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I'm one of the people that prefer the mask (in my case the Airtrim [0]). I had problems with it getting to humid inside the mask too before I learned that if I just blow (hard) out once every 10 minutes or so most exess humidity will be blown out of the filter and there will never be a buildup inside of the mask.

I can really recommend getting one of these heat/humidity exchangers, I think both types of products will do the job. I had to give up many winter sports due to problems with the cold and dry air before I got my Airtrim. Now its like breathing in +20C all the time. Best 50$ I ever spent.

[0] http://airtrim.se/eng/default.asp - Also horrible webpage :)

Yeah, Airtrim is the mask variant everyone I know uses, so I can also vouch for this.

Which filter do you like most for general moderate exercise? I see that they sell several grades of filter based on air flow capacity. The one for asthma seems to be the most restrictive, but most effective. And the racing ones are opposite that, and the sports one is in-between. I'm thinking I would get the asthma one for myself, despite wanting to use it for exercise.

Tbh, I often regard a "bad" (aka out of fashion) webpage like this as a positive indicator when it comes to physical products. It can be an indicator of a company where product matters more than marketing.

Lots of caveats, of course. E.g. this does not hold in b2b products or anywhere with strong lock-in. Also, it tends to be a better signal when it comes to mature products.

Classic example of countersignalling

I cycle year-round and have no issues with the winter air since I found the right mask [1]. Strongly disagree with the not dorky looking, I get sniggers and Darth Vader comments all the time. Foggy glasses mostly aren't a problem since I use skiing glasses. The mask makes breathing just a bit harder, but I can fully fill the lungs with each breath without any pain. I wear this mask up to around 5 degrees C if the air is dry, and have used it without any problems at -15C (where footwear started being an issue).

[1] https://coldavenger.com/

> “ skiing glasses”

Goggles?

Thanks, I think I'll remember next time. In my mother tongue we use the same word for glasses and goggles.

5 degrees C is pretty warm; even -15 is above the typical temperature discussed in the article: < -20, very dry and olympic level output. Plus that mask does look incredibly dorky.

Well I have some lung issues that made winter activity painful but the mask solved them. Just reporting the temperature range where I know it's effective.

Looks like it forces you to breathe through your mouth. I remember reading something on here about the harmful effects of doing that on a consistent basis.

Do you find any change in your stamina/capacity when using this device?

see: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23962638

I still breathe normally through both the nose and mouth when using it. And the effect is good enough from just warming the (bigger) airflow through the mouth. But it probably stings a bit more in the nose compared to the mask variants.

I don't feel it hampers my breathing at all, really. If anything, it allows me to take full breaths in conditions where that normally would hurt. I got the sports variant.

I’d love to proves wrong, but the “only breathe through your nose” crowd always seemed a little woo-woo.

Not quite. Investigate the work of John Mew. ( considered a quack by mainstream, I think, though I personally I find him credible)

It’s understandable to feel that way, particularly since a lot of the formal breathing exercises we know in the west come from yoga practices which are thousands of years old and have all sorts of metaphysics tied up in them. But it doesn’t seem too hard to believe that having a nasal cavity to regulate air temperature, block dust, increase moisture, etc would be beneficial to the lungs.

Here is one somewhat extreme experiment on rats that showed continual mouth breathing had negative cognitive effects [1]. There is also research that has correlated nasal cycle dominance to different cognitive functions [2]. I’m not totally sure about the covid-19 links this paper makes, but it’s interesting to note the sinuses help create nitric oxide and NO plays a wide range of biological roles [3].

Personally, I do pranayama every morning before seated meditation as well as right before bed and find it to have great emotional benefits if nothing else.

[1] https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/josnusd/61/1/61_18-0006...

[2] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8063547/

[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7200356/

The COVID-19 link is very plausible btw, inhaled NO has been researched as a COVID-19 therapy. (It just happens that that’s one of the less interesting benefits / effects of nose breathing)

I have to imagine that these days putting some silly link to COVID-19 makes it easier to publish, at least based off the increase of incredibly poor quality papers I’ve seen published : P

> ... the “only breathe through your nose” crowd always seemed a little woo-woo.

Can highly recommend 'Breath' by James Nestor, for some science-focused, non-woo look at the practice.

(I'm about 3/4 the way through it -- so I can't guarantee woo-free content in last quarter, but based on extrapolation we should be fine. :)

I was given "only nasal" as an endurance tip as a child and always understood that simply as a helpful intensity limit guide: if you stick to "noseable" level you won't find yourself completely exhausted any time soon.

It may lack sophistication but it's surely helpful for people who haven't yet learned how to spread out their endurance. But whenever something works in the realm of athletic performance, there'll be a flock of people who make up the wildest theories to explain how it works and misapply it to situations where it's actually completely wrong. So I totally get that "woo-wooh"

My kickboxing teacher just said "breathe like this" and nobody had time to ask questions. I've often found it to be pretty beneficial to have proper breath control. Because breathing in through your nose when exercising hard isn't instinctive, you practice breath control very consciously.

I must admit I'm a little curious what kind of woo-woo could surround proper breathing.

When one is working out sufficiently hard, everyone breathes through their mouth.

Boxers don't. Is that hard enough for you?

Can you explain what you mean? I’m fairly certain I’ve seen footage of exhausted boxers breathing through their mouths

Not biting down on your mouth piece and having you mouth open is a broken jaw waiting to happen

You can't train above your ventilatory threshold while nose breathing, and boxers are definitely training above that level of intensity, at least for short burts. Fighting is anaerobic.

Aerobic - with air.

Are you saying boxing is purely aerobic, or that anaerobic includes the word aerobic which means “with air”? I’m not picking up your intention either way. Boxing is a high intensity exercise which would at points be anaerobic.

Just being a little clever. It's both but boxing isn't a street fight, you do have short bursts but you still need to make it 12 rounds or less.

I was a bit flippant, yes sometimes you have to breathe through the mouth but whenever possible one breathes through nose.

Hence the "sufficiently hard" qualification

His comment still does not make sense as a reply. I'll admit my response was poor as well.

> You can't train above your ventilatory threshold while nose breathing

Why? What about this? http://www.journals.aiac.org.au/index.php/IJKSS/article/view...

Conclusion: This study supports the ability of recreational runners to utilize a nasally restricted breathing pattern at all levels of running intensity without loss in VO2max or GXT TE, and with superior PE and VE/VO2, following an extended training period using this practice.

Ive been boxing for a while now and definitely breathe through my mouth a lot. You cant keep your jaw hanging open when exchanging punches, but you still do a pretty significant amount of breathing through your mouth

Note that the difference between air from your nose and mouth is that your nose has hairs and a sinus system that warms and filters air. With a system like the above you essentially are doing the same thing.

I have a lot of trouble doing hard exercise in the cold due to asthma, I'll definitely be giving this a try.

Have been successfully breathing trough my mouth and using my own tongue for the same effect since I was a little kid. Takes some practice getting the airflow right, but it's the same physics: get it cooled down by the incoming air and warmed up on the way out. It surprisingly has enough thermal capacitance to have a noticeable effect.

From their webpage:

> LUNG PLUS IS NOT FOR ANYONE PARTICIPATING IN CONTACT SPORTS, SLEDDING, DOWNHILL SKIING, SNOWMOBILING, SNOWBOARDING, ETC!!

Cross country skiing isn't downhill skiing.

Cross country skiing can be downhill skiing but downhill skiing can never be XC skiing.

Not so. Telemark skis are made for both hiking and downhill.

Also going downhill on cross country skis is much different as there is no metal edge.

So, yes, you can go downhill on cross-country skis, but you can't go cross-country on downhill skis?

(Telemark and alpine touring skis are variants of Nordic skis that shift closer to the downhill pattern, with alpine touring bindings and skis allowing selectable free or rigidly bound heel).

Yes, so cross country / nordic skiing is fine (it's what it's made for, downhill skiing is something completely different than xc). Same for running, it's fine. Basically all cardio it works great. You just don't want something to bump it into your teeth. For the dangerous downhill slopes when xc skiing I just spit it out first if I feel the need to play it safe (attached to a lanyard).

I mean, I guess it's fine -- but i've witnessed people fall flat on their face through a variety of winter sports; I definitely wouldn't want anything bulkier than a mouthguard in place if that were to happen to myself.

But I think it's mostly motionists or above with fairly good skills that goes outside no matter the weather. A beginner in danger of falling would probably be more of a "happy camper" type and choose days with nicer conditions. Or if falling is a strong possibility I guess I'd recommend the mask variant instead.

This was a rough Nordic skiing winter for us. -20F really does require something extra to help the lungs. A buff/balaclava helped a lot, but soaked/frozen fabric has its own downsides.

I’ve heard the pros routinely develop cold induced asthma.