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

armbrustusa.com

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

#111

Post by throwaway81523 »

jcims wrote: post #69
autarch wrote: 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.

I've had a lot of strap welds break on all kinds of masks. I fix them with hot melt glue and they are as good as new.

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

#112

Post by nier »

lloydarmbrust wrote: post #12

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…

Greetings from Germany. Of course my local interest lead me to the one and only product tested that originated here.

https://www.armbrustusa.com/blogs/mask-review/surgical-medte...

The accompanying video is informative and I can add that the way the earloops are attached is wide-spread in Germany. Also confirmation from my side that the strings rip right off with this type of attachment regardless of the actual manufacturer.

On an iPhone, the value for color in the details is slightly too far to the left and in this case wrong because it reads Black. I’d like to be able to tap on the color and see a list of matching masks and also have a top level filter for color.

As a parent I’d love to have a top level filter to see masks for kids.

Finally, German quality engineering exists but it’s really not found that often in the wild as the myth would lead someone to believe. So thanks for helping to debunk that in the video.

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

#114

Post by renewiltord »

fnord77 wrote: post #43
halpert wrote: 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?

There are 3D print attachments you can use. I used them with P100 filters and tested flow. Pretty damned good.

Others will not trust you, however, so I always carry another mask with me to swap to.

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

#115

Post by qbasic_forever »

fnord77 wrote: post #43
halpert wrote: 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?

Some models (particularly from 3M) can be fit with output filters: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/v101254496/ I have even seen explicit P100 filtering for these output filters.

Anecdotally I just ziptied a surgical mask over the exhaust on mine and it's fine.

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

#116

Post by creato »

lloydarmbrust wrote: post #101
BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could start by adjusting your given filtration ratios by predictable leakage based on the type of mask. It's wholly misleading to rate the filtration potential of an earloop mask as equivalent to that of a 3M Aura.

Not exactly.. it really depends on the situation. For example an ASTM 2 or 3 surgical mask fabric has a filtration of 98%+ On my face I have a leakage of about 21% or PFE of 79% when worn normally. With an ear saver, it jumps to 91%. With a mask brace, it jumps to 98%. So it really is about the fit. If I put leakage % it would vary from person to person and many people would be mislead by this.

Do you have the same measurement for you for an N95 with the typical elastic straps that you can share?

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

#117

Post by qbasic_forever »

cpeterso wrote: post #56
halpert wrote: 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.

Not anymore with omicron. The rules have changed, your primary focus should be filtering the air you breath. We are two years into this thing and mask compliance for the general public is at the lowest levels possible. You can only protect yourself in public, you have to start wearing masks that protect you primarily.

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

#119

Post by hedora »

lloydarmbrust wrote: post #93
Tagbert wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps you could provide two links. Once with affiliate tag and one without? Give users the information and the choice.

Oh ha this is a good idea

I guess the key is to make it easy for people to pick any decent mask. I’d prefer yours, but, as you say, you’re already selling at capacity.

I don’t care either way if you make a few percent off a sale of a competitor’s mask, and there’s no obvious conflict of interest, at least as long as there’s some mask on Amazon that works and isn’t sold out.

Thanks for doing all the tests!

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