Thanks for all the comments. I'll make a few more of my own. I understood from the early official pronouncements (basically many repeated news stories of health officials' and government officials' declarations on the matter) that cloth masks are meant to keep your infection off of others, and that they do little to filter out others infection from you. I've been acting on the assumption that this is true; iow, I put on mask for others; to protect myself, I keep my distance from others, wash hands, etc.
I rode today, mildly, and used my mask more than I have before because of the number of pedestrians on the bosque routes. My mask (in this case; I have others) is one shaped to cover the nose, with wire stiffener over nose, made from 2 layers of thin cloth. When I wear it as designed, that is close to face and about 1/2" above nose and ~1/2" below chin, each breath, even when standing still, flattens cloth against nostrils or mouth, and each breath clouds glasses. My other masks do the same. On today's ride, I set it as firmly as I could behind ears, then pulled it down so it was below nose but over mouth: this fixed the clouding, and let me breath freely during modest exertion, but even a slight increase in exertion -- sand patch, turn into wind -- had the cloth flattening against my mouth (again, nose free). I could fix this by jutting my jaw to push mask away. Both of the 2 masks with "behind the ear" loop design (the other ties behind head) tend to disengage from ears when you pull them down; at least on my head. Upshot: I will continue to use a mask for others, when in the presence of others; I will devise some way of keeping the loops behind ears when mask is pulled down below nose -- probably by attaching elastic to the ear loops to strap everything behind my head; and I will keep the mask at half-mast or even below chin when solo, but pull it up quickly when in others' presence. I believe there may be good reasons for masks. I am also quite open to the possibility that they're not worth shit. From what I read, the weight is equal on both sides of the scale, and there is more than ample evidence of well-meaning officials causing upheaval in their attempts to preserve the social order (Nisei internment during WWII, etc.). But I'll give officialdom the benefit of the doubt; and I will continue to accommodate others, assuming they will be more at ease if when I am nearby I am in a mask. Who knows, perhaps others wearing masks is the reason I'm not sick myself. The mask question is really very much like the helmet question, but I don't indulge others' preferences by wearing a helmet unless I ride with a group that demands them (this is rarely). On Mon, Nov 23, 2020 at 3:10 PM Patrick Moore <bertin...@gmail.com> wrote: > Can anyone suggest one, preferably one that is easy on/off, or at least > easy to slip down when solitary and up when in public? I've been using > basic cloth masks and (1) they're suffocating under any exertion, (2) they > fog my shades, (3) the ear loops detach easily from your ears, so slipping > them down often pulls them off. > > I am quite prepared to learn that the entire official protocol for > infection avoidance is bunkum, and I am heartily disposed to believe that > my political leaders are both inept and corrupt, or at least driven > principally by self interest, but the situation is serious enough that I am > willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and wear masks around others, > especially since some others seem panicky if you don't. > > Thanks. > > -- > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > Patrick Moore > Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum > > -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Patrick Moore Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CALuTfgsPQ9sfOkA4cNJwHGDZoyARvepGPA5qmrTfkbeOmGMEmg%40mail.gmail.com.
