RZ Mask


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Anyone using one of these? 
I just saw it being used on one of those paid promotion YouTube videos and thought it looked like a simple/comfortable dust mask. 
 
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Tried one; couldn’t get it adjusted to be comfortable. Wanted to like it, but it wasn’t happening- it was really hard on the top of my nose and no amount of adjusting could get it to work. Went back to my Elipse.


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I just got two of these the other day.  I leave one at a flip I am working on and another in the shop.  I also have a 3M mask but I rarely wore it because it wasn't handy.  Laziness on my part more than anything.  I keep my RZ mask in my pocket.  On Sunday I was cutting a few stair stringers out of PT and dust was going everywhere.  Had I not had my RZ mask I probably wouldn't have been wearing anything.  

The RZ mask probably doesnt work as well as one of those respirators but I actually use the RZ mask so it's better for me.  Like I said though, it's laziness on my part more than anything.  In the shop I was more prone to using the respirator because I was usually making a series of cuts.  Working on the flip, cutting is so intermittent that I would never wear the respirator.

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3 hours ago, Chestnut said:

It doesn't seem that they have obtained a NOISH approval for filtration. i wonder if the design just can't pass a fit test? Not saying it's bad but it has me wondering why they aren't targeting the OSHA crowd.

Their HQ is down in Burnsville.   Maybe stop by and ask them. :-)

I think the company started selling masks for motorsports, and OSHA probably never entered into the equation, but they've lately been marketing them to woodworkers and such.

 

 

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Thanks. If I'm cutting lots of timber, I'll wear a disposable one. Most of the time though, if it's a short cut, I'll think to myself that it won't matter. 

The ease of use is what I first saw with this one. No stretchy straps to fiddle with.

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For me the biggest problem is accommodating eye glasses.  I have blended bifocals and these very sensitive to the relative positions of your head, eye ball and eye glass lens.

I have the Eclipse mask and find it comfortable enough on its own, but it nudges the eye glasses up necessitating an awkward head position.  And if I don safety glasses these ride so high that their frame blocks my near field vision.  Sometimes I use the eclipse and wear a face shield.

I have a Trend Air shield which is what I wear when I am sanding without good dust collection.  But after an hour or so my neck needs a rest.

These RZ masks might fit better under eye glasses and might be worth trying on.  Particular considering that some filtering is better than no filtering.

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I think it's worth noting that if their filtration claims hold true they are equal or grater than a P/N100 filter they just don't have the cert to go with it. I assume that the cert might be difficult to get for fitment testing issues. Maybe they are working on it? I find it intersting that they say the filters are "tested" but never mention that they pass or what test they were "tested" against. Dang marketing departments gone wild again probably.

I'd like to try one of these honestly, but if I'm being fair i don't wear a dust mask as much as i used to now that i have a hepa cyclone and use mostly festool sanders.

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They say that the filters are good down to .1 micron, which is great, but they let 1% to 3% (depending on which filter) of the particles through. That's a lot of dust getting through. Add to that the leakage, which on a design like that is probably significant, and you end up breathing in a lot of very bad stuff.

For sure it's better than no protection at all, but like I said, if your gonna bother with a mask, why not go that extra little bit to know you're well protected. People forget that inhaling stuff like sub-micron dust is cumulative. When you wake up 30 years later with respiratory problems, it's already too late. Damage is done.

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2 hours ago, drzaius said:

They say that the filters are good down to .1 micron, which is great, but they let 1% to 3% (depending on which filter) of the particles through. That's a lot of dust getting through. Add to that the leakage, which on a design like that is probably significant, and you end up breathing in a lot of very bad stuff.

For sure it's better than no protection at all, but like I said, if your gonna bother with a mask, why not go that extra little bit to know you're well protected. People forget that inhaling stuff like sub-micron dust is cumulative. When you wake up 30 years later with respiratory problems, it's already too late. Damage is done.

That contradicts the information published. Some inhaled dust particles can cause Fibrosis some don't. For an overview http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/chemicals/lungs_dust.html.

I'm not saying don't worry about it, I am saying don't exaggerate and cause unnecessary fear. If dust was cumulative all of my family that farmed would have dropped dead at 40.

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3 hours ago, Chestnut said:

I'm not saying don't worry about it, I am saying don't exaggerate and cause unnecessary fear.

The lungs have mechanisms for clearing dust, but the really small stuff gets down deep in the lung where there are no cilia to clear it & there it stays to cause mischief. Woodworking in particular generates quantities of the sub-micron dust that is so dangerous.

But you are right in that I went off sounding alarmist with my last comment. We live in a world that is dusty & we survive it. My point was that if one is going to go to the bother of using protection, then it might as well be the good stuff.

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12 hours ago, drzaius said:

The lungs have mechanisms for clearing dust, but the really small stuff gets down deep in the lung where there are no cilia to clear it & there it stays to cause mischief. Woodworking in particular generates quantities of the sub-micron dust that is so dangerous.

But you are right in that I went off sounding alarmist with my last comment. We live in a world that is dusty & we survive it. My point was that if one is going to go to the bother of using protection, then it might as well be the good stuff.

Beyond the Cillia is macrophages and proteins that work to remove the small dust particles. There also is some likely hood of absorption as a means of removal. sub 1 um particles are small and could be carried away from the lungs other ways. I just find it hard to believe that woodworking is worse for your health than say smoking.

 

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1 hour ago, Chestnut said:

Beyond the Cillia is macrophages and proteins that work to remove the small dust particles. There also is some likely hood of absorption as a means of removal. sub 1 um particles are small and could be carried away from the lungs other ways. I just find it hard to believe that woodworking is worse for your health than say smoking.

 

Come on! Now your putting things in perspective B)

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On ‎5‎/‎3‎/‎2018 at 8:07 AM, Chestnut said:

Beyond the Cillia is macrophages and proteins that work to remove the small dust particles. There also is some likely hood of absorption as a means of removal. sub 1 um particles are small and could be carried away from the lungs other ways. I just find it hard to believe that woodworking is worse for your health than say smoking.

 

True to an extent, but the smallest particles are the most worrisome.  So, if the mask is only filtering out the larger 99% then it may make you feel like you're breathing cleaner air, but it is only protecting you from nuisance particles and not actually making you safer.  If I'm wearing a mask I am hoping to prevent my macrophages from presenting anything to my b cells and making me develop an allergy.  The reason smoking is so bad for you is that it paralyzes the cilia (which normal wood dust would not do) and then fine smoke/dust you breath in. 

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56 minutes ago, Gilgaron said:

True to an extent, but the smallest particles are the most worrisome.  So, if the mask is only filtering out the larger 99% then it may make you feel like you're breathing cleaner air, but it is only protecting you from nuisance particles and not actually making you safer.  If I'm wearing a mask I am hoping to prevent my macrophages from presenting anything to my b cells and making me develop an allergy.  The reason smoking is so bad for you is that it paralyzes the cilia (which normal wood dust would not do) and then fine smoke/dust you breath in. 

I keep forgetting to ask my mom about this. She went to respiratory school and works with the respiratory system for a living. I've asked her before about the dust and her response always was "being overweight and smoking are the worst thing you can do to your respiratory system" but maybe I'll get her to harass a doctor about it.

I digress i can't remember if i mentioned that the site claims one of the filters removes 99.9% of sub 0.1um particles. That stat is exceeding  hepa and NOISH for N100. It is also worth noting that medical grade masks are N95 so only 95% effective on a 0.3um particle.

If it's a debate between wearing a mask or not i still think 95% filtration is better than 0% filtration. Heck even 50% is better than nothing.

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