These mittens would be used to handle machine gun barrels while changing from an overheated barrel for a new one during prolonged firing.

These particular ones were to be used with the American m1919a6 .30 caliber machine gun.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    694 months ago

    Asbestos is such an amazing material that of course it had to also be one of the most toxic.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      204 months ago

      I was tempted to nitpick and say it’s not toxic, just carcinogenic, but Miriam-Webster does define toxic as harmful.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      4
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      I know right? It must have seemed like a miracle material. You can make fireproof fabrics and blankets, insulation bats, brake pads, ceramic tiles, roofing, even sheet rock for buildings. Its durable, UV safe, water resistant, pest-resistent, rot-resistent and machine workable. It doesnt require any complex chemistry to synthesise, you can just dig it right out of the ground.

      And its toxicity is so insidious. It doesnt kill or even make you sick right away. Not the next year even, like silicosis. No, the bastard waits 25-35 years, and then drowns you in your own self-destructing lung tissue.

      Such a legendary yet cursed material.