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argenbar t1_j3f7lne wrote

This study found neck gaiters were about 47% effective at source control (stopping you making someone else sick). While they didn't look at it, if it was well sealed around the nose it would probably be similarly effective for personal protection. A sealed n95 is going to be 95%+ effective, and wearing no mask at all will be 0% effective. So a neck gaiter is going to better than nothing, but it's not a substitute for a n95 (or even a surgical mask) in risky situations e.g. close quarters, poorly ventilated spaces (busses, bathrooms) etc. Outside, ventilation is much much better, so it probably doesn't matter as much what you wear.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9345365/

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Lokarin OP t1_j3fffxv wrote

Neat.

I notice most the articles are about thin spandex gaiters, which I can imagine doesn't block much; I had thick wooly gaiters in mind (the winter kind)

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Something else of note, I found it a lot easier to wear a mask under a gaiter than just wearing the mask... the mask would always slide around.

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xanthraxoid t1_j3hfj60 wrote

It's really important to remember that any face covering (gaiter, N95 mask, whatever) will only filter air that goes through it - any air that goes around it is essentially unfiltered, so a vinyl coating that makes it mostly non-porous would make it pretty useless...

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pspahn t1_j3fg2nq wrote

I also recall reading a study about adding a simple solution of table salt and water to fabrics that improves effectiveness. Not sure if I'll be able to find it before someone else.

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xanthraxoid t1_j3hflwd wrote

> it would probably be similarly effective for personal protection.

Unlikely. The virus containing moisture particles are pretty large and easy to catch when you exhale them, but they rapidly dry out and become very small - small enough to make catching them much harder.

I would assume that a neck gaiter would be very much like a face mask on that front, though obviously much less effective because of not being designed / tested for the purpose.

More info here - I recommend having sci-hub to hand, too.

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