After listening to each of these multiple times, my personal opinion is that the rank like this from most intelligible (1) to least intelligible (8): 1. No mask 2. 3m Aura N95 3. GVS Ellipse with P100s 4. MSA Advantage 900 with P100s 5. Dentec NxMD with N95s 6. 3M 6000 Series with N95s 7. ElastoMaskPro with N95s 8. 3M 6000 Series with N95s and 604 exhalation filter
During omicron BA1, back when east coast had 4k genome copies per ml wastewater, I wore a 3M 7502 with a 10w zoweetek voice amplifier, and my wife wore a 3M 6100 S with the same amplifier. A few awkward doctor’s visits, a few awkward pharmacy runs, but the peace of mind was worth it - it looks like we dodged omicron with those. After a few months we both switched back to 9210+ auras.
We used a full face with voice amplifiers pre-vaxx. I switched to fit test passing N95s and KF94s (with a stick on nose wire + lanyard style ear saver). Both options have been put to the test with success (no illness including COVID after various exposures). :)
MSA did a great job with the Advantage 900. It's definitely the clearest sounding elastomeric in the video. I feel like all the others reduce both volume and clarity, while the Advantage mostly just reduces volume slightly. I have one myself and it is so nice to have an elastomeric that you can easily communicate in. edit: I skipped over the GVS Elipse, that one sounds great too
GPS eclipse with no valves seems so much better than valved ones that seem to muffle the sound a lot. The best ones I've seen so far have been full face respirators with speech diaphragms. I've also found locally one half mask with speech diaphragm that is unfortunaly only average as a result. That is one reason I tend to pick up ffp3 instead of half mask if I assume I need to communicate with others (like shopping).
With the GVS masks that are source control, with no valves, there's nothing between your mouth and the filter. But the valved version has a baffle and a valve between your mouth and the filter, so speech is muffled more in the valve version. Unfortunately both the medium and large MSA advantage 900 half mask with speech diaphragm are a little bit too short for my 118 mm under the chin to nose bridge height, especially if I'm attempting to talk, which is why I bought the mask, because my jaw needs to be able to move. But if they fit you, the advantage 900 masks are good masks. Breathability of the p100 filters is okay, but not as easy breathing as my Dentec NXMD p100s.
@@gerardhughes Have you tried the large pillow MSA P100 filters? They might have lower resistance. They are not officially approved, but, I can't imagine why they'd be a problem.
Love your content! My nose bridge/face shape is very similar to yours so your reviews are very applicable to me. Would love to see some quarter-mask elastomeric (e.g., flo mask, envomask) testing in the future!
Thanks :-) I initially was looking forward to trying FloMask. However they now have language on the website warning people with "Roman" noses away from buying the masks, and also noting explicitly that they do not accept returns. So, at this point it seems that in my case, with my nose bridge it could be a complete waste of $90, even though it's a good mask for many people. :-( I would like to get my hands on the Breathe 2 mask, the new envo half mask, the air boss n100 mask, and the Honeywell RU8500x.
@@gerardhughes that's understandable (and unfortunate) about flo mask, I took the gamble and got one and am able to get a good seal on my high nose bridge (not fit tested however) but I certainly have to play around with it. I definitely look forward to seeing those other masks in action if you happen to get them!
Hey. Unrelated to the current video, but you answered my other questions about respirators, and you seem to be knowledgeable, so I figured I'd ask you here lol. Is the elipse really hard to breathe in? Like I know it's going to be hard to breathe out in relative to other elastomerics because of the filters. But even the in-breath seems pretty hard relative to something like my 3M 6200. Is that normal? Or is mine messed up lol. Thanks again.
I just checked my GVS Elipse Source control, and I can breathe through without too much trouble, but there is noticeable breathing resistance. I have the source control version that has no internal baffles - the filters are completely exposed on the inside of the mask. Other versions may have reduced airflow - but I don't know since I don't have them. Whether it is harder to breathe through than your 3M 6200 will depend on which filters you are using in the 3M. I find the 7093s to be a bit hard to breathe through. 3M now makes "advanced" P100 pancake filter, the 2291, that is supposed to have less breathing resistance. My easiest to breathe through source control mask with P100s is the Dentec. (I'm not fond of their N95s so I use the P100s). It's easier to breathe through than the 3M 7093s and the P100s I have for the MSA Advantage 900. Of course, the ElastoMaskPro N95 is way easier to breathe through than all of those. (The dentec N95s are pretty easy to breathe through, but at the cost of filtration - I'll be posting the comparative fit test in part two of the ElastoMaskPro video - I'm waiting on a small size mask to record some additional info). People debate how important breathing resistance is in a mask. For me I find I gravitate towards my easier to breathe through masks. The harder to breathe through masks make breathing an effort, which I'm not a fan of. Not so bad for a short stint, but annoying over longer periods, and something you may wish to slowly work your way up to as you would any other exercise if you do need to use masks with higher breathing resistance masks. I am seeing if I can get breathing resistance data on these masks from NIOSH since they have exact measurements as part of the test report for certification, but for reasons opaque to me they don't publish that data even though it would clearly be in the public interest for them to do so.
Unfortunately I do not. FloMask warn that FloMask does not fit Roman noses, so it is unlikely to fit me. Their warning also includes a reminder that FloMask is not returnable. Since it's not an inexpensive mask it doesn't seem like getting one makes financial sense.
this is why respirators are not an option for me; unless maybe for transports. People already have a hard time understanding me with an AURA; specially when I work in education settings.
