With covid I’ve tried a lot of different n95 masks, and I like the “pouch”-style masks best. By a lot! They’re much easier to breathe through then anything else I’ve tried, probably because they have so much surface area. Because your mouth is in a large pocket, there’s plenty of room for talking, and even singing. And they also get a good seal without being too squeezy on my face or head.
While I see more people wearing them over time, they are still relatively unusual. I expect some of this is different masks, being a good fit for people with different shaped heads and different preferences, but I think the main problem is that they make you look a bit like a duck:
Anna had covid but I didn’t know it yet. I didn’t get it, which I credit in part to this mask.
If I’m going to look anatine, however, I want to be intentional about it. No one seems to make these in yellow but I wish they would: I’d pay an extra $0.10/mask for some color:
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I wrote about these when they first came out and have been wearing them since then, with good results. It looks like Amazon isn’t selling them directly anymore (only via third-party sellers) but Northern Safety has them for $0.59 each, and sometimes for $0.19 each on sale. (The brand is different but it’s the same mask.)
I bought these after seeing Wei Dai’s post. Everyone in my family and in-person friend group refuses to wear this mask because it makes them look like a duck (besides one person, who refuses to wear it because it is harder to breathe through compared to a surgical mask). So I am the only one wearing this mask. So I agree with your assessment that “the main problem is that they make you look a bit like a duck”, but I would add that this is apparently a very strong effect. People really would prefer to be less comfortable or increase their risk of COVID than to look weird.
I wonder if anyone’s tried targeting the avian furry market with these, since those would seem to be the most obvious class of “people who might not mind looking like a duck”. I can’t seem to get a good grip on that intersection via search engines, mostly because I get a lot more results related to the non-protective masks more visibly associated with that group.
I’ve worn these before, but with long slippery hair they don’t stay on that well and also mess up my hair like crazy
Is there a reason why you prefer it over the 3M Aura Respirator Mask 9330 which is N99?
I’ve tried the 9205 which I think is the ventless N95 version of the 9330? It isn’t terrible, but it doesn’t feel like it fits my face as well and is harder to breath through. But I know a lot of people like them!
I can’t seem to find such masks in Europe, e.g., on Amazon.de. If anybody else has more luck here, please post.
Thanks for sharing, I hadn’t seen these before and will try them. Do you reuse them?
To latch on to something else from your post, it’s interesting to hear some people observe that they have more trouble breathing with some masks than others, or with masks than no masks, while others don’t. Personally, I haven’t noticed any difference, and do a lot of sporting activities (bouldering, jogging 10km) with a mask without feeling like it makes a difference.
I usually wear them about five times?
With light exercise I don’t feel any mask restricting my breathing much, with medium exercise I don’t notice it with this mask but do with less breathable ones, and with heavy exercise I feel the difference in any mask I’ve tried. Ex: walking vs jogging vs running to exhaustion, or talking vs casual singing vs trying to lead a song in a group unamplified.
Thanks! Do you have any particular strategy behind your reuse? I have a few bags I rotate by putting masks in, and leaving at least 10 days between when I put the last mask in a bag to when I start using ones from that bag again.
I’m not convinced that treating a worn mask as hazardous makes any sense. I just set the mask aside and put it on again next time.
These masks are also exceedingly uncommon in my Northeastern US town + the surrounding area; I think I’ve seen fewer than 5 people wearing one since late 2020. None of them were unusually coloured, either. In my experience, most establishments where masks can be purchased don’t carry these pouch-masks. It would be surprising and funny to see a whole group of people will yellow duckbill masks. Also, thank you for teaching me a new word (anatine “of or belonging to the surface-feeding ducks of Anas and closely related genera”). I wish your daughter a hasty recovery.
I have a 3M p100, and I’d wear it if I was going to be in an especially dangerous situation, but I don’t find it worth it in general: it’s heavier, bulkier, and harder to talk in.