ordered N95 masks

[redbird]

I just ordered a LOT of duckbill-style N95 masks from armbrustusa.com, taking advantage of a sale that someone mentioned on Ask a Manager a couple of weeks ago: Half off everything in November, with free shipping. Normally, the masks I ordered cost less from Project N95, but they charge for shipping, meaning that this time I am paying less than I would from Project N95 (though it's not a huge difference).

This sale applies to everything the company sells, including some own-brand surgical masks. I haven't done any price comparisons on other products, because we're pretty sure these masks are as good as we're going to find, given that we all prefer masks with the strap behind the head to ear loops.

I am, alas, pretty sure that we will need 300 N95 masks, soon enough that it makes sense to buy that many for a discount (six boxes for the price of five), and store them in our apartment.

Comments

[dewline]

Sounds like a good idea. Wishing I could stockpile like that.

[boxofdelights]

Thanks! I was just starting to think that I should get some more soon.

[redbird]

Broadly speaking, I recommend Project N95. I've been ordering two boxes (of 50) at a time from them, because the shipping fee is the same for two boxes as for one.

That said, both sites carry the masks I (and Adrian and Cattitude) prefer, but I think Armbruster carries earloop-style KN95s, which Project N95 doesn't (the NIOSH N95 standard requires a headband); I didn't check whether Project N95 has masks Armbruster doesn't.

[sabotabby]

I ordered 100 from CanadaMasqs. I was hoping, since I'm now on the last 10 pack of my 300, that I'd over-ordered, but I don't think I have. They had a Black Friday sale. Still, 100 seems optimistic.

[redbird]

It does; three hundred should last the three of us a while, but we are privileged to spend significantly less time indoors around unmasked strangers than you have to.

[mindstalk]

How long do y'all take to discard a single mask? I'm not sure I've outright discarded 10 masks yet. Certainly not 20. Granted I don't have to go out much or for long, and I've been avoiding humid climates. But I tend to use them until they get smelly or lose seal.

[sabotabby]

I pretty much do one per day. Which is probably unnecessary.

[otter]

I figure mine are good for several short outings, alternating between 2 or 3. I keep one or two in the van and a couple by the back door. If I've been out for a prolonged time or in a bigger crowd (which I really avoid as much as possible), then I toss that one when I get home.

[otter]

I have a fairly new box of 50, but I do have storage space, and expect masking to be as much a part of my "going somewhere" routine as wearing a seatbelt in the car (which is every time I go somewhere). I appreciate knowing about the sale. May well take advantage of it.

[redbird]

I discard them when the glue that holds the nose wires to the mask fails, or occasionally if I have coughed or sneezed a lot while wearing one.

How many hours I've worn a mask for seems to matter less than how many times I have taken it off and put it back on. I remove the mask for reasons including wanting to eat or drink, or to take pills, and sometimes because it's a nice day and I want to enjoy the fresh air.

I suspect I could make them last longer if I was more careful about shaping the wires to fit around my nose, and about donning and removing the masks smoothly.

[sal_doesnt_rhyme]

Oh, my god, thank you so so much for this lead!

[adrian_turtle]

I go through them a lot faster than Redbird. It's not that I wear them for so many minutes, but I tend to use them in situations where I put them on and take them off a lot. (Go for a walk, 5 minutes in a store, walk another mile, 15 minutes in another store, then I'm outside and getting a quick drink from my water bottle before going to the trolley.) Every time I put it on stretches the elastic, especially because I still have a fair amount of hair. And cold air makes my nose run...even when I'm confident it's not covid, if the thing is literally full of snot, I don't want to keep it.

[mindstalk]

Ah. With my headstrap masks, I tend to put it on at home before departing and just leave it on, rather than taking it on and off. Plus I've been using the 3M 9211, with 'braided' straps that seem more robust than the blue elastics of the 9205; I've had one of the 9205s just break after not that much use.

Before returning to the US I relied on KF94s, and the cloth earloops are easy to doff and don, especially using cord toggles for actual tightness.

[redbird]

One of my uses for masks is meals at restaurants with outdoor seating, but that make you go inside. I've had several lunches in the last few months at a place in Arlington Center, near my occupational therapist's office. So, I put the mask on before getting on transit, wear it until I have gone inside Kickstand Cafe, ordered, and paid for my lunch. Then go to the patio and grab a table, take the mask off, and keep it off while waiting for and eating lunch.

Depending on timing, I either walk to OT and put the mask back on before going into the building, or go to a bus stop, re-mask, and keep the mask on at least until after my half hour of OT.

This style of N95s fits me better, and is less uncomfortable, than any other reasonable alternative I've found (some cloth masks are as comfortable, but provide significantly less protection), but wearing it for 10 minutes is more comfortable than 30, is more comfortable than three hours, or all day.

[maellenkleth]

Likewise, stocked N95s, P100s (for forest smoke), hand alcohol, and gloves. Shops out here have them on deep clearance.

I suspect that we shall need them sooner than expected.

Meanwhile, government of Alberta has banned mask mandates.

[jesse_the_k]

Appreciate the heads' up! The ACI duckbill is the only behind-the-ears that's comfy -- probably because the bands are made from vetwrap (called cowrap by PTs). This slightly meshy foamy tape doesn't slip on my head.

[ethelmay]

Armbrust also has furnace filters (especially relevant to our interests in wildfire season around here). I am thinking about springing for some of them, as it's a pretty good price and we have storage room, but am not sure I want to get that many at once.

[jesse_the_k]

Armbrust's sampler pack is also on sale, and it may help you identify new kinds of masks that fit.

My favorite ACI mask is pennies cheaper at ProjectN95