KN95 Mask Recommendation

[lbperry]

I am looking for a KN95 mask that I can live with and am looking for suggestions.
I have l large face and a beard. I would imagine that describes a lot of the guys on here.
I want a mask that seals around my nose well so I don't fog my glasses when I'm working.
I want the mask to be stiff enough it doesn't **** up to my mouth when I'm breathing.
I want it to be long enough so it comes down under my beard.
Has anybody found a mask that meet those criteria and where can you buy them?
Thanks,

 

[jptbay]

You really need to get mask fit tested. Check with your pharmacy.

 

[PapasDaLife]

You really need to get mask fit tested. Check with your pharmacy.

Yup. Masks are pointless if they are not "custom" fit. They also should be worn 1x, not repeatedly taken on & off to be worn over and over.

Sorry I don't have a suggestion, or answer. I have facial hair and am not concerned about it not fitting properly for shopping activities, but I'd say the proper thing to do if your concerned about safety is to shave your face clean. I know from a previous life that gas masks are useless without a proper seal. I'd guess technically face masks should be the same.

 

[rlitman]

You really need to get mask fit tested. Check with your pharmacy.

That's a waste of time if you have facial hair beyond a toothbrush moustache. In fact, a KN95 is a waste of time with a beard, unless you feel like packing your beard into a solid mass with Vaseline (I didn't think so).

 

[Augus7us]

I agree the kn95 with a beard isn't going to keep you from breathing in nasty ****. What is your end game? If for covid, your fine. If you are grinding carbon fiber you need something that seals like said above. If you are spraying nasty chemicals or paint you want a positive air pressure hood.

General purpose around the shop for wood and metal dust, check out the resp-o-rator. It can use p100 filters. I have a beard but not a large zztop beard and I can get a seal with my 3m half mask and its good for me for grinding wood and metal.

 

[cdeer001]

Milwaukee N95 Professional Multi-Purpose Valved Respirator 48-73-4011 - The Home Depot

Keep your hands safe, cool and dry during your next welding job by choosing this Milwaukee N MultiPurpose Valved Respirator.

www.homedepot.com

 

[dcg9381]

This a covid thing? If not, respirators work 100% better, won't fog your goggles, and you can replace the filters. I use 3M ones... I've even used it around the house when the allergy season gets bad here (we have 100s of cedar trees).

 

[BruceMc]

Milwaukee N95 Professional Multi-Purpose Valved Respirator 48-73-4011 - The Home Depot

Keep your hands safe, cool and dry during your next welding job by choosing this Milwaukee N MultiPurpose Valved Respirator.

www.homedepot.com

I really like the ones with a gasket. I have a big head with a light beard and have no problem getting a decent seal. And it's comfortable.

Milwaukee N95 Professional Multi-Purpose Valved Respirator with Gasket 48-73-4001 - The Home Depot

Help ensure the safety and security of you and your family during your travels with this Milwaukee N MultiPurpose Valved Respirator with Gasket.

www.homedepot.com

 

[rlitman]

I really like the ones with a gasket. I have a big head with a light beard and have no problem getting a decent seal. And it's comfortable.

The gasket isn't going to seal through a beard, but looking past that, if you like the gasket, look into the 3M 8211 (the 8511 is 3M's gasketless slightly cheaper version of the same). These have an M shaped nose clip that fits better than the straight ones everyone else has.

I myself find the gasket sweaty, but it helps seal on my son's much smaller face, so I keep some around.

 

[BruceMc]

The gasket isn't going to seal through a beard, but looking past that, if you like the gasket, look into the 3M 8211 (the 8511 is 3M's gasketless slightly cheaper version of the same). These have an M shaped nose clip that fits better than the straight ones everyone else has.

I myself find the gasket sweaty, but it helps seal on my son's much smaller face, so I keep some around.

If you're wearing a untrimmed face full of hair, not much is going to seal. OTOH, with a little strategic trimming under your lip and around the corners of the mouth, maybe keep your cheeks cut back, you can get it pretty tight. It's a tradeoff. You're right in that you can't go full Grizzly Adams and also get a tight seal on a mask. I do the same trimming for my CPAP mask, so it works out.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

IDK what you're basing you "need" for N95 rating, but I have an RZ with different disposable filters based on what I'm doing at work and it's great. The lowest rated RX filter has a higher filter micron rating than N95, too.

Shop RZ Masks | Reusable Air Filtration Dust Masks - RZ Mask

Since 2010, RZ Mask has been the leading dust mask for woodworking, lawncare, power sports, agriculture and more. It provides up to 99.9% protection from airborne particulates down to .1 micron and reduces odors, providing superior protection for makers and doers.

rzmask.com

 

[californiamilleghia]

where do you get large masks like they used at the Olympics ?

 

[merkyworks]

where do you get large masks like they used at the Olympics ?

Do you mean this mask?



If so they are made by Nike and…….. “Nike stressed that the mask, which will soon be sold to the broader public, is not medical grade and should not be used as personal protective equipment like an N95. It's supposed to be used to work out in, according to the company.”

 

[californiamilleghia]

yeah like that style , probably Nike did not want to go to trouble to get
N95
hopefully someone else will make that style

thanks
edit; they are going to be $60 each OUCH

 

[jrsavoie]

If you're wearing a untrimmed face full of hair, not much is going to seal. OTOH, with a little strategic trimming under your lip and around the corners of the mouth, maybe keep your cheeks cut back, you can get it pretty tight. It's a tradeoff. You're right in that you can't go full Grizzly Adams and also get a tight seal on a mask. I do the same trimming for my CPAP mask, so it works out.

I have no problems with cpap mask leakage. When I was being fitted in 1995, they said not to worry about trimming if I didn't want to.

There was a water based Vaseline type product that could be washed out with a morning shower if need be. Never needed it, never looked into it.

Even clean shaved, the N95's never sealed that great and were very restrictive after I started sweating.

At some hospitals they were giving nurses 1 mask and telling them to make it last a week. Not much OSHA protocol there. The masks are useless once you get sweaty.

 

[Jsf721]

Any legit KN95 Mask will work. Once the inside gets wet or pilly, hairy is finished.

Most importantly squeeze the nose piece to make it seal. If its not cavitating on you inhaled breath, its not protecting you much.

Think of a mask as a filter that filters the air.

 

[rlitman]

I have no problems with cpap mask leakage. When I was being fitted in 1995, they said not to worry about trimming if I didn't want to.
...
At some hospitals they were giving nurses 1 mask and telling them to make it last a week. Not much OSHA protocol there. The masks are useless once you get sweaty.

First, CPAP is positive pressure. Leakage is built in and assumed, and so long as you do not exceed the expected amount of leakage, it can automatically compensate. Same goes for PAPR.

Disposable masks are negative pressure, where ANY leakage represents a failure.

As for sweat making a mask useless, that is total BS.

 

[jrsavoie]

First, CPAP is positive pressure. Leakage is built in and assumed, and so long as you do not exceed the expected amount of leakage, it can automatically compensate. Same goes for PAPR.

Disposable masks are negative pressure, where ANY leakage represents a failure.

As for sweat making a mask useless, that is total BS.

What is your experience on wearing sweaty masks?

I have not been able to breath through a sweaty mask in the last 45 years. I doubt that has changed.

 

[rlitman]

What is your experience on wearing sweaty masks?

I have not been able to breath through a sweaty mask in the last 45 years. I doubt that has changed.

Well, when working in an attic, I'll use a P100 respirator. It gets sweaty as hell, but since it is double valved, the filtration media stays dry, and while it is nasty to feel your nose and lips dripping, it does not become harder to breathe.

If you're talking about an N95 being sweaty, I still have to disagree with you. You don't spit sweat, and masks do not wick sweat from your face all the way across the media. Dip the edges of an N95 (the last half inch that touches your face) into water and don it. It won't affect the breath-ability at all.

Moisture CAN make N95 masks hard to breathe through, but it's source is the vapor in your exhaled breath and not sweat. This distinction is important, because N95 masks with exhalation valves (what I use when I'm using a disposable N95, but not something used in the medical profession) do not get waterlogged, because you're not exhaling (much) through the media. In hot and humid environments, valve-less N95 respirators will become waterlogged, as you described. But that's not going to happen in a conditioned space, because you're inhaling enough dry air to keep the mask sufficiently dry. Still, wearing an N95 for a week at a time is nasty as well, and I wouldn't recommend it, but any moisture collected from day 1 will be gone by day 2, and since an N95 is expected to last a full shift, your comment does not hold water.

 

[jrsavoie]

Well, when working in an attic, I'll use a P100 respirator. It gets sweaty as hell, but since it is double valved, the filtration media stays dry, and while it is nasty to feel your nose and lips dripping, it does not become harder to breathe.

If you're talking about an N95 being sweaty, I still have to disagree with you. You don't spit sweat, and masks do not wick sweat from your face all the way across the media. Dip the edges of an N95 (the last half inch that touches your face) into water and don it. It won't affect the breath-ability at all.

Moisture CAN make N95 masks hard to breathe through, but it's source is the vapor in your exhaled breath and not sweat. This distinction is important, because N95 masks with exhalation valves (what I use when I'm using a disposable N95, but not something used in the medical profession) do not get waterlogged, because you're not exhaling (much) through the media. In hot and humid environments, valve-less N95 respirators will become waterlogged, as you described. But that's not going to happen in a conditioned space, because you're inhaling enough dry air to keep the mask sufficiently dry. Still, wearing an N95 for a week at a time is nasty as well, and I wouldn't recommend it, but any moisture collected from day 1 will be gone by day 2, and since an N95 is expected to last a full shift, your comment does not hold water.

Disagree all you want, I've had many N95 masks too sweaty to breath through. Even those with exhalation ports. Maybe I just sweat more than you. Ive gone through as many as 5 masks in a day.