I commend the effort but these types of masks offer very minimal protection at best.

Well from all that I have read, the masks are mainly for those that have a cough, or sneeze. And they are quite good at protecting your snot droplets from entering the air, or landing on some surface to be picked up by an unsuspecting host. So the basic protection of the non 95 masks, is to protect others mostly. It of course would protect you from a direct blast from someone too, which happens in my 5 person bunker here all the time.

And since it is cold and flu season to go along with Covid19, there are a lot of people coughing and hacking. There were 100's of them in the senior Costco line yesterday, some of them that way every single day I would suppose.

Don't need a mask, maybe some running or cycling shorts!!!

Common cold sure, COVID19 not so much. I'm married to a nurse so I've heard all about the benefits of each type of mask.

https://www.livescience.com/...new-coronavirus.html

Can wearing a medical face mask protect you against the new coronavirus? It's a question many people are asking, including pet owners who are putting canine face masks on their dogs.
If it's a regular surgical face mask, the answer is no, Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, told Live Science.

From your article you linked, and what I just said in my last post;

People sick with COVID-19, however, should wear face masks to reduce the risk of infection to people around them, according to the CDC. Health care workers and those "taking care of someone infected with COVID-19 in close settings (at home or in a healthcare facility)," should also wear face masks, the CDC reported.

People are free to wear whatever they want, but it's documented pretty much everywhere that these common masks serve almost no purpose in protecting against COVID19.

People also don't know how to take the masks off without infecting themselves so again, without the proper equipment and training the benefit is minimal.

I ordered 6 today. And I will wear it when at the grocery store, running errands, etc. Even if I am now in the grandparent age group, I have no intentions of dying to save somebody else's 401K ;-)

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DFL > DNF > DNS

That's not true. There is little evidence that they work on COVID-19. That is different than saying they serve almost no purpose.

This Lance article, Rational use of face masks in the COVID-19 pandemic, outlines the the range of thoughts around the world on masks, as well as lists some of the studies testing efficacy.

The policy differences by country is interesting. It's just pure correlation (not causation) by this point. But it's interesting that the countries with strong "mask culture" are the ones that are kind of kicking COVID-19's ass. China, South Korea, Japan. And still no one can understand why the latter two countries have such "flat curves". They're not taking extreme quarantine measure. They're super high-density in places - like NYC is. They have lots of old people.

That manufacturers are using their production lines to make equipment to help is a good idea.
De Soto would be wise to have someone in the medical field look over the model and it's effectiveness.
In a country as prone to litigation as the US is, this would be any business concern.

One other thing I have been struggling with over the past few weeks.

As any individual may be shedding the virus up to two weeks before symptoms appear and more infections are happening from the local community than from travelers it may be sensible to wear a mask now, at all times when you enter anywhere, such as a shop, business or residence for any reason. Along with gloves or a disposable medical gloves or using a hand sanitizer after using or touching anything the general public might also use or touch. Wearing a mask, provided it is sanitary, may be sensible and certainly will put others at ease.

There are institutional and housebound seniors dying from community caused infections. They are literally the canary in the cage.
Here in Canada it started with a Seniors home and a dentist who had been to a convention....

What is it that makes something that satisfy a particular ASTM rating? Is it porosity, pore size, or something else?

I don’t need it to meet that certification per se, but i’d be more willing to buy it if it stated something like “we determined, using whatever technique, that our mask have avg pore size of x, porosity of y, and some other attribute z; masks having these characteristics generally would pass ASTM specification ABC, though we cannot guarantee that it does"

As it stands, its efficacy is anyone’s guess

The policy differences by country is interesting. It's just pure correlation (not causation) by this point. But it's interesting that the countries with strong "mask culture" are the ones that are kind of kicking COVID-19's ass. China, South Korea, Japan.//

I too have noticed that, and read several articles asking the same question. And to get back on my main point, the mask is absolutely effective if you are sneezing or coughing. Kind of doesnt matter what is causing that, it is just protection from you to the rest of us. I will however wear the mask in my everyday contacts with the outside world now. I wore one with gloves when I had to grocery shop yesterday. What is the downside really? I still do everything to protect myself if I had no mask, so it we do find out later their is some deterrent affect, then great. If not, nothing, I like those odds, only a win or draw..


And to liability, I think that was addressed in the latest bill being passed. It has much larger implications that Emilio and his little companies masks. And as far as I can see, no one is making any outrageous claims, other than it is a mask that blocks some stuff, pretty obvious and plain..

^^^This.

Most tech fabrics are designed for breathability. As such, they are fairly porous. The main benefit would be as a "baffle" to reduce the velocity/range of coughs from the wearer.

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Monty is trying to (1) do a solid for a pioneer in the triathlon industry that happens to make great products, (2) help promote an item that will have at least a small degree of effectiveness in stopping the spread of this horrible virus.

And, yet, it triggers a chorus of contrarian douche bags that have to crap on the product and demonstrate their own heightened medical knowledge.

STFU and help Emilio help others.

Most tech fabrics are designed for breathability. As such, they are fairly porous//

Yes, of course. But Emilio is not stupid, in fact quite the opposite. There are 3 layers of that fabric, so certainly not nearly as breathable as one layer would be. And he has a pocket where you can put in an extra layer of something else to make it even more of a barrier. Here is the description in case anyone has not looked for themselves;


This protective face mask is made with three layers of Skin Cooler™ 90 fabric.
Skin Cooler™ fabric is non-absorbent, and masks are made with three layers of protection.
The mask has durable stretchy laces that allow you to tie it behind the head or behind the ears.
It is reusable, machine washable and dryable.

This mask has a pocket pouch where you can place an additional flexible, or non-permeable layer of protection (not included).

They are useless because 90% of the people are idiots and have no idea how to use them safely. I was in a grocery store a few days ago, it was pretty comical. People are holding the masks on using their hands, taking them off to chat with other people, wearing them on their forehead temporarily and then putting them back on. Total shit show.

If you have half a brain they are effective and there are studies that prove it.

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What's your CdA?

Bought 2 of these. Thanks!

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What's your CdA?

Sure, but it's not hard to learn how to use them properly.

And DeSoto customers are, like the children of Lake Wobegon, all above average.

Kudo's for an entrepreneur trying to keep the lights on during a period of time that no one in the United States has experienced. I've made multiple purchases from Desoto and regardless of the effectiveness of the mask, my respect level has raised another notch.

They are useless because 90% of the people are idiots and have no idea how to use them safely.//

Good thing we are all 10%'s here.. (-;

But you are right, and when my wife went out to get some school supplies at the local dollar store, I gave her a lengthy tutorial on how to wear gloves, and a mask. I think a lot of people just put on gloves, then turn off their brain. The gloves only protect your hands, after that, they are the same as not wearing them. If you use them properly, they just help you avoid washing your hands or doing the purel thing. The masks are even more complicated. That's why I like that this one is washable, I burned through most my paper ones as they were intended, single use..

to be fair, breathability in itself is not an issue. The virus (either as particle per se or in a droplet) has a diameter, and pores smaller than that diameter would block transmission. For instance, pores in the original Gore-Tex is 1-6 microns. The virus particle per se is apparently an order of magnitude smaller and would pass through that. But there are also similar fabric (that is to say, ePTFE) with smaller pore size. No idea if one could breath through it though (or whether it could adapt to contours the way a surgical mask could)

Emilio is a top notch guy who sells top notch clothes. I just bought a skin cooler top (which I have been meaning to buy for at least 3 years), cute running shorts & a hat.

I didn’t buy the mask. I don’t know why. But I can see how wearing it would protect others. Wearing it also sends a message, “let’s not share a virus.” That’s good.

Anyhoozle, I hope others give Emilio some business. The guy and his brand are part of the history of triathlon.

Hello Monty and All,

Good idea. I have two on order.

While it would not be a good idea to get a mask if it would deprive a health care provider of the mask .... I figure health care workers are not buying these masks as they are not 95's.

A mask is a good thing in my view because if not ..... health care workers would not wear them ... and Japanese have been wearing them for 60 years or more and look at all the old people that live there .... most of any country in the world.

I am putting some activated charcoal in my mask pocket so it will not only kill incoming virus but also eliminate noxious toilet and human odors steming from the toilet paper shortage.

It will be a win win.

I was thinking that for future aerodynamics .... and looking cool ..... perhaps inserting activated charcoal filters into each nostril and dumping the mask.

For humans with small nostrils ..... the charcoal filters could extend beyond the nostril .... streamlined of course.

You may think this is a far fetched idea .... but think back to James Bond .... he escaped drowning one time because of the compressed oxygen cylinders in his nose.

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Cheers, Neal

+1 mph Faster

In science "effective against" is different to works in many situations.


Supplying enough pro masks for health care workers who work close proximity was a concern so lots of articles to slow panic buying on those. Plus also great topics for clickbait...

Outside sneeze range the easiest way to get a virus inside is touching one on a surface then touching your mouth, nose or tear ducts. People touch thier face all the time and a mask and (sun) glasses can reduce that risk factor

Like someone said, wearing one definately reminds you and people around you about cross contamimation and to wash hands

It might be handy to have a few so you can rotate them since they are probably not disposable...not wearing them too long, Keep in sealable plastic sandwich bags, wash them in diluted bleach(chlorine is anti viral)... wash hands and face after removing too

A very brilliant eye surgeon explain to my why this type of mask IS EFFECTIVE for protection. Virus particles are indeed smaller than the pores in this mask, however, virus particles are not normally airborne without being attached to a fluid particle, that is likely larger than the mask pores, and extremely unlikely to get through 3 layers of material. That said, the biggest benefit is limiting transmission. As also mentioned, be smart in handling a mask, wear gloves or sanitize hands with alcohol before contacting the mask.
Huge thank you to Monty for calling for support of Emilio, for all he has done for us, he has certainly earned our support!

Thanks to DeSoto for making the masks.
Before that came out, I decided to make my own.
I have two N95 masks left over from fire season (I’m a news reporter), and I wanted to save those for those now rare occasions when I need to be working out in the world.
But for daily use, social distancing walks around the block or picking up groceries where I can stand away from people, I’m using my own cotton mask.
I made six of them so I can throw them in the wash, dry on hot and iron to sanitize it.

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Sharon McN
@IronCharo
#TeamZoot
Clif Bar Pace Team 2003-2018