[AT] OT supplied air respirator vs american made

[Cecil Bearden]

I had an Airstream helmet that had tear off sheets that would allow you 
to paint.  The helmet had a battery pack worn on the belt.  I never used 
it to paint, but it was great when baling hay without a cab.  It 
supplied air at the tip of the helmet and it blew over your face and was 
a positive ventilation device.  3M bought them out and I don't know if 
they are available now.

I bought a name brand Pauli & Griffin sandblast helmet along with the 
filter that hooked on to the air compressor.  A year later I went to get 
replacement tear offs for the helmet and found that Pauli and Griffin 
were no longer in business, they had been bought out and the helmet was 
discontinued.  The helmet and filter was about $750 back in 1985, so it 
was a sizeable investment, nearly the same as my monthly house 
payment.     I now look at the specifications of the item and if it 
meets my requirements, I buy from the cheapest source.  Name brands mean 
nothing any more.  You can be sure they have enough excuses to prevent 
them from having any liability.

So many good products are no longer available due to the greed of the 
manufacturers and the holding companies.  I can name many tractor and 
implement companies that were successful but due to acquisitions are no 
longer available and parts are non-existent. This is the reason I have 
no problem with foreign made equipment when searching for tools, 
tractors, or implements.   I already have to have a full complement of 
metric tools and bolts to maintain the made in USA stuff, so why pay the 
extra for a USA name when the product was made offshore and re-boxed in 
the USA? My 2 best tractors were made in the Ukraine, one of the loaders 
was made in Germany,  my most expensive tractor was made in England ( 
USA name), my portable generator and tractor rototiller were made in 
China, my most reliable ATV was built in Korea (USA name),   my pickup 
was built in Mexico (USA name), my small engines on sprayers and 
compressors and small generators were made in Japan or China.  I could 
go on and on due to the amount of iron I have collected in the last 50 
years.

I look back on the time that my Dad and I would buy tractors off the 
back lot of the dealers and work our butts off to repair them to work on 
the farm.  If we had only ignored the experts" and bought a Belarus for 
1/3 the price of the USA names, we could have enjoyed an air-conditioned 
cab and spent more hours on the tractor instead of under it.  Dad might 
still be around if we had done so.  I quit driving GM vehicles in the 
90's due to the 8 hour job to replace the A/C compressor and the related 
parts due to a screwed up design.  Now, my Fords since 97 need the cab 
removed to remove the engine.  The dash falls apart on the Dodge trucks, 
so what is left?

Sorry for the long rant guys, guess I must be getting crotchety in my 
old age.

Cecil in OKla


On 1/4/2017 9:45 PM, John Hall wrote:
> I have no idea what to recommend, but when it comes to safety, no name
> imports would scare me. An extra $300 bucks won't cover very much in
> medical bills.
>
> John Hall
>
>
> On 1/4/2017 11:59 AM, Ivan wrote:
>>         I have several painting projects and with the nasty stuff in paint
>> now I should be using a better setup than a plain old respirator .
>> Been looking at a turbine system that will set me back about 450 with a
>> enclosed mask . But I noticed a system of Ebay for less than 100 from
>> China that uses compressed air with a 3 stage filter to supply
>> breathable air . Anyone used one of these ? Eastwood also sells a
>> similar system but for a lot more .
>> Tractor ref , my IH 4120 ss    is one of the paint projects . Ivan
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