Live data from Hacker News

Show HN: I bought and tested the filtration of every mask on Amazon

armbrustusa.com

61–70 of 250 posts

Re: Show HN: I bought and tested the filtration of every mask on Amazon

#61
post #19

Wow, this is fabulous! They spent almost $5000 to buy and test every mask available on Amazon. If you click on a mask it will take you to a page with the test details. More incredibly, most of the masks also have 5-7 minute video review! If you click on the "Breathability" column, then on "Grade" twice, you will end up with a list of masks that Pass with the most breathable masks first. Way to go, Lloyd. I've never h…

A lot of content marketing these days is low-effort and spammy but this is a great example of content marketing done well.

Re: Show HN: I bought and tested the filtration of every mask on Amazon

#62
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, but if everyone is wearing one it doesn't matter. Some of the masks on this site are vented as well.

Most of the point of wearing a mask is to prevent you from unknowingly spreading COVID to other people. Many stores I visit have signs prohibiting vented masks.

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: I bought and tested the filtration of every mask on Amazon

#63

I've spent about 1,000 hours on this with my team using a very expensive (~$250k) lab and I'd love for this to be a great resource for people when choosing a mask. The heavy lift we are doing here is around our particulate filtration efficiency test in which we do either the NIOSH N95 NaCL (0.3 micron) test or the ASTM 0.1 micron latex particle test. I'd love HN feedback on how we improve the interface and make this…

The biggest issue with surgical masks is most of the nose strips are pathetically thin so they bend out of place and stop you from getting a good seal, which means they're a nightmare for glasses wearers.

Re: Show HN: I bought and tested the filtration of every mask on Amazon

#65

I've spent about 1,000 hours on this with my team using a very expensive (~$250k) lab and I'd love for this to be a great resource for people when choosing a mask. The heavy lift we are doing here is around our particulate filtration efficiency test in which we do either the NIOSH N95 NaCL (0.3 micron) test or the ASTM 0.1 micron latex particle test. I'd love HN feedback on how we improve the interface and make this…

Sorting by breathability is broken.

It'd be nice if you had pop-up dialogs upon hover over each of the fields. For example, if I hover over breathability, explain what it is and how you measure it.

Some color codes/gradient would be nice to help with the visual effect (Green for Pass, Red for Fail etc.) But please do include a toggle for color-blind mode if you do add color.

Re: Show HN: I bought and tested the filtration of every mask on Amazon

#66
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, but if everyone is wearing one it doesn't matter. Some of the masks on this site are vented as well.

Most of the point of wearing a mask is to prevent you from unknowingly spreading COVID to other people. Many stores I visit have signs prohibiting vented masks.

If you can't catch it (but the mask does), you can't spread it..

Re: Show HN: I bought and tested the filtration of every mask on Amazon

#67
post #63

I've spent about 1,000 hours on this with my team using a very expensive (~$250k) lab and I'd love for this to be a great resource for people when choosing a mask. The heavy lift we are doing here is around our particulate filtration efficiency test in which we do either the NIOSH N95 NaCL (0.3 micron) test or the ASTM 0.1 micron latex particle test. I'd love HN feedback on how we improve the interface and make this…

The biggest issue with surgical masks is most of the nose strips are pathetically thin so they bend out of place and stop you from getting a good seal, which means they're a nightmare for glasses wearers.

> which means they're a nightmare for glasses wearers

More importantly, it greatly reduces their effectiveness. Fogging up glasses is, by far, the lesser issue of the two.

Re: Show HN: I bought and tested the filtration of every mask on Amazon

#68
post #43
post #41

So much focus is on N95 masks, but P100 full-face respirators are AMAZING. I bought one for a home construction project I as doing. I was fully expecting fully labored breathing. To my surprise, my breath was completely unhindered. You also have full visibility and your glasses don't fog up, which is nice. I could definitely wear a full-face respirator all day.

these don't have filtered output, do they?

So most of them are vented BUT there are some that are not.

GVS sells one with source control: https://www.gvs.com/en/catalog/elipse-p100-with-source-contr...

Most of 3M's stuff does not have source control but I just discovered tonight that there is an add-on exhaust filter to the 6000 series of masks: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/v101254496/

I wore a 6000 series mask for most of 2020 and 2021 but upgraded to a 7000 series when the elastic wore out on the 6000. Both the 6000s and 7000s are super comfortable. You just might get some strange looks, particularly if you are sporting the bright pink P100 filters. I have not yet been able to find a source control equivalent for the 7000 series.

One great superpower of the 3M masks (6000/7000 etc.) is that wearing one of these while going to a port-a-potty means that you do not smell anything at all =)

Re: Show HN: I bought and tested the filtration of every mask on Amazon

#69
post #51

I've been buying masks from Armbrust since early in the pandemic. I didn't trust anything on Amazon, and I wanted something made in the US, on the theory that the high-quality stuff made in China would be less likely to be exported.

I have a stack of 50ish Armbrust masks after learning about them last year. Every single one i wore failed at the strap weld within a few minutes. I’ve got a big head and they ran a little small, but this was pure QA fail.

I’m guessing they’ve fixed it since then, but i don’t see how people can release products without testing them.

Re: Show HN: I bought and tested the filtration of every mask on Amazon

#70
The page claims over 99% filtration by some dinky earloop surgical masks, which seems impossible unless they are only measuring the fabric and not the mask as a whole. It definitely seems like the testing method can't possibly account for side leakage, which IMO makes the measurements basically useless.
Post reply on HN