I received a price sheet from AirWare America recently and was startled to see how the prices have escalated since I bought my Airstream AS400 about eight years ago -- the price is well over $1000 now. Well, I guess that everything else in woodturning (lathes turning tools, etc) has gone up by roughly the same percentage. I can remember when I anguished over spending almost $600 for my first lathe. Meanwhile, it seems like my financial investments have been going the other way just as rapidly. Too bad that there isn't a commodities market in woodturning stuff. 😛
My original "intrinsically safe" battery is still going strong after all these years -- knock on mesquite. I noticed that the price has more than doubled and is now nearly $300 -- for a stinkin' battery.😱 No wonder that folks are looking at alternatives like small NiMH batteries. That is probably what I will also do.
Since the primary market for these 3M respirators is for industrial use, they are priced accordingly.