Facial Hairstyles and Filtering Facepiece Respirators [pdf] | Hacker News Reader

Facial Hairstyles and Filtering Facepiece Respirators [pdf]

cdc.gov

52 pointsgilad46 comments

That is a very convoluted way to show that your beard should not cross the seal.

If you want to get the message across, diagrams like this are not very helpful. It leads to people checking for which part of it might apply to them without making them aware of the underlying reason for it.

at the same time it removes the need for critical thinking while giving the best and easiest option for a solution in the first square.

AND teaches you all the cool names for facial hair! :)

Wayyyy too much research went into this but it is worth it in the end

It's only the best and easiest option as long as what you consider your beard style to be is actually aligning with what that diagram shows. When does a walrus moustache become a horseshoe? When does a villain moustache become a dali? That diagram tries to deliver its message by using ambiguous terms instead of fixating on the actual problem (which is to prevent your beard crossing the seal).

I find “facial hair shouldn’t touch the seal” to be much easier to remember than

“here are 45 different facial hair styles, some of them are good for respirators, some of them are bad.”

the latter takes much more critical thinking for me than “if the seal is on facial hair then it isn’t sealed at all!”

now off to clean-shave my stubble (but keep my soul patch)

> at the same time it removes the need for critical thinking while giving the best and easiest option for a solution in the first square.

It also makes it a little fun so people might actually pay attention.

Not everyone responds best to a concise abstract rule given in a Ben Stein voice.

No, it's a viral way to show that your beard should not cross the seal. :) It's being shared a lot and raising awareness.

When you said it like that I assumed that stubble and chinstraps would be fine, since they aren't beards in my mind.

However according to the chart, they will interfere with the mask.

The chart is the best. It answers all questions, requires no reading, and also lets you figure out how to modify your facial hair to be "good".

If you’ve ever wondered why the military has a [extremely Sgt Maj Sixta] grooming standard, this should enlighten. Gas masks don’t seal on beards.

Supposedly that's why Hitler had his distinctive mustache.

I never heard this before, so I looked into it just now. There appears to be some dispute, since he allegedly had the closely cropped mustache before WW1, which was when he was allegedly ordered to crop it short for gas masks.

US military allows Sikh men to keep their beards IIRC. I wonder what those men will do in the case of a chemical attack.

The Canadian Minister of Defense, also a Sikh, has a relevant patent:

https://www.sikhnet.com/news/defense-minister-sajjan-patente...

Lots of other militaries allow their soldiers to maintain groomed beards. The US is actually kind of an outlier in this regard. But, the military being the military, should they enter a theatre that has a significant likelihood of chemical attack I'm sure those grooming standards would change.

The simpler solution is a seal that works inside the lips. This works much better even for people without beards. It's also smaller and lighter, which matters for all the times the gear must be carried but not actually worn.

The problem is that mouth seal is inconvenient. Interferes with speaking much more than even a full mask. (Try talking with scuba gear tube in.)

Based on the title, I thought it is a new machine learning paper from China on removing facial hair and respirators/masks from photos.

Glad I'm not the only one who thought this. I guess it's really not that far from the realm of possibility these days. Why apply machine learning to finding a cure when you can develop a selfie filter that makes for better insta posts during a pandemic?

I have a short full beard but seem to be able to form a seal. If I follow the directions for checking the seal — blocking the intake and breathing in, checking for the mask to collapse in, then blocking the outlet and checking for it to balloon out — it works. So do I have a seal or not?

If you want to live, lose the beard. If you are just wearing the mask for no real reason, who cares?

In case of a coronavirus outbreak I am definitely losing the beard if for some reason I have to leave the house. But I also use a respirator for semi-routine tasks like woodworking to minimize dust exposure.

Looks like this has been around a while. https://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2017/11/02/noshave/

yea, "toothbrush" mustache.... :thinking_face:

Charlie Chaplin really upset people with his later productions.

I'll assume you haven't seen The Great Dictator.

I have but wanted to make the Chaplin joke anyway. Can't let Hitler get all of the association for that moustache style even if Chaplin did muddy the waters with The Great Dictator.

Every firefighter knows this. Which is why you never see firefighters with beards. (Or sometimes you do but we'll also be shaving on the way to the fire while the truck is bouncing down the road. Some lessons are learned the hard way.)

https://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2017/11/02/noshave/

Facepiece respirators are trash anyway. You also need goggles.

This is the truth. People really need to wear some sort of eye protection in addition to a face mask.

The "villian" is just a well developed handlebar. It's not like you can't tuck it in.

This could usefully have been replaced with 'shave and let it grow back later.'

I wish someone would invent a respirator that worked with beards :/

3M's BE-10BR qualifies.

heh

I hear ya. My beard goes almost down to my navel. It'd be a shame if I had to shave it off. Guess I could go for a full hood biocontainment suit.

Maybe a PAPR?

Attach a filter to a snorkel mouthpiece.

So it has a name that isn't the hotler mustache interesting

The original name was “toothbrush” and it was quite common into the 40s as a way of showing you were a WWInvereran of the trenches.

Obviously one person in particular managed to drive it out of fashion

Cool product idea: Masks sold with depiliartory cream.

Misleading -- you can just tuck in your fu manchu

I'm very impressed that the CDC knows the difference between a fu manchu and a horseshoe.

Clicked for the Poirot. Left disappointed.

Mullet? Check.

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