A personal protective equipment (PPE), a component for an air purifying respirator (APR) and a method for coupling an air purifying respirator (APR) to a facepiece are provided. In one embodiment, the component includes an elongate tube having a proximal end and a distal end, the distal end being configured to be in fluid communication an air filter of the APR. The component also includes an adapter disposed at the proximal end of the elongate tube. The adapter is configured to releasably fluidly couple the APR to a facepiece and releasably fluidly couple a second stage regulator of a self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) to the facepiece.