The September 11th attack
Pricey gas masks selling briskly
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
Sandii Kamaunu keeps telling her customers that a gas mask won't do them any good during a chemical or biological attack by terrorists, but she still has sold 97 U.S. military and Israeli-civilian masks in the past three weeks.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
While other Hawai'i businesses have struggled and cut employee hours since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, sales have doubled at Kamaunu's Military HQ store on Sand Island Access Road. And three times as many people wander in each day.
Mely Ader, an employee with Military HQ Genuine G.I. Surplus, shows off a gas mask and filter made for the United States military. The store carries two kinds of gas masks. The other gas mask is made in Israel. Since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the store has experienced a run on the gas masks.
They're buying everything from pre-packaged meals to water purifiers to American flags, which are both practical and patriotic ways to react to the attacks, Kamaunu said.
But perhaps the most perplexing items are the gas masks.
At $125 for the U.S. military version, plus another $12.95 for the filter, it's an expensive way to feel more secure, without actually being more secure, Kamaunu said.
"I've literally spent hours trying to talk people out of buying the gas masks," Kamaunu said. "I hate to see people panicking and that's what they're doing. A gas mask won't do any good unless you're willing to buy a chemical suit, gloves, boots and hood, too. Even then you'd have to wear it 24 hours a day to do any good."
She ordered 40 gas masks in August because a group of teenagers said they wanted to use them as alien costumes for Halloween. Then the terrorist attacks hit on Sept. 11 and Kamaunu's vendor in Chicago asked if she wanted any more.
Kamaunu ordered another 60 and they started selling immediately.
"Everybody wants one," said Fred Curtis, one of Kamaunu's workers.
But not Moli Faima, a postal worker from Salt Lake, who instead bought a 4-by-6-inch American flag yesterday for $2.
Some chemical agents work their way through the skin, so "that's not going to stop you from being contaminated," Faima said, looking over the $30 Israeli mask.
Putting on a gas mask during a terrorist attack, Kamaunu said, is like "wearing only one snow boot in the snow while you're stark naked."
Kamaunu bustled through her dark, hot store on the Kapalama Military Reservation yesterday, a cordless phone strapped to her waist and a telephone headset wrapped around her neck.
When she wasn't wishing customers "God bless you," after every sale at the cash register, Kamaunu spent every free minute punching out military-style dog tags at $6 a crack.
She advocates identification tags for everybody. Family members would be able to identify victims, she said, "if something bad were to happen."
And she supports sales of 55-gallon plastic drums to store water, or MREs — Meals Ready to Eat — or water purification systems. They'll work well in any disaster, whether it's from a tsunami, hurricane or terrorists, Kamaunu said.
But she feels badly about selling those gas masks.
"I can't stop people from being foolish," Kamaunu said. "And that's what they are. Foolish."
Then Kamaunu went back to work, stenciling names of people on dog tags to identify them in case the worst happens in Hawai'i.
As Kamaunu worked, a red, white and blue button dangled from her shirt.
It read, "Pray For Peace."
Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8085.
