Month: February 2021

This has sitting in my drafts folder since October which was right after I bought some face masks online (the Mark III.) I was going to write a little review and compare it to the first masks used to keep us from breathing in virus particles, but never got around to it. Now, having just bought some more from someplace else, I thought now was the time to write about something that has basically become daily wear.

Mark I – We made these in house not long after it was recommended that folks wear face coverings as a prevention device. Three layers. The two outside are of old pillowcase with a center section of dish towel. We had some 1/4″ elastic that I cut in half lengthwise for ear loops. Worked out OK, but they were loose fitting and non-adjustable. We made just two, one for me and one for her. This one is mine because it had a B written with Sharpie on it.

Mark II – Donna found someone locally that was making them in their home on Facebook. They were $5 each and made of a couple layers of some sort of cotton material. But, you could get them in all sorts of patterns. The patterns were mostly aimed at women and children. They were sized that way also, as mine were a bit small for my face. And the closest we could get for men was Star Wars themed! The ear loop elastic was narrower than ours and were adjustable by retying the knot in a different spot which made them a bit more comfortable, we bought two each.

Mark III – I found these from an Instagram ad in my feed. These folks, Bows-N-Ties, are a in San Francisco and had a bountiful selection of patterns aimed as business folks (you could even get matching ties to go with the mask.) They were their 1st generation masks of two layers of cotton for $7.50 each. Again we bought 2 each. The ear loops were easily adjustable and more comfortable than the others. These were supposed to be anti-fog for us glasses wearers, while better than our first two masks, metal wire didn’t hold up through several washes. It was easier to just take off our glasses when wearing them. While bigger than the homemade masks, these were still a bit small for me.

Mark IV – From another Instagram ad, this is my most recent purchase. This is a company in Kansas that make the self-proclaimed World’s Best Undershirt, Mr. Davis. They are $12 each, but the second one was 1/2 off, so in essence they are $9 a piece. I bought two. These have nice adjustable ear loops and a flexible nose bridge that seems to work better than the Mark III (we’ll see how it holds up.) There is also a built in filter pocket and flexible ends for sealing at the cheek area. The big draw though was it came in three sizes. I bought the large and it fits my whole face, from top of nose to under the bearded chin.