Bio-Mask Ventilation Help

[HAL1138]

I've been browsing through a ton of "how to" posts.  And although I have read up on many awesome building ideas, I am failing to find a post on what to do after the outside of the costume is done.  My conumdrum is how to vent my future bio mask.  The darn thing doesn't lend to obvious places of ventilation due to the complete closure of the mask against the head.  I'd like to clarify this before I cement my design and start construction.  If the ventilation is very limited, then I may just design custom vents on my bio.

How do you Pred Vets breath in costume?  What fans (if any) do you prefer?  Where do you hide your vents?  And do they work well, or do you just suffer through it? 

Any suggestions great or small is welcomed.  Thanks for the help!

 

[A Hunters Moon]

Will you be wearing a half mask or full?  I think you probably have more options for cooling and ventilation with a half.  The most obvious thing you could do is only use mesh for the bio visor.  In the past some have mentioned pc fans inserted into the nose of the helmet.  Then there are others who just sweat it out.

 

[wonko]

Breathing while suited is a luxury most (including myself) don't have.  I hate to say it, but unless you do go with a half mask there's very little you can do and still have accuracy.  I suppose there would be the option of fans inside the mask somehow, but the bio is meant to fit pretty tight on the head. so your options are limited.  I have a full face mask and bio, and like Tom said, the mesh helps.  I also have a hole inside the mouth area that sits a little above my mouth, but that's more for getting a straw in for fluids.  I have heard of people using cooling packs, and have tried them myself with very limited/poor results.  I've come to the conclusion that it's all about making sacrifices for the love of the hunt.  

Brian

 

[Giles]

I have been thinking on this. Could you have an empty dread hole in the middle at the back, hidden beneath the top row of dreads, opened up with a pc fan attached to suck air in through the back of the mask? Not sure if there is a practical reason why this wouldn't/couldn't work?

 

[HAL1138]

To answer your question A Hunter's Moon,  I will be wearing a half mask.  I was thinking that the visor would be the main area of ventilation, but was wondering if vents in the back of the head under the dreads to get a cross breeze with the fans would be possible.  I want to be as comfortable as I can be in wearing it for a long period of time.

 

[HAL1138]

That's kind of what I was thinking Giles.  Perhaps I can structure the back in a way that will support open vents along the under dreads.  I could them hide them further with scaled mesh.  Should make for an interesting experiment.

 

[A Hunters Moon]

All good ideas really.  I always worry about mask integrity when cutting extra holes in them.  I think if you were to foam the inside and leave space for a hole or fan it could work.  If you do one or the other you'll have to tell us how it goes.

 

[wonko]

The only thing to keep in mind is the fit of the mask.  Most masks I've seen are foam filled so they keep their shape (without the foam filling you end up with a floppy, flat head).  My mask fits pretty tight, and (for me) that's good.  The vent holes in the back are a good idea, but unless you were to carve some sort of channel in the foam, I can't see it doing much as far as a "cross Breeze" goes.  With a half mask there will be much better airflow than with a full mask, so you may not even need to worry about it.  This is my experience, YMMV.

Brian

 

[A Hunters Moon]

Gotta agree there.  You're already way better off than someone wearing a full mask.  Though that empty dread hole with a fan could really work out for the full maskers. 

 

[HAL1138]

I am concerned with the integrity of the back head after cuting into it as well.  But I figured I could easily reinforce it with a wire or abs plastic framing on the inside.  We'll see how it goes.  I'm still unsure if I will be making my own half mask or altering a premade. 

 

[Dropthehammer]

I know it's been a few months, any luck with your design?

 

[HAL1138]

Hey Dropthehammer

I got side tracked with baby predator and a few commissions so I couldn't work on my pred. I was going to make a wire frame half mask covered in fabric a the rubber scales with a mesh back but my husband bought me a half mask so I will be modifying that. I am going to hollow out some of the inner foam to create a circulating area around the head and cut out vents behind the dreads. Then going to figure out a wire frame support for the cut outs which won't inhibit me slipping the mask on. Should be an interesting experiment. I'll be posting my progress on my build thread "Female Hive Master" if you are interested in following the ventilation testing. Wish me luck!!

 

[LunaticNic]

When I designed my bio I did not particularly think about the ventilation, however I began thinking about half way through the drawing process, and I have to say my bio design became more aesthetically pleasing to me with the ventilation design.  I will attempt to upload some pictures in a few days, but I'll describe it for now. The part of the mask that is right under the visor that looks kind of like an expressed cheekbone goes down and along the "jaw line" of the mask and goes back up ... I will be cutting out that mid section and will be installing mesh and a red led pc case fan on each side of the mask ... it is hard to explain so I'll just attempt to do it in ms paint since I don't have a working cam right now.

 

[LunaticNic]

ok, so don't laugh at me XD but I attempted to draw my mask in ms paint with a mouse out of desperation XD

 

[HAL1138]

I would love to see pictures of it LunaticNic!  Feel free to post anything you think is useful on this thread for people wanting good ideas for this issue. 

 

[AlphaTech686]

Hey Hal1138 if you look back a few pages on my Topknot thread you will see the underskull with the 2 PC fans mounted in it. I did this on the first version of the Topknot with one fan right in the middle of the back. I walked around the house with it on for quite a while and got plenty of air. I decided to do 2 in the final version because I figured the more air the better. The holes will be covered by dreads. I may have to stretch some nylon material over the hole if they are some how visible  once the dreads are in place. Hope this helps. 

 

[CCPredator1]

Hello fello PREDS , reading this topic during lunch today I thought I would mention my cool down in the mask. First what IDid was gut out my backpack which was filled foam from the bottom closes to my lower back. I gut out just enough to insert a 12 Volt DC high blower fan , with the suction among toward the cutout below the backpack which is almost invisible. At the exit blow side I funnel the exit with plastic small pieces into two 3/8 exit holes. Then I attached two 3/8 black tubing hoses and drilled out two 3/8 holes on top of the backpack. After running my black tubing through the backpack I made sure it was long enough to be inserted in my mask through the back mask slit. I also wired the system with a switch sticking out at the bottom of the backpack. When I'm on the hunt I am able to reach or ask someone to turn it on for me. It's not loud since the fan is inside the pack back. It's works great, it throws enough for me to stay cool under the mask.

I purchased the fan through EBAY , but you need to make sure it's a high power blower fan not a cooling fan. And yes there is difference, I found out when I started this project.

I wish I could upload some picks for you but like I mentioned I'm at lunch, so there's the way I keep it cool while wearing the ULTIMATE SUIT.

Predator1cc AKA -señor bruja

 

[Ei luj]

What I did with my full mask was to cut holes right where the mouth part curves in..
The mask I have fits snugly so my nose ended up right where that curve is.
And I cut small holes at the ribbed inner mouth area where my mouth lined up.
So I was able to get by with that.
When I have my half mask on, the Bio fits so there is a gap at the chin area, but it is at the bottom underneath, so not noticeable.
Half mask does have more ventilation; monsterroom half mask and ptgreek Bio combo will have that gap underneath.
Computer CPU fans run on 5v and are quiet, and 9v batteries and the down-regulator can be stashed in the backpack.... and wires can be run from there to the mask.
Use that plastic spiral wrap on the wire; looks better than the split ribbed wrap that is used in car harnesses.
Twist the wires together first, then they won't be messy or show a lot.