The British Army have issued facemasks to all service personnel, reservists and civil servants working amongst Army units.

These masks will help to protect against a potential second spike in Covid19 or a surge during the winter months.

“Every individual has received a pack containing three masks, two khaki green and one black. These have been made specifically for the Army. Each mask is washable up to 30 times and is expected to last a minimum of two months. These have been purpose made for the Army.”

The initial batch of masks have been prioritised to be issued to 16 Air Assault Brigade as they are the United Kingdom’s global response force, ready for anything, anywhere.

On the 27th July 2020 The 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles collected their allocation of masks from 13 Air Assault Support Regiment RLC in Merville Barrack, Colchester.

George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison

34 COMMENTS

  1. Seems very sensible to me. Perhaps the RAMC should get them first because I can see UK Field Hospitals deploying to Commonwealth countries to help with Covid quite soon. If the Commonwealth means anything the richer countries (UK, Canada, Australia & NZ) may need to step up soon to help the poorer ones.

  2. I hate to even take a guess at how much each mask cost. lol

    Btw masks do very little. Only effective for people who are sick and coughing so they don’t spread it. Does virtually nothing for the other 99% of people that aren’t sick since. Real experts, not the fake ones on the TV and social media say a healthy person wearing a masks even might be more at risks since it gives people a false sense of safety.

    • A healthy person wearing a mask facing an infected person wearing a mask is 90% protected against contracting COVID-19. A healthy person with no mask facing an infected person with a mask is only 40% protected. Mask please. And as for false sence of security if healthy people are wearing masks, erm, if that’s what someone believes, then it isnt a false sence, it is a real and present sence….. of stupidity.

  3. They look quite well designed & quite well made. The fit over the cheeks looks good which is where so many masks seem to bow outwards and not seal properly especially those square pleated paper surgical masks. (We’re all becoming mask connoisseurs now!)

    Please excuse my appalling ignorance, I’m on this site to try and learn more about our armed forces, but what is that big watch on the guy’s wrist? Is it something he would have chosen himself or does the Army have a standard issue watch as part of a soldier’s kit? If the latter then is it so big because it has extra functions (e.g. GPS) or is it simply to make it easy to read and very robust?

    • In the 60’s and early 70’s it was the Smith’s W10 model, followed by the Hamilton W10 in the mid 70’s, then the Cabot W10. All look pretty much the same and I’m sure that’s what was still in service when I left in 93′. Good sturdy timekeeper. Not sure what they use today but I dont think militaries like electronic or digital as they are susceptible to emp destinations (I believe).

      • That should read detonations not destinations. You could check out the Cabot Watch Company or CWC to get an idea.

    • It’s a Suunto. You can buy them when you go on tour or off eBay etc. They are just good watches for runs and general military stuff.

    • The stores do have watches but many prefer to buy there own because it’s not worth having the QM breathing down your neck once a month about it cos he’s lost the paper work again.
      That’s about it.

  4. Many months ago, the sciencedaily website posted an item on the best home made mask. The American chemical society tested them in laboratory conditions. The best was one layer of cotton + 2 layers polyester chiffon. Each fabric stops a different droplet size, so you need 2 different fabrics.

  5. I love the math on this one…30 washes lasts 2 months with 3 masks issued. If we say a month is 30 days so 60 days to go through your three masks with a total of 90 washes…that’s 1.5 mask washes per day….or otherwise known as…….yuk…….

    Your not meant to constantly re use the same mask without washing it, you should be taking it off and popping it strait in the wash ( or securing it in a bag and washing your hands when you take it out later to wash )after every use ( you need to think of it like a dirty hanky, keeping it in your pocket and reusing without washing will spread all those viruses everywhere) . Your not going to want to be using the same mask for more than a few hour at a time..so your going to go through more than one mask a day.

    I bet most people will use all three masks in a single day ( unless they like catching and spreading viruses.

    Sounds like an accountant came up with the mask use.

  6. Remember the small face mask you got issued with along with your S10, I wonder what happened to all the stocks of them we had?

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