We've all upped our "mask game" in the last half decade or so, but I'm curious, what was the best mask or respirator you wore with any regularity in the very early days of the pandemic, say, before fall 2020?

[njord@zeroes.ca]

@megmac I already had a half face elastomeric and a bunch of (definitely not fit tested and pushing their expiration date) n95 masks I'd bought on clearance a while back (most of which I gave away to family)

[swiftyshq@critter.cafe]

@Njord i adore kn95s. they make me feel like i have a snout

[fuzzychef@m6n.io]

@Njord So, in 2020 I had a couple of Vogmasks (cloth-covered kn95) left over from a trip to Beijing. These got me through most of 2020, when Vogmask started filling orders again.

[leszek_karlik@circumstances.run]

@Njord I live in Poland, the EU capital of PM2.5 in the winter (we're highly competitive with India and China), so I already had a half-mask with P3/charcoal filters, I just bought more P3 filters at the beginning because I thought they're going to get snapped up later.

[stinkie@mastodon.social]

@Njord I had full biohazard gear pre-2020. I had done years of research and was fully ready for a pandemic to hit.
When it did hit, I had 2 months of food, a 3 month supply of P100 masks and respirators, and boxes of N95s. And tyvek suits, and PAPR and full face masks and filters for all sorts of emergencies.

[stinkie@mastodon.social]

@Njord everybody thought I was crazy until I was the only one prepared. Then they thought I was crazy and prepared.

[wyatt_h_knott@vermont.masto.host]

@Njord Half face elastomeric respirator, with goggles, and double hearing protection, plugs and muffs. If not hearing protection, usually a bunny suit as well.

[njord@zeroes.ca]

@Wyatt_H_Knott Why the hearing protection?

[wyatt_h_knott@vermont.masto.host]

@Njord needlegun, and the bunny suit was for when we were done needlegunning, and it was time to spray paint.

[revoltergeist@sunny.garden]

@Njord i had a gas mask style painter's mask that i wore interchangeably with cloth masks, and surgicals for contexts i considered "high risk". these days it's n95s all the way, though i would love to invest in an elastomeric respirator if i had the money 🥰

[papyrusbrigade@mstdn.ca]

@Stinkie Has the experience of this pandemic changed how you prepare for the next?

[oscherler@tooting.ch]

@Njord I’m currently looking at this one, it looks comfortable.

BASE CAMP® N Plus Dust Mask Combo Kit

Discover the BASE CAMP® N Plus Dust Mask Combo Kit, featuring a 360° fit and seal with MNL material for ultimate protection and comfort.

BASE CAMP® Mask (bcmask.com)

[7leaguebootdisk@mindly.social]

@Njord I had a full face P100, I did need the glasses insert that I never got, I'm nearsighted, it made shopping annoying. I have a Flo Mask now.

[papyrusbrigade@mstdn.ca]

@revoltergeist FWIW, I did invest in an elastomeric, and loved it. Until I had a quantitative mask fit test and found it was only about 70% effective on my face, compared to >95% effective for the disposable N95s.

[hypostase@bsd.network]

@Njord I use a Flomask Ikm not sure what it should count as but it’s ffp2 rated with a disposable filter

[stinkie@mastodon.social]

@PapyrusBrigade not really. I expected exactly what happened. Even the anti-mask protests and crap. It happened a century ago and everyone forgot.

[supervinh47@mastodon.social]

@Njord surgical, but that's just because I had access to them from lab

[feisty_lemming@mstdn.ca]

@Njord Oop, I misread the question and picked the wrong option. I wore cloth masks because it was all I could find. N95s were sold out. Also, back then we were led to believe cloth masks were good enough.