Continual Gear Improvement And Gear Question (Your Help/Suggestions Needed!)

Having spent more years than I care to admit routinely wearing rubber, I find it is easy be become complacent and just keep wearing the same-old type of rubber outfit day-in, day-out. The reason I wear rubber is as much because of the “total experience” as for the look, so have a tendency to stick to my tried-and-tested configuration. We all know wearing the “wrong” rubber items or combination can become unbearably uncomfortable within just a few hours, but over time, I have worked out much of what does and does not work for me. But that does not mean I have reached the zenith of what is possible, just that I have a combination that works for me and have just lacked motivation to meddle.

However, occasionally I find there is something that causes a spark inspiration when I discovery new motivations to try some changes. So, in the spirit of continual improvement, I have recently conducted a complete review of my "wardrobe", making my way up from the ground up.

The way my mind works is that I first work out the requirements before fixating on the solutions. I wondered what are the things that I would like to improve in my current configuration? The list informs the search for new items. Given my current outfit has “worked” for a long time, the list of improvements was actually fairly short.

The first item for improvement was “plumbing” to allow me to stay totally sealed beyond the capacity of my bladder. Here I have developed fairly good systems already, but given the current prototype items are wearing out, I have chosen a new supplier for part of the solution and will report back if/when they get round to shipping the item.

The next items for improvement relates to a fascination I have for being locked into my rubber, relieving me of my freedom of choice to “unseal”. As you may know, I have already a system in place for locking myself into my rubber Hydroglove suit (my current outer layer) and, when I have no reliable and willing assistant to act as key-holder, I use a time-lock key safe. The system uses a combination of chains, collar/straps and pad-locks to keep my safely locked in my suit. The current bondage setup works OK, in that if I get things set up correctly, I cannot remove my suit while locked. It works OK, yet I know it could be improved to remove all chances of partial removal while also make it less time-consuming and more fool-proof to administer.

The only way to remove a Hydroglove suit is to separate the top half from the bottom half. There are no zips or other ways into or out of the suit. This is good and bad. When the top and bottom are correctly worn (rolled together), the resulting combination is completely water (and air) proof. The lack of zips appeals to me for lots of other reasons too. The only real down side is that the method of rolling the two pieced together is (at first glance) difficult to secure with a lock. My suit is locked onto me at other points so I could not remove it, but up till now it has always been at least theoretically possible for me to break the seal in the middle at any point, locked or not. 

I thought it through and came up with a possible solution of how to prevent the seal being broken, once locked in. I discarded lots of ideas along the way as it is amazing how inventive you can be if you want to break free of your bonds. The possible answer turned out to be simple and I hope quick and comfortable. Over the top of the Hydroglove, I propose to wear a latex cycling-style outfit, which has a very short zip from chest to neck, which can therefore be padlocked to the locked collar that I already wear. The new outfit is being made of strong 0.6mm latex and so should make it impossible for me to gain access to the Hydroglove seal, which is rolled up at my midriff and covered with a rubber cummerbund (both the seal and cummerbund will be under the cycling-style suit).

I chose a cycling outfit for two reasons: Short legs are ideal as my “pluming” exists though a seal on my inner-thigh above my knee and secondly I wanted something with minimal zips while being easy to don. The cycling suit is being made-to-measure by a “controversial” (& cheap) supplier that I have never used before; needless to say I will report back on the results!

The third item was more of an issue….

HELP!

Making my way from ground up, I have got stuck at the last hurdle - the hood.

Currently I routinely wear a Regulation of London S6 Gas Mask Hood, which comprises a gas mask bonded to a hood with a bondage collar and zip (which can be locked). I wear this over the Hydroglove hood, which has an open face. There is not a lot wrong arrangement in many ways. I am actually on my second identical hood, despite them lasting for many years with heavy use. The plus points are they are comfortable to wear (for days on end!), you can see clearly out of the lenses (which clear themselves by drawing input air over their surface), you feel completely sealed (a hand over the input port will soon have you gasping), it is very easy to lock yourself into the hood (collar with D-Rings etc) and I think they look cute!

So what are the areas for improvement? Not many! I did originally consider just buying something similar (S10 hood), but this is an opportunity for improvement and being picky, here are some points I would like to address that are as much to do with my lifestyle as the hood. I don’t expect to solve them all with a single solution; I expect I may have compromise along the way.

1. The Telephone…. I work from home much of the time and (of course!) I do this locked in rubber from head to foot. If I am in a S6, it is not possible to communicate on the telephone without it being fairly obvious that I am wearing a mask. Modern phones only make this more difficult with their high quality sound. I have tried mounting internal & external microphones etc, but the end result is I never feel confident enough to be on the phone to work when wearing my S6. Currently I get round this by partially removing the mask. When talking on the phone the hood is still locked around my neck, but the S6 is pulled away from my face slightly.  Even this level of partial removal takes a long time and I often miss calls while I struggling with my mask. Also, I am exposing my whole face while on the phone and I would prefer to minimise this to just my mouth.

2. Negative Air pressure / sleep. Gas masks inherently cause a small degree of negative air pressure as you breathe in. Most of the time, this is not a problem and even enhances the experience. However, this negative pressure is most problematic if you try to sleep in a gas mask, where any tendency to sleep apnoea is amplified. I often find wearing my S6 has a detrimental quality of my sleep. This second point about negative air pressure is only a nice-to-have consideration and far less important than the 1^st point about being able to wear in at work and use a phone while keeping all the good points about the current mask.

So, in summary, I am looking for that elusive combination of comfort over long periods, practicalities especially while working in my mask and yet still have a very enclosed feeling. Here are some requirements spelt out:

(A). Ideally I would want lenses (not eye holes), which should provide a hermetic seal between my eyes and the environment and the lenses should be easy to see through all day (not fog). Short of a gas masks, this is a tall order so might have to accept a compromise here. E.g. wearing goggles over my hood (down side of which is they will not be locked on).

(B). I want to be to lock into the hood at the collar (or collar zip) as this is part of the system for locking on the rest of the suit.

(C). While locked in, I may need system to allow me to quickly remove the tubes (or mask) from my mouth so that I can communicate clearly on the phone. It want to be able to only uncover the bare minimum for phone conversations.

(D). To enhance the totally sealed in feeling, I still want to be able to fit on a tube or mask to the hood so that I am totally sealed in when required, with air coming in just via tube and/or filter. The icing on the cake would be if this last element could be locked on to the rest of the hood after work hours.

(E). The hood should feel as sealed in as possible, especially when the breathing apparatus is attached, while remaining comfortable for long periods (occasionally 24 hours+). A bit or breath-play with a rebreather is always a fun distraction…

(F). A nice to have would be obscured eyes (e.g. mirrored lenses), to complete the anonymous look.

(G). Ideas to address sleep apnoea while wearing my hood/mask are welcome. I have prototyped positive pressure ideas, but they have not been totally successful.

I have looked at StudioGum, Demask, Rubber’s Finest… and lots of other suppliers and yet despite their high price tag, I am not 100% sure they will be comfortable & practical every-day wear. I suspect many will fog their lenses, not provide the 100% sealed that you get with a gas mask or become very uncomfortable after a few hours (I already have an old Demask “PSYCLO HOOD” that manages to get 3 out of 3!).

Maybe there is a reason I have always stuck to gas-mask based hoods! They are difficult to beat!

One thing that gives me some hope is that (years ago) I did go through a phase of wearing a cocoon bondage helmet (small openings for eyes, nose and mouth & long collar) with goggles and a mask. While this was one the most conformable items I have worn, I never found a mask that I could wear over the hood to covered mouth/nose that really adequately worked for me while remaining comfortable.

The search continues. Suggestions welcomed.

Sealed