Tag: madeincanada

A recurring question during this pandemic has been: should the average person should be wearing a mask. The answer was that it isn’t so important and that we should focus on social distancing and washing our hands. The withering supply of masks needs to be reserved for medical personnel. Now, months in, we’re being told, with hesitation, “you know what, let’s wear masks”. Some cities have even gone so far as to make wearing a face covering mandatory. Others give mixed messages. We’re told they’re strongly recommended when a distance of 2 meters cannot be maintained. We’re warned that the research is inconclusive and that it might even make things worse if not used correctly. It has also repeated that they are not to protect us, but can protect others.

Instructions abound to help us make our own, but that’s not for everyone, and the efficacy of cloth-based masks isn’t guaranteed. Consequently, many of us are going to shop online for our masks.

What to buy?

So, fine, let’s buy a mask. Only… surgical masks and N95s are sold out and we’re being told to leave them for medical professionals even if we do find them. Okay – well, I could make one, but like a lot of people, I’m not interested in sewing and frankly if I’m going to bother with a mask I’d like to get the best option I can. So, off to Wirecutter I go to get purchase advice, but their picks are out-of-stock. They do suggest that cloth masks may be better than nothing and can be made even more effective by including a filter. I tried consulting Quebec’s Wirecutter equivalent, Protegez-Vous, but found no guidance there.

We are encouraged, however, to support local businesses to help strengthen our nation’s self-sufficiency in the production of protective equipment. Here are some local options for Canadians, excluding overly expensive, back-ordered, or tacky options:

1. Peace Collective is a Toronto-based company selling locally-manufactured masks and disposable filters that also donates masks to Canadian medical staff. The masks have a nice minimal design, have a nose-wire for shaping the mask (I think these also have the added benefit of preventing eyeglasses from fogging up). Masks are sold in sets. The one I liked had a minimum of two in a pack, which makes sense since you can rotate them between washes. Combining this with a pack of 50 filters would set me back $68.25 including taxes and shipping. Not terrible. Their site mentions that orders will take 7-14 days to ship though. That’s a little off-putting given that some of us are anticipating having to return to our offices soon
2. Vancouver-based Search and Rescue Denim looked promising as it also has a charitable angle and their masks are nice and simple. Having to choose a size seems to be a bit of a challenge though, since this is obviously something we cannot try before we buy. I chose large to move forward. Once taxes and shipping are applied it would come to $42.15 for a single mask. At that price, I think I’d rather go for Peace Collective‘s option and get a 2-pack with 7 weeks-worth of filters for just $26 more. However, if you do choose this option, you can use coupon code SRSave10 to get 10% off
3. Ontario-based Oliberte usually handcrafts their goods locally, but I suspect the masks they sell are an exception (it’s unclear). However, they do offer three kinds of masks:
   1. 50 non-medical for $85
   2. 10 medical for $20 (pre-order)
   3. 2 KN95 for $10 (pre-order)
4. Mask Canada offers some nice-looking masks. I liked the checkered pattern. I think it makes sense to buy a minimum of two so they can be rotated. Two masks with filter pockets including shipping would come to a very reasonable $34.49. My only hesitation here is that I’d like to order filters at the same time. They also suggested washing them in cold water and air-drying which is contrary to the advice of washing and drying them at the hottest possible temperatures. I really love the checkered pattern though and would highly recommend they sell filters like Peace Collective as well (though I have heard people promoting the idea of using paper towel or coffee filters as a free disposable filter alternative)
5. Waterloo-based startup O2 Canada is easily the one that best captured my attention. In fact, their Curve 1.2 product (featured image at the top) was the inspiration of my post and I actually already ordered one for an immunocompromised relative last weekend because it ticks nearly all the boxes. Given that we are short on PPEs in the country and these are potentially more effective than N95s, I don’t understand why this isn’t talked more about. Sure, they are expensive, but the filters are reusable and they are actually available for purchase, unlike N95s. An order of one mask with 30 filters came to $212 after shipping and taxes
6. 👑[UPDATE] Just a few hours after making this post, news came out about a reusable respirator produced by ACAMP, a non-profit nanotechnology research facility in Alberta. They partnered with the University of Alberta to design the mask as well as the inner protective cloth. They claim that their mask, dubbed the A95, provides as much filtering power as the N95s used in health care setting. What’s more? They also claim to have enough raw material in Alberta to produce them, so I don’t feel guilty buying one as I would an N95. The mask is made of two main components, an outer polyurethane-based mask that makes an effective seal with your face, available in multiple colors, and on the inside a protective cloth that goes inside the shell of the mask. They are sold together on their website. The protective cloth, which lasts 1 month, can be washed in soapy water and then air-dried once per week. Each day, you can sanitize it by baking it in an oven/toaster oven at 70 degrees Celsius for half an hour. The masks are being tested by the Alberta government and Edmonton Health Services. This is more vetted of any product than the other picks seem to be getting.
   Here is a graph of their test results compared to the renowned N95s:
   
   This seems like a winning solution in my eyes. The claim is that unlike homemade masks, they masks are designed to protect both you and others. The mask can be had for just $39.94 CAD included shipping and taxes. Not bad for a month. Step aside O2 Canada Curve 1.2, a seemingly comparable solution just came out for a fraction of the cost.
   
   Two things I’m not yet clear on is:
   1. How to clean the outer shell of the mask?
   2. Are they going to sell just the cloths to replace after a month, or will we need to buy them with the outer shells each time?
   3. Will it cause my glasses to fog up? That’s a pain point I’ve experienced with other masks
   4. I don’t own a toaster oven and my conventional oven’s lowest setting is 170 degrees Celsius. That is ~77 degrees Fahrenheit, i.e. 7 degrees Fahrenheit above the recommended temperature. Is that too hot?

Top Pick: ACAMP’s A95 ($39.94)

This mask clearly isn’t a fashion statement like some of the cloth-based masks on the market today, but at least you won’t look like you got drunk and your roommates stuck a jock strap over your breathing holes. I won’t be replacing the featured image as this really seems to be a product designed and marketed by scientists, so their marketing material is nowhere near as nice as others. I actually ended up ordering 2 of these today. I’ll share how long it takes to receive it. The main appeal to me is that it’s being reviewed by scientists, is affordable, reusable, and supposedly effective in protecting both the wearer as well as others. Take my money. Good job Alberta.

[Dethroned] Top pick: O2 Canada’s Curve 1.2 + 30 filters ($212)

Budget Pick: Peace Collective’s 2-pack + 50 filters ($68.25)

[UPDATE 2020-04-26] The relevance of this pick is already called into question now that you can get 2 ACAMP A95s and still come out ahead price-wise. I’ll leave it here for anyone that might find the A95’s HEPA vacuum filter look to be a deal-breaker.

Free option: Quebec’s DYI Guide

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Worth noting: KN95s are available

While not a locally-sourced option, I thought it might be worth noting that while doing this research I did discover a supplier with an available stock of KN95 masks: DHGate. The products come from China, but at a glance the quality seems comparable to that of an N95 and you can get 10 masks for $62.85 with free shipping within 3-9 business days. That seems pretty solid.

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Conclusion

[UPDATE 2020-04-26] I did indeed find something better and settled for 2 ACAMP A95s just hours after making this post. It set me back just $64.88 for 1 month of protection for myself and my partner. If I had to recommend one option to my fellow Canucks at this point, this would be it. Note that the only available option right now is for adults.

Times are challenging enough for most people trying to adjust their lives to make it unscathed through this global pandemic. Now that face coverings are being recommended, people are now further burdened with the decision of what mask to make with what materials, how to wash and dry it, and where to buy it if they aren’t comfortable making one themselves. At the end of the day, we’re all human, so what the average healthy adult should do ought to be more streamlined rather than leaving people to sift through countless options, many of which have little research done to back them anyway.

Personally, I already purchased O2 Canada’s Curve 1.2 for a more at-risk member of my family. I’d love to get one for myself, but it’s a little pricey, especially when we still don’t know how long we’ll be dealing with this. I’d happily provide a review in exchange for the product – hint hint O2! 😉 I’ve been using bandannas and neck warmers so far, but I don’t have much faith in them and I’m looking to get something designed for the purpose with an appropriate filter, so I may go for the Peace Collective option unless I find something better in the coming days.

Disclaimer

I’m not qualified to actually say whether a mask really ought to be worn by the average person, nor can I really judge the efficacy of any of these options. I’m just looking at these as an average consumer and chose to share my thoughts on my findings to save other’s the time to do the same.