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Comment by cmckn | Hacker News Reader

It’s been really strange buying masks for the last couple years. I’ve been able to buy a brand I recognize (3M) from a retailer I trust (Home Depot) one time. Every other purchase has been a no-name supplier on Amazon or at a store. I eventually switched to just surgical masks from Costco, because I was never confident with the KN95’s I had. I would have thought I could walk into Target and buy some from a brand like J&J by now.

I heard about Project N95 today, which seems legit: https://www.projectn95.org/

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Projet N95 is a legit organization. They were an official member of a project I volunteered for at the beginning of the pandemic: https://c19coalition.org/directory

Eric Ries (The Lean Startup, LTSE) was a co-founder of this coalition. Him and the other stakeholders of the coalition worked to make sure the coalition members were legit.

I noticed the other day that Target doesn't sell ANY N95 masks in any stores near me in the Bay Area. This far in to the pandemic and it really feels like the powers that be simply do not care.

It seemed that most people in the Bay Area settled on stylish cloth masks as good enough for keeping up appearances. Maybe Target realized there wasn't really demand?

Possible, but I wonder if they ever stocked them. Hard to imagine there is zero demand. Especially during surges. Maybe people are wearing cloth masks because N95's are hard to find.

Don't know what to think of it, because in .de some supermarkets stock them, but you have to ask for them at the cashier. There they pick the amount you asked for out of a box, where every single one is in hermetically sealed bag. Because of theft, supposedly. Some did it always like this, some only in times of "high demand", like after wearing them has become mandatory in places. Even gas stations stock them here, though more expensive because gas station.

Prices are anything between 65ct and 1.10€ in supermarkets, and upwards of 1.70€ in gas stations. All various chinese brands, no 3M or such. Though they have some certification prints/seals/QR-codes on the bag and sometimes on a paper leaflet in the bag.

edit: we call them FFP2 here, btw.

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/topics/respirators/disp_part...

Just go to the official USA N95 page. All available products in the USA are listed there.

If anything seems suspect, double-check the official listing on that webpage.

The problem is you can buy one of those brands online and get something marked as that brand, but it smells different and it is suspiciously easy to breathe through.

Shop at better stores than lol Amazon.

Grainger, Uline, WBMason, Home Depot to name a few. If you want to actually trust the product and supply chain, spend a few bucks more.

Its not that much more expensive, and these other stores are much more honest.

I believe they are legit. I think my sister pointed me there months ago ... but they were pretty pricey. Seems to be more affordable now — roughly $1 (U.S.) per mask.

I typically buy Healmade KF94 masks. I believe there are counterfeits of those as well, but the Korean manufacturers seem to have more genuine capacity.

The major brands of masks are 3M, Kimtech / Kimberly Clark, Moldex... among many many others.

USA has plenty of masks at the $1/mask price point with full N95 rating. There are also a ton of small companies / startups who started manufacturing N95 masks seeing the opportunity for the pandemic.

The main benefit of N95 is a strap that wraps all the way around the head (N95 American standard is higher quality and costs a bit more because of this strap). KN94 or whatever the Korean standard is has only ear-loops, so your ears get quite tired from all the stress over time.

So if there is a 3M N95 mask on Amazon, how can you even check that it's not a fake one? Only shop from 3M? Well they are perpetually sold out. Next up (i did a quick search), are 3M N95 masks "Sold by Promax America". I've never heard of Promax America (they could be the most legit in the world), but how can I tell they don't sell fake 3M's?

There's a lot of other stores aside from Amazon, that have much better supply chains. Especially when we're talking about industrial equipment like N95 respirators.

Grainger, Uline, WBMason, Home Depot to name a few.

Assume all 3M are fake and buy something else.

At least all 3M masks sold by non-industry suppliers. Consumers don't have enough experience to recognize a fake while those who are familiar with genuine N95 masks, have experience with suppliers that provide to construction, assembly, healthcare, painting, etc.

I'm aware of these things, although the last time I went looking it was hard to find major US brand masks. Seems to be a bit better now.

The KF94 masks I have come with a little hook that you can use to connect the ear loops in the back. This produces a tighter fit and also saves your ears.

Depends on the head and ears. Personally I have no stress with the ear-loops, while the all-around things are impractical. (Though they are rare here) Why? Interferes with my ponytail, OFC!

Costco sells KN95 and N95 online.

Unfortunately in my area (Seattle), they do not. Not in stores, not online. I believe they’ve had them momentarily a couple times throughout the pandemic, but they don’t have a steady supply.

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