Gas Masks Featured at Home Remodeling Show

This year’s home remodeling show at the Anaheim Convention Center is packed with the usual array of kitchen cabinets, hot tubs and window shutters.

But it’s a display of gas masks and other survival gear off to the side that promoters are touting.

Organizers homed in on a “Survival Expo” theme after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said John Blanchette, a spokesman for the 25th annual Home Remodel & Decorating Show, which opened Friday.

“Last year, we were in an energy crisis and we had all these energy-saving devices,” he said. “This year, it’s dried food, Mylar wraps, water that lasts you five years and Israeli gas masks.”