Russian Youth Gas Mask

Russian Youth Gas Mask Kit

If you are a collector of military surplus items, you've probably seen these Russian Youth Gas Mask kits for sale in various catalogs. Being a collector of USSR militaria, I decided to research these and order one for my collection.

From the research I've done, these appear to be Russian DP-6 Children's Gas Masks. They were issued to children who were too big for the smaller Russian PDF Children's gas masks, but not big enough to wear an adult gas mask. According to many sources online these have been issued since the 1970s and are not very common on the surplus market. Could this $9.95 mask have been a smart buy? It looks like it could be!

After doing some price shopping online and in catalogs, the prices on these masks vary greatly. Here are some examples from Froogle:

Sportsman's Guide for .97

KeepShooting.COM< for .95

4 Star Military Surplus for .95

Needless to say, there is no need for these masks to be sold for $49.95 when others can make a profit on them at $9.95. So, with that in mind, we recommend you buy your Russian Youth Gas Mask at either Sportsman's Guide or Keepshooting.com. We ended up buying from KeepShooting, as we wanted to get some extra filters and they had the best price for them too.

Once our mask arrived, I was pleased to see that it was in excellent condition. The rubber latex of the mask was well preserved, and displayed no cracks or wear. The eye pieces were flawless without any scratchs or defects, and the cloth carrying case was perfect as well. I suspect the mask I received from Keepshooting was never issued, which was quite a nice surprise considering the price I paid for it. The filter was also brand new, with unbroken seals and a manufacter date in the 1980s.

If you are a collector of gas masks, this mask should be in your collection. Its a unique piece of history from the cold war, and even if you don't have children to protect with it you will enjoy the item as an artifact of a by-gone era.

Added:  Thursday, April 13, 2006
Reviewer:  WebMaster
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Related web link:  Russian Youth Gas Mask
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Language: eng