extra filters. Also in the other "face mask" thread it's just about swine flu :p So what masks do you guys wear? Also how easy was it to make 'em and how well do they work?


Sounds badass. Pics?

[Dóchas]

i just wear a black and red scarf that i made myself around my mouth and nose it looks pretty sweet and it works well as a flag, also its homemade so thats a bonus

[OneNamedNameLess]

I wear a simple red scarf if I have too and put my hood up. Not that I get involved in rioting at big demos it just looks the part ;) It also prevents the cops or media from taking your picture and misusing it (and you don't end up on redwatch lol).

[Bitter Ashes]

I recently got a nice new german gasmask with bullet-proof eyepeices and extra filters. Also in the other "face mask" thread it's just about swine flu :p So what masks do you guys wear? Also how easy was it to make 'em and how well do they work?
lol. Bulletproof glass eyepieces... surrounded by rubber :lol: It's a bit like putting a big metal padlock on a paper door :lol:

[Tjis]

Just tear off the sleeve from a cheap t-shirt. If you wear that together with sunglasses your face is obscured for the largest part. The good thing about it is that nobody is going to question a spare t-shirt you have with you if you happen to be searched. It won't do much good against things like teargas though.

[Sasha]

during demo's where you can be searched this ^.

during illegal actions like most other squaters/autonomist, you wear a thin motorcycle balaclava like this http://hansfoto.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/_small_tekno.jpgsometimes with the bit at the nose bridge/ between the eyes sewn together.

a while back i made a ton of pink balaclavas for an demonstration:
http://www.gelderlander.nl/multimedia/archive/00774/N95_BVH-kraak_774578b.jpg

[Code]

lol. Bulletproof glass eyepieces... surrounded by rubber :lol: It's a bit like putting a big metal padlock on a paper door :lol:

Ya but I'd rather have some bullet-proof then have the eyes shatter from rubber bullets!! Also gasmasks really help from teargas, :crying: which hurts!


BTW the pink is totally B-dass

[Code]

I don't think I can post pictures from my computer yet :(

But if you search for "east german m-10 gasmask and find a dark green one, that's the kind I have!

(quick tip- NEVER GET A GAS-MASK FROM COLD WAR OF BEFORE only recent models perferably german, nato, or isreali are worth shit)

[Bitter Ashes]

(quick tip- NEVER GET A GAS-MASK FROM COLD WAR OF BEFORE only recent models perferably german, nato, or isreali are worth shit)
Aspestos is in the early ones, yup.

[Sasha]

BTW the pink is totally B-dass

yeah, this was a demo in support of some squaters in a other town who had an habbit of trowing with pink paint.

so we formed a pink blok with pink balaclava's and a big pink banner with silver letters saying "charming yet militant".
oh and our ralying slogan was "dood! verderf! en roze verf!" (death! decay! and pink paint!) :laugh:

[Bitter Ashes]

yeah, this was a demo in support of some squaters in a other town who had an habbit of trowing with pink paint.

so we formed a pink blok with pink balaclava's and a big pink banner with silver letters saying "charming yet militant".
oh and our ralying slogan was "dood! verderf! en roze verf!" (death! decay! and pink paint!) :laugh:
That is really rather cool. Who's idea was it all?

[Code]

Aspestos is in the early ones, yup.

Exactly!
Also alot of 'em aren't immune to some of the newwer gasses and the eye peices shatter from rubber bullets! :scared:

[Vicarious]

Look H1N1 kills fucks similar to the ones i hang out with I need to protect myself from them :glare:
seriously I like fashions that came from Asia during the SARS epidemic, the mask looked kewl in that vanity way that makes people feel paranoid cause they are not wearing a mask (one of the few reasons why I dont like seeing asian tourist at airports).

[An archist]

Around here, they rarely use teargas or pepperspray, so most people use a simple scarf. If you carry a gas-mask to a protest here, you're sure to get arrested.

[Pogue]

i use a mask if there is smoke and if i dont want to be filmed, just a bandana will do and maybe a hood

but i find i get targetted and searched more if i cover up so often i only bother if there is smoke and gas a' flying

[Palmares]

I guess this whole "mask" thing is quite contextual.

Firstly, wearing a gasmask isn't something you would do at many demos. You would have to be attending a massive riot, otherwise, annoyingly bulky, and you would most likely be picked out.

Overall, maybe the standard black bandana is practical. That's what most people wear, so you kinda fit in with the crowd. If you are in a rich country that has sophisticated surveillance, such as at demonstrations, you wanna look like everyone else. So wearing all black makes alot of sense.

But yeah, the best for concealing completely, is of course the balaclava pictured above, but with the bridge between the eyes covered.

And of course, the t-shirt option is the most undodgy. If you are searched, for example.

[bcbm]

Wearing just a bandanna to conceal your identity is absolute stupidity.

[Pogue]

Wearing just a bandanna to conceal your identity is absolute stupidity.

bandana and hod is a good as you can get tbh? realistically.

often it draws attention though.

[Palmares]

I guess I kinda left out (I was in a rush...) that all these options also are dependent on what else you are wearing. Like, maybe all black clothing, but also wearing a hat or beanie, sunglasses, a hood on your top, and how the face mask works in combination with all this.

[bcbm]

bandana and hod is a good as you can get tbh? realistically.

often it draws attention though.

Wear a hat with the hood and some sunglasses. Or a balaclava.

[Big Red]

Just tear off the sleeve from a cheap t-shirt. If you wear that together with sunglasses your face is obscured for the largest part. The good thing about it is that nobody is going to question a spare t-shirt you have with you if you happen to be searched. It won't do much good against things like teargas though.


if you just put the t-shirt around your head and stick your face into the neck hole and tie the sleeves behind your head you can also have a discreet balaclava. same deal really

[An archist]

Just tear off the sleeve from a cheap t-shirt. If you wear that together with sunglasses your face is obscured for the largest part. The good thing about it is that nobody is going to question a spare t-shirt you have with you if you happen to be searched. It won't do much good against things like teargas though.
Except cops.

[Sugar Hill Kevis]

Wearing just a bandanna to conceal your identity is absolute stupidity.

Agreed. If you ever look at police stop and search forms, they take fairly detailed notes about what clothes you're wearing; shoes, trousers, tshirt, jacket... all of which you could be identified in a crowd if you were at a demo the same day you were searched (for instance if they enacted Section 60).

Wearing all black makes the most sense, as it's pretty popular. That being said, it looks awful.

[Jia]

Avatar.

[Sugar Hill Kevis]

Avatar.

Would be pretty distinctive if you wore it on a protest in the West.

[Big Red]

Except cops.



since when is it suspicious to have a spare set of clothing, or better yet when did it become illegal?

[ls]

since when is it suspicious to have a spare set of clothing, or better yet when did it become illegal?

It became illegal yesterday, 3pm EST.

I got struck on the noggin with a baton and told I was a very naughty boy.

[mykittyhasaboner]

since when is it suspicious to have a spare set of clothing, or better yet when did it become illegal?
It isn't during any normal situation. But during a protest or demo then cops take everything as suspicious or "likely to be used" for malice intent. Are bottles illegal? No but at a demo they are weapons; same thing. A shirt could be used to conceal your identity from police, which is illegal.

[Tjis]

It isn't during any normal situation. But during a protest or demo then cops take everything as suspicious or "likely to be used" for malice intent. Are bottles illegal? No but at a demo they are weapons; same thing. A shirt could be used to conceal your identity from police, which is illegal.

Yeah, we should all go naked to protests. Anything can be a "defensive weapon" after all.

[Code]

It isn't during any normal situation. But during a protest or demo then cops take everything as suspicious or "likely to be used" for malice intent. Are bottles illegal? No but at a demo they are weapons; same thing. A shirt could be used to conceal your identity from police, which is illegal.

Bull sh*t! A shirt is NOT and CANNOT be illegal! There is NO law anywhere as far as I know that has a law against spare clothes. Also concealing yourself is NOT using a weapon and therfor is not intent on use of weapon.

Sorry if I sounded pissed btw

[Dóchas]

Bull sh*t! A shirt is NOT and CANNOT be illegal! There is NO law anywhere as far as I know that has a law against spare clothes. Also concealing yourself is NOT using a weapon and therfor is not intent on use of weapon.

Sorry if I sounded pissed btw

do you reall think the pigs keep to the law during protests/demos? they killed a guy for just being there a couple of months ago!!! they are given free reign during events like that. they can do anything they want and can get away with it.

[bcbm]

Yeah, we should all go naked to protests. Anything can be a "defensive weapon" after all.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UHuft8sosOY/RyBRRcwu6CI/AAAAAAAAAI8/xpJuvzALwkk/s320/NAKED%2BAUTONOMEN.JPG

[Code]

do you reall think the pigs keep to the law during protests/demos? they killed a guy for just being there a couple of months ago!!! they are given free reign during events like that. they can do anything they want and can get away with it.

And if they're gonna beat you, they'll beat you regardless of if you have a spare shirt or not. And what I ment about the law is that charges of "intent to use a weapon" for a shirt won't follow through to court!

[An archist]

And if they're gonna beat you, they'll beat you regardless of if you have a spare shirt or not. And what I ment about the law is that charges of "intent to use a weapon" for a shirt won't follow through to court!
The point is, you can get arrested before even arriving at the protest. In my city the cops actively try to arrest people before anarchist demonstrations. People have been arrested for having dreadlocks or because they forgot to shave. Of course they weren't charged with anything, they just spent the entire duration of the protest in jail.

[Code]

Get the pig's badge number

[Killfacer]

Get the pig's badge number

Didn't you see the recent shit? They rarely actually wear their numbers when they want to beat people up.

[Code]

Good point

[An archist]

Get the pig's badge number
Why? If there's a protest and the authorities didn't give permission, they can pick you up for no reason at all and hold you in a cell for up to twelve hours without charging you with anything.
There's nothing you can do against it, except avoid looking suspicious.
Remember, it's their laws, and they will always benefit them, not us.

[an apple]

Red Army helmet ftw!

[MakeYourFuture]

In France, it became forbidden to wear a mask during demonstrations.

[Tjis]

In France, it became forbidden to wear a mask during demonstrations.

The whole point of wearing a mask is so that you (or someone else in the group) can do illegal things in the first place though. I don't think that your mask matters much legally when you're throwing heavy, possibly ignited objects at nazis or riot police :P.

[amandevsingh]

In France, demonstrations aren't violently suppressed with tear gas and rubber bullets, or am I wrong?

Pig's are required to give a badge number, but then again I don't know how this works as I have never participated. I'm sure if you brought it up with a liberal media channel, CBC for example, just don't try it with Fox News. ;)

[Sasha]

In France, demonstrations aren't violently suppressed with tear gas and rubber bullets, or am I wrong?

your wrong:
The Paris massacre of 1961 refers to a massacre (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/massacre) in Paris (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris) on 17 October (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_17) 1961 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961), during the Algerian War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algerian_War) (1954–62). Under orders from the head of the Parisian police (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prefecture_of_Police), Maurice Papon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Papon), the French police (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_National_Police) attacked an unarmed and peaceful demonstration (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonstration_%28people%29) of some 30,000 Algerians (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algeria). After 37 years of denial, the French government acknowledged 40 deaths in 1998, although there are estimates of up to 200. source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_massacre_of_1961

or more recently (2005):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_civil_unrest_in_France

[Bitter Ashes]

The whole point of wearing a mask is so that you (or someone else in the group) can do illegal things in the first place though. I don't think that your mask matters much legally when you're throwing heavy, possibly ignited objects at nazis or riot police :P.
Depends. FIT are present at all protests in the UK now, taking photos and filming protestors, presumably to identify which ones present a hazard to the ruling class, so that they can be targetted for whatever the UK goverment decides is "appropriate". So, basicly, if you come up with a good idea of how to go about revolution peacefully and there's a danger that it'll become popular, then it's handy to have a mask.

[redSHARP]

a ski mask always looks badass, yet brings attention to the wearer. my friends use varying masks for paint ball and airsoft. i usually stick with the bandanna around the mouth with basic googles to protect the eyes from air soft rounds.

[Il Medico]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UHuft8sosOY/RyBRRcwu6CI/AAAAAAAAAI8/xpJuvzALwkk/s320/NAKED%2BAUTONOMEN.JPG
This looks more like an orgy then a protest. I am in all the same!:D

I still find it hard to believe you can't wear mask during demos in Europe, the police just randomly interrogate people that look like trouble makers here.
Also, who has the pink face covers? I want to join them, theirs are pretty!:D

[Sasha]

Also, who has the pink face covers? I want to join them, theirs are pretty!:D

well thats easy, buy some pink fabric (not too stretchy because thats an ***** to sewn togeter) fold it a couple of times so you have mutiple layers, take an normal black balaclava and put it flat (one of the ears side up) on the fabric. trace it a bit spaceious and then cut it out. you now have a whole pack of pink balaclava halfs. take two, sew them together (back/top of the head, forehead and nose/mouth, and not the eye and neck hole ofcourse) turn inside out. tadaa your first pink balaclava is ready.

and because its stupid to be the only person with an pink balaclava in a mass of black ones you will then proceed to make several dozen more for all your mates and while your at it another lot for random strangers.

[ls]

A lot of people at protests seem to take off their masking when they feel people aren't watching them, it's silly as people are always watching you at protests, you're hardly gonna see the officer taking your photograph until it's too late.

Also lots of police won't get you on simple things when they have bigger fish to fry; ie they probably won't try to nab you on masking if they're being forced back, but getting spotted in a small area with loads of them and one of you is not the best idea bearing in mind their mentality of divide and conquer, they are likely to try get you on masking on the spot (and be brutal too, I've seen it myself).

[An archist]

your wrong: source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_massacre_of_1961

or more recently (2005):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_civil_unrest_in_France

Even more recently, this year in Strasbourg, an anti-Nato protest was attacked with tear gas, rubber bullets and flashbangs before it even started.

[MakeYourFuture]

In France, demonstrations aren't violently suppressed with tear gas and rubber bullets, or am I wrong?


It depends of the aim of the demonstration, but when they can attack with their tasers and their fuckin flashball, they do.
They particullary don't like the leftists...
Some friends who were demonstrating peacefully have been charged by pigs.

[Malakangga]

yeah,shit. I don't use it

[Marxist Madman]

perhaps having your protest sign convert into a rubber-bullet shield would help?
Ski masks might scare the public, same with balaclavas. Bandanna and sunglasses would probably work.

[Bitter Ashes]

In case anyone wasnt familiar with this. Use a spare t-shirt.

Put it over your head as if you're going to wear it, but dont pull your neck fully through, just put the neckhole around your face. You should have the sleeves by your ears now. Tie them together behind your head and adjust the neckhole to cover as much of your face as you want.

It works as well as a balaclava, except that you dont have a hole for your mouth without exposing your face, so you cant eat, drink or smoke while wearing it without giving away your identity. The most obvious advantage of course is that a spare t-shirt isnt suspect at all if you get searched.

[bcbm]

perhaps having your protest sign convert into a rubber-bullet shield would help?
Ski masks might scare the public, same with balaclavas. Bandanna and sunglasses would probably work.

That wouldn't cover your hair and really you could make the same argument about "scaring the public."

[Bitter Ashes]

That wouldn't cover your hair and really you could make the same argument about "scaring the public."
The scaring the public thing I understand.
I might not have explained it well though if you think it doesnt cover your hair. You'd have the "back" of the t-shirt over the top of your head. Your eyes stick out of the neck. The sleeves are by your ears and tied behind the back of your head. The bottom hangs down by your neck.

[bcbm]

I was responding to Marxist Madman with that. The t-shirt thing works well.

[*Viva La Revolucion*]

I didn't know the use of tear gas etc was so common. It's never happened at any of the protests I've been to. :blink: And tasers? Christ. Can they arrest people for just being there or do you have to actually do something?

[Marxist Madman]

Does not work with collared t-shirts; but otherwise you have good balaclava without being suspicious.:thumbup1:

[Bitter Ashes]

I didn't know the use of tear gas etc was so common. It's never happened at any of the protests I've been to. :blink: And tasers? Christ. Can they arrest people for just being there or do you have to actually do something?
I'm not sure what they could charge you with for just bieng there, although they can most certainly arrest and/or detain you these days. The kettling at G20 and the arrests of those enviromental demonstrators who were merely planning on occuping a coal fire power stations are two examples from this year.

For a more extreme example, remember that it was only 25 years ago since the miners went on strike and more than 11,000 were arrested and about 2/3 of those were charged for breaching the peace and obstructing the highway. Several miners were killed too by the batton charges of the police. All of this no doubt had Thatcher sat at the top acting as the pupeteer to ensure that the police were used, to thier maximum effect, to protect the intrests of pit owners.

The use of chemical weapons and tasers on people might sound particualy brutal, but at the end of the day, is it really that much worse than the advancing eschelon of riot police wielding clubs?

[Marxist Madman]

Honestly that must be terrifying, and unless your hopped up on adrenaline most unarmed people would run, no?

Whats anyone think about converting the posters as shields?

-MM-

[griffjam]

Flee visibility. Turn anonymity into an offensive position



In a demonstration, a union member tears the mask off of an anonymous person who has just broken a window. “Take responsibility for what you’re doing instead of hiding yourself.” To be visible is to be exposed, that is to say above all, vulnerable. When leftists everywhere continually make their cause more “visible” – whether that of the homeless, of women, or of undocumented immigrants – in hopes that it will get dealt with, they’re doing exactly the contrary of what must be done. Not making ourselves visible, but instead turning the anonymity to which we’ve been relegated to our advantage, and through conspiracy, nocturnal or faceless actions, creating an invulnerable position of attack. The fires of November 2005 offer a model for this. No leader, no demands, no organization, but words, gestures, complicities. To be socially nothing is not a humiliating condition, the source of some tragic lack of recognition – from whom do we seek recognition? – but is on the contrary the condition for maximum freedom of action. Not claiming your illegal actions, only attaching to them some fictional acronym – we still remember the ephemeral BAFT (Brigade Anti-Flic des Tarterêts)- is a way to preserve that freedom. Quite obviously, one of the regime’s first defensive maneuvers was the creation of a “banlieue” subject to treat as the author of the “riots of November 2005.” Just looking at the faces on some of this society’s somebodies illustrates why there’s such joy in being nobody.


Visibility must be avoided. But a force that gathers in the shadows can’t avoid it forever. Our appearance as a force must be pushed back until the opportune moment. The longer we avoid visibility, the stronger we’ll be when it catches up with us. And once we become visible our days will be numbered. Either we will be in a position to pulverize its reign in short order, or we’ll be crushed in no time.

[SubcomandanteJames]

If you cannot get your hands on a gas mask, and fear of a gas attack during your activism, it is suggested to get goggles/eye protection, and then cover your mouth by using a bandana SOAKED IN LIME JUICE OR VINEGAR. This will help protect you from inhalation and act as an easy DIY filter. Also: bring a back pack with limejuice/vinegar and extra bandanas for other comrades are without protection. :thumbup1:

[Bitter Ashes]

On the subject of gas, it's becoming more and more common to use gasses that are skin iritants too like CS. Cover up, all you need is a light jacket and a pair of jeans or somethin and some gloves. A pair of goggles is your only real choice to protect your eyes and still bieng able to see.

Just remember, once it's on your gloves, DO NOT rub at your eyes, or take the gloves off again until the gas has stopped. It's nasty stuff and they may call it a "Riot control agent", or something, but the reality is that you're facing real life chemical weapons.

[RotStern]

If you cannot get your hands on a gas mask, and fear of a gas attack during your activism, it is suggested to get goggles/eye protection, and then cover your mouth by using a bandana SOAKED IN LIME JUICE OR VINEGAR. This will help protect you from inhalation and act as an easy DIY filter. Also: bring a back pack with limejuice/vinegar and extra bandanas for other comrades are without protection. :thumbup1:

Does this really work??
with the lime juice and vinegar that would be amazing.
Thats a very good Idea.

[Black Sheep]

and then cover your mouth by using a bandana SOAKED IN LIME JUICE OR VINEGAR.To protect urself from tear gas? :blink:

Tear gas is an oxide substance, so you have to use a base substance to neutralize it.

In greece we use maalox diluted in water
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maalox <<i think it's this, doublecheck

it does wonders.Have 2-3 little water bottles in your backup and when the tear gas grenades start going off help yourself and your comrades around you.

edit:
found this as well
http://www.starhawk.org/activism/teargas.html

[bcbm]

To protect urself from tear gas? :blink:

Tear gas is an oxide substance, so you have to use a base substance to neutralize it.

In greece we use maalox diluted in water
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maalox <<i think it's this, doublecheck

it does wonders.Have 2-3 little water bottles in your backup and when the tear gas grenades start going off help yourself and your comrades around you.

edit:
found this as well
http://www.starhawk.org/activism/teargas.html

Maalox is used in the eyes once they've been exposed to gas. The point of the vinegar/lime juice is to act as a filter for the gas and catch it. You wear the soaked bandana around your face and it works pretty well. Its no gas mask but it'll do in a pinch.

[An archist]

To protect urself from tear gas? :blink:

Tear gas is an oxide substance, so you have to use a base substance to neutralize it.

In greece we use maalox diluted in water
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maalox <<i think it's this, doublecheck

it does wonders.Have 2-3 little water bottles in your backup and when the tear gas grenades start going off help yourself and your comrades around you.

edit:
found this as well
http://www.starhawk.org/activism/teargas.html

That's it indeed.
If you don't have maalox, use plenty of water, tilt your head back, open your eyes, pour the water between your eyes, so that it runs to the sides (otherwise it'll get in your nose and you don't want that) and don't rub your eyes.
But obviously, maalox is a lot better.

[RotStern]

So this is what works?
Gas mask Bandana soaked with vinegar/ lime juice.
Goggles/shatter proof glasses
and then afterwords pour Maalox diluted with water between your eyes.??? Do you mean on the side of the nose?
Can anybody give first hand experience to wether or not this works?

[*Red*Alert]

As for masks, I generally go with a black wool SAS-style balaclava or for lesser occassions a hood and a camouflage scrim that covers the mouth and nose.

Never had to deal with tear gas here, though there seems to be plenty of Cold War gas masks with replacement filters available on ebay last time I checked.