The Triton Respirator is a whole head respirator that will benefit many people with dust and fume allergies and who work with dangerous fumes on occasion.

I am not a professional and I don't think this is geared for the professional daily user. It should work great for most home and home shop users.

WHAT I LIKED AND NOTICED IMMEDIATELY:

1. FIT: It adjusts well and fits well. The face mask opens easily and stays up when open and stays shut when closed. I have not had fumes or dust leak in so far. Fits over GLASSES well! Plenty of room for glasses! Love this feature! Helmet is adjustable. Hood fits down around the neck and shoulders well for me.

2. EAR MUFFS: The muffs extend outward to help in putting the helmet on, but are sealed so that not dust comes in. They adjust easily and fit tight and hold their position well. I have a problem in that they cut out so much noise that I cannot hear my cell phone or wife call (yell) at me. (Is that a problem? )

3. FACEMASK VIEW: Having a curved mask and with me using trifocals, there is a slight distortion that bothers me, but does not prevent me from accomplishing what I need.
I love graphics and my one strength is my eyes, even with needing trifocals, I can spot imperfections and misalignments in things easily. When working with pens, having trifocals and viewing through the Triton mask, "I" do notice the distortion. On this point, I am extremely persnickety (obsessive?). I keep my glasses CLEAN. Most people do not keep theirs nearly as clean as I do. SO, taking "most people" as the norm, I don't think this is a problem for the average person.

4. AIR FLOW: One of the first things I noticed when I first put the respirator on after charging the battery, and inside my house where the temp was 75° - was the air flow. It felt great! I liked it. That changed soon and a long note on that is below. But for the most part, the air flow does great and helps cool as well as cut down on moisture build up on the mask.
One caveat: It will let smells / odor's in. The dual filter system does filter out dust and fumes but not odors. If the battery pack is mounted to the rear of the body, beware of "flatulence." I do notice odors some but not strong. So far I have noticed the smell of paint odor from a spray can and acetone once, but I have not noticed CA odors when finishing pens.

5. BATTERY AND FILTERS: I ordered and extra set of upper and lower filters and in 5 months, have not used them. The battery charging does one thing that I do not like - it charges and charges until you unplug it. There is a light on the battery pack that show it is charging, but it never goes off! For the price of the Triton Respirator, I figure this could be improved. I have used the pack for at least 3 hours at a time, several times and have not run the battery down yet. I always re-charge the battery overnight after an evening's use. I do not know how long it holds up before it stops altogether.


DRAWBACKS:
For ME: It works Great at times and bad at times!

I am adding an in depth write up on the bad times because there are people who like an item and always assume that if it works for them and not someone else, then it is not being used properly. Quite frankly, the Triton will not work for "everyone," even when used totally within parameters.

I don't like it in hot weather. It blows air into the helmet and for most people, the battery powered fan is probably fine. But for me, I still get foggy face mask and lots of sweat on my face and head. When "I" am in 80° temp and less, it works fine. For most people, the air flow will be adequate, IMO.

BEFORE anyone comments on this aspect, Yes, this is with a clean filter and air flow the same as the first time I tried it. I tried it first at my home in the States; repacked it and brought it back to Japan with me. The 2nd time to try it (fully charged) was under real conditions in 90° temp in my small shop here. The 3rd and 4th times, under the same and hotter temps proved to have the same results. I just put the Triton Respirator up for the summer and reverted back to my double canister nose and mouth mask.

Now that fall is here and temps in the mid to upper 70°s, it is working fine for me.

The problem, IMO, is not the Triton, but me - and as such, could present the same problem for a few other people. I have ALWAYS had a problem with face masks and respirators in which moisture accumulated, or leaked out and fogged my glasses. Single canister face masks NEVER work. A few double canisters do work fairly well. It is not a matter of making masks tighter, it is a matter of too much pressure in breathing out that causes seepage. Making it tight enough to stop seepage - ends in headaches or pain from being too tight.

So, the problem boils down to "me." I am not large, (5' 10", 200 lb) but from the time I was younger, I always knew that I apparently had big lungs. I have been to the top of Mt. Evans (Colorado) and Pike's Peak twice, (both 14,000+ ft) and climbed Mt. Fuji twice (12000+ ft). With other people, they all said how "thin" the air was. I never experienced that and it all felt like I was at sea level to me, after spending several hours at the top of each mountian. After those experiences I always wondered if I had large or very efficient lungs. When I connect that experience with the fact that I always have face mask moisture problems, I can only come to two conclusions: Large or efficient lungs and excessive body cooling system (noted below).

A second reason for moisture build up in the Triton Respirator helmet:
I sweat profusely and easily. Even at 75°, if active as in a construction project, my shirt and pants will get wet within an hour as though I were hosed down with water. For me, it is not a palms or arm pit sweat as in nervous, but head, chest, arms, legs, body sweating. I have asked my doctor about it during yearly medical checkups and I always get the same answer, - a few people just do this to keep cool. I do drink lots of water to replace the lost water.

This affects the Triton's effectiveness for ME. If you have similar characteristics, you will probably have similar problems with the Triton.

Back to the Triton Respirator. I thought about and tried hooking the respirator up to a long hose and small high volume vac, (using the blower side) but after a few minutes, the vac motor heat begins to blow through.

For ME, below 80°, it works super. Above 80° I use my dual canister respirator and a flip down face mask plus a small floor fan blowing upwards towards where I stand for turning.

I will say that I am a "one in a hundred" person that the Triton does not do well for all conditions. But since mid September and during fall, and probably spring and winter, it will do well.

For others, it should do well year round.

A 4 FOR OVERALL IMPRESSION for this reason:

FOR WHEN IT DOES WORK for me: I do not smell the CA fumes, none get to my eyes. The CA and sanding dust is kept out and it does great! For a normal person, this could be an all year round "apparel," but for me it is 3 seasons. I think that if the fan were to blow a little harder it might help some. I did not know about hyperhydrosis until Jeff and another person mentioned it in an email. I will have to have that checked because that seems to be part of my problem. The respirator cannot be faulted for that but it does get hot inside when it is hot outside the helmet.

Hank Lee
Toyota, Japan