Alternative masks

[jimnyc]

"Any mask is better than no mask. It's got to block something, and something is better than nothing"

Who knows, keeps you from touching your face, will block out from sneezing/coughing out droplets and much else. Got to help block some incoming. N95 is difficult to get. My step-Mom is making cloth masks with her own filtering in between, and I understand even a Steelers one that is adjustable.

Now, here's some ideas I found from others.

3m filtrete air conditioning filters. They block out 99.97% and apparently made by 3m and the stuffing in them is as good if not better than the n95 masks. Youtube has tons of videos on how to make them.

Then their are tons of other air filters. They say to look for "MERV 16 rating", which apparently will also do just as well. Then I watched another doctor who's wife did a long video - but they are asking folks to make them and send them to their local hospitals. I'd be lucky if I could make just one or 2, so if I ever did they are for my ass.

Anyway, she makes the same masks by using vacuum HEPA filter bags. Pinchesm, cut here and there, sew it this way, and you have yourself an awesome mask. And here's another about the same - https://www.primalsurvivor.net/homem...spirator-mask/

Hell, even just look at Youtube for "alternative n95 mask" and you'll find other ways. It's all about the filtration in between whatever mask is made, and of course MUST have a good seal all the way around. And then some doctors have also found a way to disinfect them properly for doctors for reuse.

[Drummond]

"Any mask is better than no mask. It's got to block something, and something is better than nothing"

Who knows, keeps you from touching your face, will block out from sneezing/coughing out droplets and much else. Got to help block some incoming. N95 is difficult to get. My step-Mom is making cloth masks with her own filtering in between, and I understand even a Steelers one that is adjustable.

Now, here's some ideas I found from others.

3m filtrete air conditioning filters. They block out 99.97% and apparently made by 3m and the stuffing in them is as good if not better than the n95 masks. Youtube has tons of videos on how to make them.

Then their are tons of other air filters. They say to look for "MERV 16 rating", which apparently will also do just as well. Then I watched another doctor who's wife did a long video - but they are asking folks to make them and send them to their local hospitals. I'd be lucky if I could make just one or 2, so if I ever did they are for my ass.

Anyway, she makes the same masks by using vacuum HEPA filter bags. Pinchesm, cut here and there, sew it this way, and you have yourself an awesome mask. And here's another about the same - https://www.primalsurvivor.net/homem...spirator-mask/

Hell, even just look at Youtube for "alternative n95 mask" and you'll find other ways. It's all about the filtration in between whatever mask is made, and of course MUST have a good seal all the way around. And then some doctors have also found a way to disinfect them properly for doctors for reuse.

I did exactly as advised ... went to YouTube, and searched using 'alternative n95 mask''. I was curious to see if there was any video out there of anybody speaking in a British accent .. because .. advice here is firmly against using masks.

I only looked at the first two links. Sure enough, the first has commentary from somebody with an American accent.

The second sounds to me like a Chinese person introducing, then a doctor who sounds American. No British accents heard.

.... but here's the thing ... the second one does NOT recommend masks as a worthwhile protection, and goes some way to explain why !! The advice given is in line with the British model: rely instead on handwashing for protection.

Here's the video:

[jimnyc]

I did exactly as advised ... went to YouTube, and searched using 'alternative n95 mask''. I was curious to see if there was any video out there of anybody speaking in a British accent .. because .. advice here is firmly against using masks.

I only looked at the first two links. Sure enough, the first has commentary from somebody with an American accent.

The second sounds to me like a Chinese person introducing, then a doctor who sounds American. No British accents heard.

.... but here's the thing ... the second one does NOT recommend masks as a worthwhile protection, and goes some way to explain why !! The advice given is in line with the British model: rely instead on handwashing for protection.

Here's the video:

Depends on the mask and filtration. Even the CDC is stating that this is a "last resort" effort to help prevent the spread, that is the lower end hand made ones anyway. The N95's are proven, and also why doctors/nurses/surgeons and the medical community around the world doesn't drop dead when helping sick patients with all kinds of contagions, from lesser to deadly. The reason they don't drop dead, is because of the level of filtration they wear.

But the alternatives are a great option with the things I mentioned. 3M for example, who makes the N95 masks, also make the filters for home air conditioners, and that's why they offer them from MERV levels 1 - 16. Levels 13-16 are what is used in hospital surgery rooms! So folks are able to make masks out of this material. It's literally just as effective in not allowing contagions of any kind to pass through. But the VERY important part is having the mask fit properly.

So that manner is fantastic.

Then you have lower level masks all the way down to folks wearing regular cloth masks or bandanas. They will let the virus pass through BUT wil prevent the wearer from touching their own face while out, and if they cough or sneeze it prevents the droplets and other crap from now shooting 27 feet across the room!

I have watched videos on designing them from leading medical folks here in the states, doctors asking people to make them FOR the hospitals, so of course they give out instructions and all, as they want them to be effective if they receive them. And I forget which company just came out with another way for the medical community to disinfect the right way the N95 masks between shifts, and be able to reuse them longer.

So the N95's have been saving doctors and the likes lives for many years now in environments where viruses spread. And we know the filtration level used on all of the various masks and what is used to make them. So hell, it's not a perfect thing right now for folks using alternative masks, down to the crappy one, and much better if made with .03 microns material of course. Some things of course not recommended for the medical environment, but if I'm outside for whatever reason, and someone 15 feet from me sneezes or coughs, I'd feel a little better knowing they have a mask of sorts and didn't just eject the droplets all over. Even better if I have a mask as well, and even better yet if my mask is made out of medical grade filtration!! And the air filters and HEPA filters and a couple of more harder to get materials are about as close as you are going to get.

[jimnyc]

Here's one of the more recent vids I watched.

This is a doctor who's wife is doing the HEPA filter masks, and he's asking for them to be sent to local hospitals. 99.97% airborne particulate matter is what it blocks. And he too says what my doc said, any mask is better than no mask.

And for the nurses being asked to hit the Covid floors without masks? Hell, I'd rather take my chances with one of these than nothing!!

This vid got 4.5 million views and was in a medical article I was reading that linked to it.

[Drummond]

... OK. Well, I can only hope your confidence in mask-wearing (certain types, anyway !) is justified.

It'd be a truly terrible thing if the answer was 'no'. Imagine people feeling confident about the level of protection they had, and so, because of that confidence, they took chances with closer contact than they would've done otherwise ... and it all being illusory. The consequences don't bear thinking about.

You know what my people are saying: 'don't wear them'. Few people are, here in the UK. In the town I now live in, I've yet to see a single mask wearer.

[jimnyc]

... OK. Well, I can only hope your confidence in mask-wearing (certain types, anyway !) is justified.

It'd be a truly terrible thing if the answer was 'no'. Imagine people feeling confident about the level of protection they had, and so, because of that confidence, they took chances with closer contact than they would've done otherwise ... and it all being illusory. The consequences don't bear thinking about.

You know what my people are saying: 'don't wear them'. Few people are, here in the UK. In the town I now live in, I've yet to see a single mask wearer.

How it was here too, until a short time ago when they are changing their opinions.

But like I said - they DO work for doctors and others on the front line, so why wouldn't they work for anyone?

[Drummond]

How it was here too, until a short time ago when they are changing their opinions.

But like I said - they DO work for doctors and others on the front line, so why wouldn't they work for anyone?

Certainly a reasonable point .... rather hard to counter !!

But then, this as well might help justify the UK position. I don't think anyone envisaged that the general public would want their own supplies of masks ... so, what trade or manufacture of them goes on, is geared to serving health workers' needs, only. A part of the argument against getting masks for personal use has always been that you could be denying stocks to the very people they're made for.

[jimnyc]

Certainly a reasonable point .... rather hard to counter !!

But then, this as well might help justify the UK position. I don't think anyone envisaged that the general public would want their own supplies of masks ... so, what trade or manufacture of them goes on, is geared to serving health workers' needs, only. A part of the argument against getting masks for personal use has always been that you could be denying stocks to the very people they're made for.

Oh yeah, right now everything that is N95 on Amazon and all the safety sites and hardware sites are unavailable and all reserved for the medical community and/or govt.

For us regular folks, it's down to simply protecting one another in anyway possible! Block those who sneeze on everyone with at the very least plain masks. Use medical grade filtration. Chinese and European masks. Anything else remotely possible 'rated' high enough to qualify for the CDC/medical requirements.

I think just as important though are gloves. Just plain nitrile gloves. And when ya get home, use one hand to peel the other half off, then use that half a hand to peel the other entirely off, then use your now bare hand to peel off the half off hand by grabbing the inside of the glove. And of course directly into the garbage, or preferably they say into a bag and then the garbage. My directions probably suck too! Suffice to say gloves help if touching ATM's, grocery items or really anything that someone asymptomatic or didn't know yet they were sick touches!

Then get back home and light yourself on fire.

[Kathianne]

Oh yeah, right now everything that is N95 on Amazon and all the safety sites and hardware sites are unavailable and all reserved for the medical community and/or govt.

For us regular folks, it's down to simply protecting one another in anyway possible! Block those who sneeze on everyone with at the very least plain masks. Use medical grade filtration. Chinese and European masks. Anything else remotely possible 'rated' high enough to qualify for the CDC/medical requirements.

I think just as important though are gloves. Just plain nitrile gloves. And when ya get home, use one hand to peel the other half off, then use that half a hand to peel the other entirely off, then use your now bare hand to peel off the half off hand by grabbing the inside of the glove. And of course directly into the garbage, or preferably they say into a bag and then the garbage. My directions probably suck too! Suffice to say gloves help if touching ATM's, grocery items or really anything that someone asymptomatic or didn't know yet they were sick touches!

Then get back home and light yourself on fire.

Gloves are good, but people don't understand how they work and how they can be dangerous if not used correctly.

Hands need to be clean before putting on.
They are made for '1' use and dispose. If not working with food or people, usually used for longer time. But, anything you touch that has virus, bacteria, dirt, etc., will be on the glove. Thus, shouldn't keep them on from grocery to home; certainly not into the home! Holes that can't be seen develop in the gloves after about 20 minutes! At work I change mine about every 20 minutes.