Thanks for sharing this. What do you make of the many reviews saying this fits poorly? There are certainly lots of favorable reviews, but negative reviews make me reluctant to plunk down $50+ for a 50-pack.
I just got mine today and they seem solid. Details from my Amazon review:
They came back as authentic, and the verification procedure seems to guard against counterfeits (details below). For me, they fit snugly and comfortably, but I probably have a slightly smaller face than the average man. I do notice some fogging of my glasses, but I don’t think there are any widely available masks that avoid this currently (I should probably use surgical tape to get around that?). My ears do stick out in a silly way, but it’s not uncomfortable.
The authenticity verification procedure seems legit. It is as follows: - You scratch off a coating on the label on the outside of the package (so you don’t need to open it to verify) and enter the number on Powecom’s website (http://www.powecom.com/index.html—click the “anti-fake check” link on the right on the navigation bar near the top of the page). - You type in the verification number. - If you type in a non-authentic number, it seems to give you the message, “Error with security numbers.” - If you type in an authentic number, it says the product is verified. - If you type in an authentic number again, it gives you a message saying how many times the number was previously checked, and what the first time was. This gives me confidence that a counterfeiter isn’t just buying a real package and then printing the same number on counterfeit packages.
Thanks for sharing this. What do you make of the many reviews saying this fits poorly? There are certainly lots of favorable reviews, but negative reviews make me reluctant to plunk down $50+ for a 50-pack.
FWIW, while I evaluate that I’m going with the Powecom masks, which are well-reviewed KN95 on the FDA’s EUA list https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087M2T7NP/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=A3EYD1ZWL7OQ1F&psc=1, and available in a much smaller quantity so I can check fit before buying a large number.
I just got mine today and they seem solid. Details from my Amazon review:
They came back as authentic, and the verification procedure seems to guard against counterfeits (details below). For me, they fit snugly and comfortably, but I probably have a slightly smaller face than the average man. I do notice some fogging of my glasses, but I don’t think there are any widely available masks that avoid this currently (I should probably use surgical tape to get around that?). My ears do stick out in a silly way, but it’s not uncomfortable.
I see that the CDC NPPTL lists Powecom masks as having a filter efficiency of ~98% (https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/respirators/testing/NonNIOSHresults.html, expand the section “Respirator Assessment Results”—see for example https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/respirators/testing/results/MTT-2020-211.1_International_GuangzhouPowecomi_KN95-Earloop-Style_TestReport_Redacted-508.pdf, which matches the packaging I got). They do offer a bunch of caveats that these have not gone through the the NIOSH respirator approval process N95s go through, and note that ear loop designs make it harder to achieve a proper fit. So that is a potential drawback, and it’s on the wearer to make sure they fit you appropriately, but this is probably the best we’re going to get with a shortage of true N95s.
The authenticity verification procedure seems legit. It is as follows:
- You scratch off a coating on the label on the outside of the package (so you don’t need to open it to verify) and enter the number on Powecom’s website (http://www.powecom.com/index.html—click the “anti-fake check” link on the right on the navigation bar near the top of the page).
- You type in the verification number.
- If you type in a non-authentic number, it seems to give you the message, “Error with security numbers.”
- If you type in an authentic number, it says the product is verified.
- If you type in an authentic number again, it gives you a message saying how many times the number was previously checked, and what the first time was. This gives me confidence that a counterfeiter isn’t just buying a real package and then printing the same number on counterfeit packages.