Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsYou have to stretch the bands first...but they can break. :(
Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2022
I've read a number of reviews complaining of these masks fitting very tightly. I wonder how many of those reviewers have read and followed the instructions for these masks, the first step of which is to stretch out the bands so they won't be so tight.
I mean, even having done that the masks are still kind of tight, but they have to be to do their job. A loose mask is an ineffective mask...and these are N95s, which means they're designed to be especially effective...which in turn means they're going to be somewhat tight. I've worn them throughout several eight-hour workdays and while I was glad to get them off during breaks and after work, that was less because they were tight than because they were masks. I don't think anybody *likes* wearing these things very much, whereas we do like breathing fresh, cool, unused air when possible. I personally found the tightness quite bearable, and reassuring - it helps me feel that the mask is doing its job.
I read some other reviews, however, wherein the reviewers said the straps on these masks break, and I thought, before I received my order, that those reviewers probably also didn't stretch out the bands before using the masks...but no: I stretched both bands well before using these masks and I had a band break too, out of nowhere, while being subjected to no stress beyond being worn normally, and at exactly the same point at which one of those reviewers' band(s) broke, about 3/4 of an inch away from the point where the band attaches to the mask. So this is a design/manufacturing flaw - and a pretty serious one, considering at least one of the purposes for which people are going to use these masks. It means that you'll need to keep a spare mask or two with you at all times when using these, pretty much regardless of whether you're using them to filter out particulate matter while on a construction project or to reduce the risk of contracting and/or transmitting illness. In short, they're not as reliable as they should be, and that's a bad flaw in a face mask. A fatal flaw, you might even say.
If the bands didn't break I'd give these masks five stars based on my experience of them. But the bands' tendency to break at random and for no reason reduces them to three stars - kind of "meh". Too bad.