My family has been relying on a supply of off brand "procedure masks" that I got at the start of the pandemic, and many of my neighbors are still wearing cloth masks. After reading "A good supply of KN95 masks is available from China, with many supermarkets and pharmacies now selling them for a couple of dollars each." in Why Aren’t We Wearing Better Masks? I decided to try to buy some of these, but then found something apparently even better: N95 masks of a new design made by a reputable American company, currently available on (and sold directly by) Amazon at a very reasonable price (even cheaper than most KN95 masks). Here's a Rolling Stone article I found that goes into the design/features of this mask.
(I also bought a full face mask/respirator along with a pair of 3M P100 filters, in case I have to go into some really high risk environments.)
Edit: Added a "USA" tag to the post title. Also, in case it's not clear, I emphasized brand in this post because "Tragically, America is swamped with fraudulent medical-grade masks, some of which are only 1 percent effective." according to Why Aren’t We Wearing Better Masks?.
We started a site to make N95s available (aiden.health) because it's been our belief since March that N95s/respirators are the only masks that really work, and everyone should have access to them when we're in the midst of a public health (e.g. everyone health) crisis.
I've found the muddled advice regarding masking to be quite confounding, and the refusal of retailers to sell N95s to also be counter to the public interest.
Quite simply, masks need to fit, filter, and also be breathable. Filtering vs. breathability is the real design challenge with masks (theoretically speaking, plastic wrap is 100% filtering! The only problem is that it's 0% breathable). And it's been solved pretty well for 20 years with the N95.
Cloth masks filter 30-50% and they may or may not fit well. 3ply surgical masks are made of material that filters really well, but it has air gaps on all sides. Both are fine if you're in a socially distanced setting, say going for a walk outdoors.
But neither works if you're, say, on a plane packed next to strangers for hours on end.
The recent double masking advice is also a head scratcher.... why not just get an N95? It fits (what the cloth mask in the mask stack is supposed to do) and filters (3ply mask role), and is more breathable and comfortable so you might actually wear it for longer.
The sentiment around price gouging on N95s is also an interesting one. N95s typically have a 25-30% margin for a mask that works. Cloth masks don't really work, they cost less than $1 to make and land, and sell for anywhere between $2 and $30 - so anywhere from a 100-3000% margin for a product that may be fashionable, but ineffective. Curious.
You seem pretty knowledgeable in this area. Any thoughts on the mask that is linked to in my post, the Kimberly-Clark N95 Pouch Respirator? (I noticed that it's being sold by Amazon at 1/3 the price of the least expensive N95 mask on your site.)
My family has been relying on a supply of off brand "procedure masks" that I got at the start of the pandemic, and many of my neighbors are still wearing cloth masks. After reading "A good supply of KN95 masks is available from China, with many supermarkets and pharmacies now selling them for a couple of dollars each." in Why Aren’t We Wearing Better Masks? I decided to try to buy some of these, but then found something apparently even better: N95 masks of a new design made by a reputable American company, currently available on (and sold directly by) Amazon at a very reasonable price (even cheaper than most KN95 masks). Here's a Rolling Stone article I found that goes into the design/features of this mask.
(I also bought a full face mask/respirator along with a pair of 3M P100 filters, in case I have to go into some really high risk environments.)
Edit: Added a "USA" tag to the post title. Also, in case it's not clear, I emphasized brand in this post because "Tragically, America is swamped with fraudulent medical-grade masks, some of which are only 1 percent effective." according to Why Aren’t We Wearing Better Masks?.