Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30M That It Can’t Sell

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 106 posts

Re: Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30M That It Can’t Sell

#21

Post by londons_explore »

OJFord wrote: post #4

> The problem is getting consumers to their retail websites. At the moment, anyone trying to buy N95 masks on Google Shopping or Facebook Marketplace is greeted with a blank page; on Amazon, a search for N95s yields a welter of vendors hawking KN95 masks, a Chinese-made equivalent that researchers say is less effective. > “How is it that you can spread conspiracy theories on Facebook, but we can’t sell N95 masks to t…

> welter of vendors hawking KN95 masks, a Chinese-made equivalent that researchers say is less effective.

Citation? Ther actual written standards of N95 vs KN95 are very similar, and if anything KN95 is probably slightly better. To meet KN95, the mask must be shown not to let air pass around the edges even while doing vigorous exercise, whereas N95 has no such requirement.

This is notable in the shape of N95 and KN95 masks. Some N95 masks look like someone just hit the "circle" button in some CAD software, whereas KN95 masks clearly have effort to actually being human-shaped.

Re: Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30M That It Can’t Sell

#22

Post by nwatson »

h_anna_h wrote: post #17
cmckn wrote: post #7

I purchased some at Home Depot recently for $4/pc (they had plenty in stock, Seattle area). The company mentioned here is selling [0] them for $3.75/pc, but only in quantities of 20 ($75). I wish N95’s did not necessitate the second strap, but hey, it’s better than COVID! [0] https://shop.demetech.us/collections/n95-respirator-masks/pr... Edit: for the record, I think the ones I got at Home Depot are nicer. They have…

what do you mean by pc in this post?

"/pc" == "per piece" == apiece

Re: Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30M That It Can’t Sell

#23

Post by ojilles »

h_anna_h wrote: post #17
cmckn wrote: post #7

I purchased some at Home Depot recently for $4/pc (they had plenty in stock, Seattle area). The company mentioned here is selling [0] them for $3.75/pc, but only in quantities of 20 ($75). I wish N95’s did not necessitate the second strap, but hey, it’s better than COVID! [0] https://shop.demetech.us/collections/n95-respirator-masks/pr... Edit: for the record, I think the ones I got at Home Depot are nicer. They have…

what do you mean by pc in this post?

Per piece, as in per individual mask.

Re: Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30M That It Can’t Sell

#24

Post by tpowell »

I thought I was Chicken Little buying my first masks (P100 respirators) in January 2020. I bought a couple more fancy ones in Feb. Days later, decent masks disappeared—those had to last me the rest of 2020. Around November(?), Powecom masks became FDA approved and I've bought plenty through https://bonafidemasks.com. There are coupons floating around (try slickdeals). The headband style ones are a little more $, but provide a better seal. I also like that they have black as an option. FYI I use a BYD surgical masks ($8 for 50 at Costco) on top of these and really try to keep those to single use. Don't forget to use germ-x or whatever after touching the outside of your mask—static electricity is supposed to help particles stick to the outside (hence a fresh surgical for the outside layer).

Re: Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30M That It Can’t Sell

#26

Post by GuB-42 »

> a search for N95s yields a welter of vendors hawking KN95 masks, a Chinese-made equivalent that researchers say is less effective

Any source for that?

From what I've seen, N95, KN95, FFP2 and others are pretty much equivalent. There are some small differences but none that significantly affect the level of protection. There are certainly differences between manufacturers, and maybe there are more fake KN95 than there are fake N95, but that's not an issue with the certification.

Re: Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30M That It Can’t Sell

#27

Post by onethought »

_v7gu wrote: post #25

Thankfully they are not valved, people who wear valved masks are worse than anti-maskers.

Some people have actual breathing conditions (pollution sensitive, allergies etc) that require a proper sealed mask, without the valve the seal will often break.

Valves with a diffuser cap that stops the air jetting out are probably the best if you have this restriction.

Re: Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30M That It Can’t Sell

#28

Post by OJFord »

londons_explore wrote: post #21
OJFord wrote: post #4

> The problem is getting consumers to their retail websites. At the moment, anyone trying to buy N95 masks on Google Shopping or Facebook Marketplace is greeted with a blank page; on Amazon, a search for N95s yields a welter of vendors hawking KN95 masks, a Chinese-made equivalent that researchers say is less effective. > “How is it that you can spread conspiracy theories on Facebook, but we can’t sell N95 masks to t…

> welter of vendors hawking KN95 masks, a Chinese-made equivalent that researchers say is less effective. Citation? Ther actual written standards of N95 vs KN95 are very similar, and if anything KN95 is probably slightly better. To meet KN95, the mask must be shown not to let air pass around the edges even while doing vigorous exercise, whereas N95 has no such requirement. This is notable in the shape of N95 and KN95…

I don't know, I didn't look into it - note I quoted that from the OP.

Re: Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30M That It Can’t Sell

#29

Post by pjc50 »

Oras wrote: post #15

Interesting, I am not in the US so I thought of checking if it is a new company but it was founded in 2000! [0] How come that they are 20+ years in medical business and they do not have established connections with hospitals and other retailers to sell these masks? [0] https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/0692237D:US

Other way round: in the UK, all sorts of companies were popped up to sell masks to the government by people who had the political connections. Quite a lot of them didn't deliver.

Re: Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30M That It Can’t Sell

#30

Post by OJFord »

morsch wrote: post #18
OJFord wrote: post #4

> The problem is getting consumers to their retail websites. At the moment, anyone trying to buy N95 masks on Google Shopping or Facebook Marketplace is greeted with a blank page; on Amazon, a search for N95s yields a welter of vendors hawking KN95 masks, a Chinese-made equivalent that researchers say is less effective. > “How is it that you can spread conspiracy theories on Facebook, but we can’t sell N95 masks to t…

Huh, FFP2 masks are now available for 1-2 EUR here, individually packaged, and less in packs. They're sold everywhere, from discount supermarkets to pharmacies (where they're a bit more expensive). Of course, prices were much higher a couple of months ago.

Oh, maybe they are here (UK) too then, I haven't been to an actual shop for.. over a year now. I was talking just about Amazon UK, where it was once easy to get FFP2 & FFP3 disposables and non-disposable filters in the DIY section, (I bought them for sanding/plastering/messing about with fibrous insulation) and now it's all shitty AliExpress-style spam.
Post reply on HN