About KN95 and N95 masks

[spinbaby]

I was recently gifted some KN95 masks. Suddenly I felt invincible. For the first time in weeks I went into the grocery store and Target unbothered by the unmasked and the incorrectly masked.

Then I discovered my masks were fake. Fake KN95 and N95 masks are apparently flooding the market. Many offer little more protection than a cloth mask.

Here’s a decent article:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/counterfeit-masks-reaching-frontline-health-workers-in-u-s


A quick google will find you many more pages describing fake KN95 and N95 masks. If they have ear loops or don’t hold water, they’re fake.

Still, my masks are comfortable and fit snugly enough that my glasses don’t fog, so I’ll keep wearing them. But I won’t feel invincible anymore.

[Tipperary]

1. No mask should make you feel invincible.

Medical,personnel wearing layers of protective clothing have been infected. Amazing how many here think masks are magic. They are not. Keep your distance and stay the fuck home if at all possible.

[Captain Zero]

6. I think any mask is a reminder to others that we are not out of this yet

If all they do is keep people 6 ft. away that's good.
Make others respectful of space and obvious symptoms in the area.

[spinbaby]

8. Invincible in the sense I was willing to go out at all

The rednecks in these parts pride themselves on not wearing masks, so I haven’t been farther than curbside pickup in weeks.

[LisaL]

9. You can get a thing called ear saver and the ear loops

pretty much become the same as ear bands since they go toward the back of your head where they are held by the ear saver. Probably would make for a better fit?

[LisaL]

2. Yep, I got K95s with ear loops also.

Haven't tried to hold water in them because you are not supposed to wash them. I am reusing the same one so I guess I can sacrifice it for a water holding test.

[LisaL]

5. Just did a water test. It might be fake, but it held water.

So it's probably o'key to use in lower risk situations. By lower risk, I mean not in a hospital working with covid patients.

[Arkansas Granny]

3. I got some of those. I decided to use them anyway because the have a better fit

than the other masks I have.

[LisaL]

7. It also works fine in hot weather.

My face doesn't sweat as much in my fake KN95 with ear loops (but it can hold water).

[Arkansas Granny]

10. I'll have to give mine the water test.

[LisaL]

11. I sacrificed one of mine for the test (but I have been reusing it for a while).

It passed with flying colors. Held water really well. So even if it's fake (and since it has ear loops, I guess it is) at least it has to be filtering something.

[Vinca]

4. I've been on a mask-making binge. For whatever reason it's reignited a long dead desire

to sew stuff. I'm now working on a quilting project set aside more than 10 years ago. My husband bought some surgical masks online - not the ones you have - and thought they were kind of flimsy and they didn't really fit right. Then he bought a couple of those black masks with the loops for ears and they didn't fit right, either. Finally I enlarged my mask pattern and came up with something that fits him perfectly. The group antique shop where I sell stuff has recently begun to open for a few hours a week and they've got some funny masks from a local manufacturer. They're kind of like turtle neck tops in style and have mouths of wild animals or dogs and even a shark. I was tempted, but I figure a 71 year old woman running around in a shark mouth mask would be more than a little weird. LOL.

[GopherGal]

17. Treat yourself

I figure a 71 year old woman running around in a shark mouth mask would be more than a little weird.

Eh, these are weird times.
Besides, if it increases the odds of you becoming a 72 year old woman, why not? You might give someone a little chuckle during a rough time.

[John Ludi]

12. I made

a bunch of them for the farm workers on a farm I'm renting on...cloth masks with a pocket for a doubled-up shop blue shop towel insert. They are not as effective as an N95 mask, but pretty high on the list of DIY options.

[intrepidity]

13. Do these masks filter the exhaled air?

My understanding was that they don't, which means that while the wearer is protected, the mask does nothing to protect nearby people.

There needs to be a hybrid mask that serves both purposes: the wearer, as well as everyone else.

I bought a full-faced snorkle mask, and just need to devise a suitable covering/filter for the air intake/exhale valve. Then get up the courage to wear it in public...

[LisaL]

14. You understanding is not correct.

If they don't have a valve, they filter the exhaled air. My fake ear looped KN95s don't have a valve, so they filter the exhaled air.

[intrepidity]

15. So I guess I'm talking about the valved masks

I thought all N95s had valves. Guess not. Good to know, thanks

[LisaL]

16. No, not all N95s have valves.

Valved kind is more comfortable because it allows you to exhale freely, but like you said, it doesn't protect people from you because it doesn't filter your exhaled air.