A filter assembly in the form of a laminated structure incorporates a breather filter section and a recirculation filter section. A hinge is incorporated in the laminated structure to allow the recirculation filter section to be moved relative to the breather filter section during installation of the filter assembly in a disk drive. A low permeability side of the breather filter section is disposed on the "environment" side of a filtering media to control access to the filtering media from the environment. A high permeability side of the breather filter section is disposed on the "drive side" of this filtering media to control access to the filtering media from within the interior of the drive.