For decades I've always had the type of Mask with straps that go behind the head (used mostly for keeping out Dust). Besides being uncomfortable it's impossible to put on without touching the mask itself.

I recently got some with straps that go around the ears... what a difference!!
Easier to put on and take off just by handling the straps - and much more comfortable to wear.

I wish I could find some of those, I'm still using the few dirty work masks I had left when this all started

Found some on Amazon and they supposedly will arrive in 2-3 weeks

The ironic thing is that those products from Amazon and others, most likely came from the country that deliberately spread the virus around the world, when they knew what they had done to themselves. That makes them guilty of bio-terrorism in my book! If there ever was a time for "Buy American" or "Buy Non-Communist Chinese", it's now!
Joe

Yes, the surgical style masks that we receive (at work) are from China. It seems like they have the market saturation near 100% on them. Yes, these are the over the ear type, not the construction dust type.

Yes, the ear type are more comfortable then the 'dust' style. N-95 by 3M and USA made I think.

Which are better protection? That is a debate. It has been whatever you can get is OK, or better than nothing.

Hope that the light at the end of this tunnel is close, and all stay safe.

I needed a couple of things for some projects I was planning and ordered online from Lowes last nite. I got an email early this morning saying my order was ready for pickup.

I parked in front, called the order desk and they brought it out and put it in my car within 5 min.
Easy Peasy!

The guy wouldn't even take a tip...

Thumbs up to Lowes for making things easier in the crisis!

Yes, there are some great people taking care of us, and a few that go the extra step. Hats off to them.
I had a similar pickup at Staples last week that was flawless.

Also, a thank you to Costco for the organized crowd control, sanitizing the carts, and the senior hours. This is the location by my home in Brick. And no, there was no TP last time I was there.

From what I was reading in the local news paper some of our local nurses were saying that the style that go behind the ears can irritate that area if you wear it too long (they are on 12 hour shifts and masked more than normal).

They are sewing buttons on their head caps and hooking the straps to the buttons. If I had to wear one of those masks for a long period of time, I'd try sewing buttons on the sides of a baseball cap and using them as the anchor points which should work about the same the the nurses head cap.

Apparently the nurses here heard about this idea from a hospital in Spain where they were the first to try fastening to buttons on their head covering.

This is amazing! Thank you very much for giving a detailed response her in this thread. This will be a great help when I discuss with the local here.

If possible it's been even more grueling for me (since only a handful of people near me have comparable intelligence; leaving me with very few companions, who are mostly already working flat-out just to fix the endless problems created by the untelligent).

The best I can hope for is that more people will develop sympathy for the isolated...