The P.C. 35 was the 9th gas mask approved by the S.C.M. (Servizio Chimico Militare, chemical military service) on 17 May 1935. The P.C. 35 was I.A.C.'s civilian counterpart to the military T.35.
Mask overview[]
The mask is composed of the following parts:
The faceblank, made of moulded rubber, has the following parts attached to it:
- the housing for the exhale valve (outlet)
- the metal threaded piece that allows the filter to be screwed in and houses the inlet valve (inlet)
- the eyepieces
- the straps
The inhale valve allows filtered air in from the filter and does not allow exhaled air to go back out from the filter again. Said rubber valve is housed in the metal threaded piece.
The exhale valve allows exhaled air to go outside and prevents poisoned air to get in. It's made of rubber, it opens under the light pressure of exhaling and closes hermetically under the negative pressure produced by the inhalation. It can be easily inspected and possibly replaced by unscrewing the lid of its housing.
The eyepieces are made of "Triplex" glass, which itself is composed of two glass layers and a thin sheet of cellulose. This kind of glass prevents poisoned air to get into the mask even after being hit, as only the outside layer of glass would be shattered and the other two layers would maintain the seal. The glasses are affixed to the mask through aluminium frames.
The elastic harness has the goal to keep the mask tightly onto the face. It is composed of 5 adjustable straps (a top one, two elastic temple ones and two elastic cheek ones) attached to the facepiece, and they gather into a nape pad.
The anti-fogging disks are kept tightly onto the lenses by metal inserts and serve the purpose of maintaining good visibility.
It differed from the IAC T.35 by having a slightly different pattern of nape pad and different markings.
Variants[]
The P.C. 35 came in two variants: the older ones uses a double-layer facepiece (black on the outside and beige on the inside) and a dark brown filter, while the newer variant had a single-layer facepiece (beige) with a yellow filter.
Kit[]
The P.C. 35 comes with:
- P.C. 35 filter (that could be either yellow or dark brown)
- manual
- training thread
- spare anti-fogging lenses in their envelope
- small box containing a spare exhale valve
- dedicated bag, which was identical to the T.35 one except for a pocket in the front that served the purpose of keeping the anti-fogging lenses.
Manual[]
