The PTM-1 (Russian: Противопыльная Тканевая Маска — "anti-dust cloth mask") was a civilian dust mask designed to be easy to make and to be able to protect against radioactive dust.
Mask overview[]
The facepiece was made using two to four layers of fabric and it was held onto the face by elasticated bands and a hood. The eye pieces were made either of glass or cellulose.
The mask is quite simple to recreate with proper tools, experience and spare materials.
While it is questionable in it's effective design for CBRN protection. It was an alternative when rubber is not present, mainly around rural and distant areas with no easy access to urban roads and trades.
The mask was made in 7 sizes ranging from children to adults.
History[]
The PTM-1 was a cheaper alternative to gas masks and was meant to protect against radioactive dust in case of nuclear war. The PTM-1's manufacturing process was explained via public demonstrations and the masks were sewn at home by the civilians. Because of the artisanal production of this mask, the PTM-1 gas mask came in different colors such as gray, blue, green or red, and the quality of the sewing also varied.
The creation of the PTM-1 originates from the Soviet Union, precisely by the USSR Ministry of Defense. it was then published to nearby Eastern bloc countries such as poland and hungary.
East Germany presumably[1] did not have any locals producing the PTM-1, but was given the GP-5 in later years for compensation of Civil Defence.
The instructions of the Polish civil defense contain numerous instructions on how to make the PTM-1 mask using home methods. Few examples were stored in warehouses, but this was not common. The production of these masks was planned for the period of danger. Masks appeared sporadically during civil defense exercises, because the SzM-41M was the basic mask of this formation.
It was also manufactured and used in Hungary. these were manufactured by either local factories or TSZ (cooperatives).
Other countries such as Lithuania, Estonia, Belarus, Ukraine and Latvia are likely to have possesions of PTM-1 masks from such times.
Instructions[]
- ↑ It is with uncertainy if east germany did ever use or create the PTM-1 in a dire need of anti-dust protection. there has not been any documentation, for as far we, the gasmask and respirator wiki know about.