I have a beard. A surgical mask fits only lightly over it, floating a half inch away from my face. That's better than nothing I suppose, but it really is only filtering big droplets. All the air is going in and out that half inch.
An N95, with it's rigid faceplate and strong rubber bands pressing it against my face, crushes the beard and makes breathing more difficult so I can tell some air is being filtered. I'm not getting anywhere near the protection the n95 is designed to provide, it's still much better than what the surgical mask does, which is almost nothing. And I don't use the valve kind, so any filtering the n95 is doing, it's doing it in both directions.
The surgical mask with a beard is kind of like walking around with my hand held a half inch away from my face.
I have a beard. A surgical mask fits only lightly over it, floating a half inch away from my face. That's better than nothing I suppose, but it really is only filtering big droplets. All the air is going in and out that half inch.
An N95, with it's rigid faceplate and strong rubber bands pressing it against my face, crushes the beard and makes breathing more difficult so I can tell some air is being filtered. I'm not getting anywhere near the protection the n95 is designed to provide, it's still much better than what the surgical mask does, which is almost nothing. And I don't use the valve kind, so any filtering the n95 is doing, it's doing it in both directions.
The surgical mask with a beard is kind of like walking around with my hand held a half inch away from my face.