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Ready for an N95? Here's how to find a high-quality one that fits you well

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Re: Ready for an N95? Here's how to find a high-quality one that fits you well

#211

Post by tomjen3 »

JohnTHaller wrote: post #138
spqr0a1 wrote: post #109

It boggles my mind that the general public, media, and even healthcare workers treat N95 mask as if they are as good as it gets. Industry routinely uses elastomeric half- and full-face respirators with P100 filters, and they have been easy to find in stock again since August 2020. P100 is a comparable grade to HEPA, both 99.97%. Respirators are more comfortable and seal well easier than purely fabric masks, they don'…

Does that model have an unfiltered exhalation valve? That would make it useless to protect others, which is a big point of masks.

The one I have does not filter the exhalation, but I seem to remember that the goal of masks were to stop the spread and this one does.

Re: Ready for an N95? Here's how to find a high-quality one that fits you well

#212

Post by tomjen3 »

mindslight wrote: post #210
drewcoo wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those masks and face shields should sport US flags and bald eagles and nationalist slogans. Not only should we all have them, distributed by the government, but wearing them should be a visible form of patriotism.

I assume you're being sarcastic, equating wearing protective gear to fascist fashion like say the aftermath of 9/11. But when a fire alarm goes off and everybody leaves a building, you're not being clever by staying. Sometimes conditions change and it really does make individual sense for everybody to move in the same general direction. As I've gotten older, and especially as hammered home by the pandemic, I've accep…

I haven't been in a fire alarm caused by an actual dangerous fire. I have been annoyed by several false alarms and fire tests.

Staying behind had actually been the smart move.

Re: Ready for an N95? Here's how to find a high-quality one that fits you well

#213

Post by mindslight »

tomjen3 wrote: post #212
mindslight wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume you're being sarcastic, equating wearing protective gear to fascist fashion like say the aftermath of 9/11. But when a fire alarm goes off and everybody leaves a building, you're not being clever by staying. Sometimes conditions change and it really does make individual sense for everybody to move in the same general direction. As I've gotten older, and especially as hammered home by the pandemic, I've accep…

I haven't been in a fire alarm caused by an actual dangerous fire. I have been annoyed by several false alarms and fire tests. Staying behind had actually been the smart move.

s/smart/post hoc optimal/

For something that has wasted perhaps ten cumulative hours of my life, deferring to commonly accepted wisdom seems like the smarter choice.

Re: Ready for an N95? Here's how to find a high-quality one that fits you well

#214

Post by dv_dt »

nradov wrote: post #131
tasha0663 wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A week or two ago they were saying Omicron might confer Delta immunity. Don't overlook that part.

Immunity isn't a binary condition. Infection by any known SARS-CoV-2 variant will leave most recovered patients with a significant level of cellular immunity against all other variants. This won't necessarily prevent reinfection, but just like with every other coronavirus the symptoms of reinfection cases will typically be mild. The mRNA vaccines also seem to confer a significant level of durable cellular immunity ag…

That was what was said of delta, yet six months after, because of how many cases of delta were created, the next Omicron variant can reinfect previous delta patients. Just from looking at the broad waves of Covid, one should conclude that natural immunity conveyed by getting Covid does not protect us as a herd against future mutations. Because omicron is even more contagious, I might expect the next major variant in the same to faster timeframe, and that variant will have the grainy of bypass previous immunity to some degree.

Re: Ready for an N95? Here's how to find a high-quality one that fits you well

#215

Post by JohnTHaller »

tomjen3 wrote: post #211
JohnTHaller wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does that model have an unfiltered exhalation valve? That would make it useless to protect others, which is a big point of masks.

The one I have does not filter the exhalation, but I seem to remember that the goal of masks were to stop the spread and this one does.

If it doesn't filter the exhale, you're spreading to others. Especially if you're asymptomatic. That's one reason why many places (correctly) forbid masks with valves.

Re: Ready for an N95? Here's how to find a high-quality one that fits you well

#216

Post by okhobb »

ars wrote: post #124

I have no intention of wearing one. I'm immunized, and I intend to expose myself to COVID frequently to ensure my immune response remains high, and if I get sick it'll be minor (and I'll quarantine in that case, since I don't intend to expose others). There is no longer any reason to wear a mask or stay away from others if you are immunized, unless you are actually sick.

Are you testing yourself constantly to make sure you're not exposing others? The pernicious feature of COVID is the asymptomatic nature of many infections.

Re: Ready for an N95? Here's how to find a high-quality one that fits you well

#217

Post by nathanaldensr »

horns4lyfe wrote: post #194

For whatever reason, people in this site seem to be cloistered in places that have mask mandates, when in most states this is a moot point because most states don’t have mask mandates. And at some point people will start leaving places with these mandates for places without them, because for some reason no one wants to admit that wearing a mask is really annoying.

It's just a selection bias. The story is about being "ready for an N95," so naturally people who live their lives via masking will be interested. Meanwhile, people in other areas simply go to the supermarket like they always did, go out to eat, etc. with no drama and no signalling.

Re: Ready for an N95? Here's how to find a high-quality one that fits you well

#218

Post by thepasswordis »

jondwillis wrote: post #206
thepasswordis wrote: post #175

The discussion here about masks is interesting. Many people talking about what their own personal preference for masks, exposure, etc. are. I'd just like to say: the problem, and where the division (which causes bad health outcomes!) comes from is: deciding what your strategy is, and then trying to force other people to do the same thing . If my strategy was: don't wear masks and hope to get omicron, and then I force…

I want to point out that the strategy of trying to get Omicron for future natural immunity against other strains, while probably one that will work based on what we know about viral competition, is wishful thinking and not based on scientific fact (show me a study and I’ll change my mind.)

Imagine if somebody said you were required to take an injection which infected you with omicron, else you would be prohibited from participating in society.

I'd be okay with the option, but not the requirement.

Re: Ready for an N95? Here's how to find a high-quality one that fits you well

#219

Post by sergers »

yosito wrote: post #145
mindslight wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I too encountered anti-maskers at the hospital. A security guard wanted me to remove my P100 (in+out) and wear their cosplay mask instead. I escalated and talked to the Hospital's Director of Infection Control, who confirmed the policy. When I told them that I was not comfortable with their ask, I was met with all of the standard anti-mask tropes - "wearing a better mask is unnecessary" "Covid is too small to be filt…

Wait, anti maskers demanding cosplay masks are making the rules at the hospital? Or am I misunderstanding something?

I am wondering if was a typo/spellcheck error for cosplay.

Confused that they enforcing wearing a cosplay mask.

All hospitals in my area make you take off your mask and wear a level 3 surgical mask.

If you want to double up, wear your own mask on top is fine.

Re: Ready for an N95? Here's how to find a high-quality one that fits you well

#220

Post by sergers »

pugworthy wrote: post #141

My challenge is that the over the ear ones just don't work with my hearing aids. They have a tendency to pull them off, and let's just say at $3k a pop, I'm rather careful I don't lose one. I do think it's good that people learn to detect fakes, but the challenge in a way is trying to order 20 of them. You don't want to wait a week for the order to show up, and discover you now have 20 fakes.

True n95 have a head strap, no over earloops.

Over earloops are generally consumer version with minor difference.

N95 aura or true n95 are all headstrap

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