Maybe it has to do with your zip code for shipping? I see them as available. They are also available at uline:
I also have some of these that have a different strap design:
They are basically the same mask, but the longer straps are designed so you can take the top strap off your head and have the mask hang down with the bottom strap around your neck. It’s useful in places where you are taking the mask on and off a lot, like in a city where you are maskless on the sidewalk and masked in stores.
They are a little pricey compared to other masks, but the comfort and convenience factor may make them worth it depending on your situation.
Do you only find out at the final step as you agree to pay? All the way up to that point it says I can get them by 9/29. I don’t need more, so I’m not going through with payment, so if that’s when you find out, I guess I can’t tell without ordering. If it’s saying it for you at an earlier point, I wonder if it’s regional or something.
KF94s usually come in different sizes. And some come with adjustable ear loops. The guy I mentioned earlier, Aaron Collins has a huge spreadsheet that gives that sort of info for many different brands. If you look his videos up on YouTube, there are links to the spreadsheet. The LG Airwasher I mentioned has adjustable ear loops. They come in black and white, and the black ones are stiffer so they are less apt to collapse when you inhale.
That sounds like the ones you bought don’t fit your face very well. I came here to sing the praises of kf94 masks. They aren’t quite as good as n95 masks for filtering, but they are better than almost anything else, and i find them very comfortable. I buy the boxy “3D” style. They sit a bit away from my face, and especially my mouth, which makes it easy to talk. They seal nicely around my face and don’t fog my glasses. They also sit low enough on my nose to not get in the way of my glasses.
I bought them from
They have at least two brands of the style I like, Blue and Posh. The Posh masks come in fun designs, but they are just a tad larger and stiffer than the Blue masks (i buy “large” in both), so they sometimes leak a little around the edges of my face. The Blue masks fit my face very snuggly.
Using a lanyard to take pressure off your ears and hold the mask a little tighter to your face can improve both comfort and filtering ability. But at the end of the day, filtering is largely about finding a mask that fits you well. Still, i think this is a good style to try because the broad side piece has a more forgiving fit than some of the bulbous n95s have.
Also, the unused masks store flat, which is nice.
This is the one i got, except i bought it in white
They can be very very close. Here’s a link to a video from the guy I mentioned. I don’t know if there’s a way to link directly to the spreadsheet, but it’s in the description.
And to emphasize your point, the filtration can’t really work without the fit. It doesn’t matter what number comes out of a test of the mask if you can’t comfortably wear it without it leaking.
He also talks in this video about all the fake masks out there. Amazon, eBay and Etsy are all pretty much impossible to tell if it will be genuine. (So probably safest to assume not.)
Yeah, that’s why I’m super happy with the masks i found. They fit my face very snuggly, they are kf94 rated, i just noticed that they did very well in Aaron Collins’ test, and they are only about a buck apiece. Oh, and the “boat style” stores flat, which is nice.
I got some n95 in a sort of similar style, but they are a little too small for me, so if I’m not careful they can slip out of alignment. They are less comfortable (because too small and too tight) and they are… scented. I think it’s a feature, and supposed to protect you from nasty odors, but the “hotel room” smell drives me nuts.
I really like the behealthy site, both because i trust that they are selling real Korean masks and also because they sell several variety packs that let you find a mask that fits you. I didn’t go that route, because a friend gave me one that fit well, so I bought more of it
I’m amused that Aaron prefers black. I asked my husband whether i should buy the black or the white, and he said, “the good guy wears a white mask”. So i bought the white ones.
I have one black and 100 white of the same brand, and they feel the same to me.
But I want to reiterate my recommendation of what he calls the “boat style”, and what my source calls “3D”. It’s a more forgiving style in terms of fitting a lot of faces than the “bowl shaped” N95s. I had been wearing a reusable N90 mask because the frame has a silicone gasket, so i knew it actually fit my face. I figured that was better than an N95 that wasn’t exactly the right shape, since you don’t get any filtration through the leaks at the edge. But the “boat style” masks have a long flat surface over your cheeks and chin, so any suction you create breathing in pulls it up against your skin. That means they fit most facial shapes pretty well. I’ve now tried three brands of “boat style” mask, and they all seemed to force me to breathe through, not around, the mask.
And it’s nice that it doesn’t touch your lips, and it plays well with glasses.
Yeah, the KF94 Airwasher that I have is the “boat” style, too. I like my Moldex ones the best, but the Airwasher is also excellent for me. Easy to breathe, good fit, high filtration efficiency, adjustable earloops. They’re great. I prefer headbands, so I tie the earloops together with some elastic, usually.
Thanks for the link. I just got a sampler of the Posh masks. Fun designs, and I’m sure they’ll fit one of us.
For the OP, the Airgami mask Aaron is wearing in the video thumbnail is apparently extremely easy to breathe in. One of the best rated. It uses the same principle as the Moldex to get more surface area of filtration material so it doesn’t take a lot of pressure differential to get the air in or out. It’s expensive, ~ $23 for white, $29 for colors, but it is reusable. The website has instructions for cleaning. It has really good filtration, too.
I bought 10 of the Posh masks from @puzzlegal’s link (BeHealthyUsa.com). I’ll let you guys know what I think. I’m a glasses wearer with a wide face. There’s a 25% off sale going on now, and shipping is free, so $2.70 a mask is a good deal if they work well.
If I don’t like them…I might come back here to sell individually-wrapped k94 masks
The site seem to regularly have sales. I bought 30 Posh masks for about $50, and 100 Blue masks for $70. I plan to exercise heavily in them, and want to throw them away after sweating all over them, though. If you just want to wear them shopping, Aaron Collins (the guy in the video) says that he thinks these masks should typically be good for 30-40 hours of use, and recommends having enough that you can let them air out (and let virus and other buggies die) for 4 days between wearing them. I admit, my standard has been to air out a mask for 2 days. That’s probably because I only had two respirators when my mom was in the hospital a lot and I spent a ton of time in a risky setting, supporting her in the hospital.
This mask is inexpensive, N95 rated, and according to Aaron Collins’s tests, very easy to breathe in. (Pressure drop of .15 inches of H2O, which is tied for lowest, I think.)
I have not used this retailer, so I can’t vouch for them. Do your own vetting. The mask has been written up in the NYT, so I would be very early of Amazon and other places where fakes can easily be sold.
It does look like you are wearing a duck bill. And i had a very similar mask that had really flimsy straps, such that i decided to discard it after one use.
But the style is comfortable. And that’s a really low drop in pressure, which is nice.
ETA: that’s exactly the mask my friend gave me. So yes, very comfortable, really flimsy straps, looks ridiculous.
I don’t worry about how I look in masks any more. (My go-to Moldex one is pretty dorky looking, too.) Good to know about the straps, though. Sounds like a good mask for single use, maybe. When I go in higher exposure areas, I do toss my mask after. (Hospital and dentist, e.g.)
Welp, turns out I do not like the Posh K95 masks. They are just too small for my very fat face. They seem harder to breathe in than other masks, which I don’t think would be a problem if the thing wasn’t squeezed tight against my face.
If anyone would like to try one of these masks I’m willing to send you one (or more) for $3 apiece. I have 9 that are in sealed packages.
I bought a sample pack of these in all the designs. It turns out they don’t work great for me, either. My spouse is OK with them, so not a total loss. She likes the Airwashers better, though. The Posh masks fog my glasses just a bit. I can wear it, but it’s just annoying over time. They are smaller than the Airwashers.
I’m ordering a few different ones to try, including an Airgami. I have hopes one of my kids might like those, because I haven’t found a high filtration option for him yet. My other kid is totally happy to wear her pink Lutema M95c masks.
