iEvac the only American Certified Smoke/Fire Hood/Smoke Mask. Escape Mask/Emergency Escape/Fire Gas Respirator

I am an ER physician and I frequently fly commercially and stay in hotels and motels.. This masked was purchased to replace an old one that was stolen. Years ago, in the military, I discovered an aversion to breathing smoke, especially in airplanes that are in trouble. I have not opened the foil bag and, with any luck, will not have occasion to update this review. The foil bag is roughly five by five by four inches in size? My old one (and others I previously owned) was roughly five by five by 1.5 - 2 inches. It was easier to slip in a carry-on bag or computer case. But the old ones didn't filter out carbon monoxide! They were taken off the market at the insistence of OSHA even though many of us understood the caveat. The take-home: this one is bigger but, depending on what you are worried about, better. The insides of modern buildings and airplanes have considerable plastic in them. Plastics burn and release aldehydes (like formaldehyde!) and other highly toxic chemicals. I am more worried about them than carbon monoxide but both are a serious concern. I mainly want time to get out of the burning location. If there are high levels of carbon monoxide, you are probably toast anyway...oops, wrong word.p.s. I took 1/2 star off for the bulk but rounded it back up to five.Update: November 15, 2017We live in Northern California near ground zero for the massive wild fires in October. Our house survived but 20 out of 29 homes on our dead-end street burned to the ground. When we were ordered to evacuate at 1:50 AM, the wind was blowing ashes everywhere, the smoke was getting thick and propane tanks were exploding nearby. I was able to drive us out without using the IEvac but, it gave me great peace of mind to know I could pull it out and put it on if necessary!

The iEvac is easy to use and has a rubber seal for best protection. It is transparent for good vision and if you live in a skycraper a must to have to safely evacuate the building without smoke inhalation. Good quality and highly recommended!

This hood is well packaged and if the marketing materials are true, very well tested by the US Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, Edgewood Chemical Biological Center to ASTM E2952. All physical, performance, gas and particulate test results meet or in most cases exceed requirements. Additional gas and particulate tests actually include DMMP exposure, a simulation for Sarin nerve gas exposure, with a passing result. A bit of overkill, in my opinion, but nonetheless impressive.

I've purchased 6 iEvac smoke hoods for my family and I intend to buy two more. We live in various urban high rise apartments as well as a house in a wildfire rated area. Thankfully we haven't had to use the hoods but we take comfort knowing that they will protect us from carbon monoxide and other toxic gases and provide extra time for us to escape a fire. I had originally concentrated only on those family members who live in high rises but after a wildfire threatened our neighborhood I realized we needed additional protection in the event our neighborhood was full of smoke and we needed protection while driving away.

I opened the foil package and tried the iEvac. It was a little tight in getting my head through but once on fit great. The only thing I found was if you are wearing glasses it was hard to put on the iEvac. I tried to make the opening of the neck dam as big as possible and then put my chin in first and pull the hood over my head as the instructions said but my head was too big. I had to pull the iEvac straight down over my head, which made it difficult if you are wearing glasses. I do not wear glasses all the time so it works for me and purchased another to kept in my office desk since I work in a high rise.It is expensive to buy one and open it to try it on, but I am glad I did. It gave me an idea how it will fit instead of finding out during an emergency. Also holding your breath as mentioned in the instructions while putting the iEvac on is important to avoid fogging up the inside. This was the mistake I made when I first tried to put it on.

As a career OTR Trucker we deal with unlimited situations. The strange unearthly northwest fires are getting closer to my parents home. The clear hood will allow visibility for them to drive out of smoke in their cars.

i am living in an apartment at 39 floor in hong kong which means i have a long way to get tothe ground if there is a fire. while the fire escape and the fire fighting apparatus are good in the modern apartments, i have bought 5 hoods for all the members in my family. who knows if someone has intentionally / inadvertently leaves the smoke door open and the staircase is unexpectedly filled with smoke when there is a fire?

I purchased this for my sons who live in NYC. Nice piece of mind for a Dad.