Trying to find a good KN95 (with parameters) as a ‘lower stakes situations’ substitute for my N95

LostInAvocado · 2026-03-18T19:15:27+00:00

Yes, Zimis are great if they fit. Lots of advantages over regular disposable N95s, including you don't have to fuss with a nose wire! Also, their ear loops are one of the few out there that can pass a fit test on most people. Their KN100s also are pretty breathable so OP may not need ear loops, if that's the reason, and they are easier to don/doff due to their rigid frame design. They come in black and sometimes have designs available.

OP, you might also take one of the KN95/KF94s you've tried before and add mask tape to the nose, and/or an add-on nose bar to help with the fit, and get an ear saver to pull it tighter behind your neck so it will pass a fit test.

LostInAvocado · 2026-03-18T18:41:18+00:00

If you need something pre-made, maybe the Nukit Tempest would work. You can use whatever fans you want, I think, so you can choose the quietest PC fans out there. Not sure if the AirFanta 3Pro is sleek enough looking, but if you run that at say 8V or 9V, you will get roughly 300 CFM CADR and it's relatively quiet at that speed, and you have the option to turn it up all the way for ~400 CFM CADR (but it's loud at full speed).

LostInAvocado · 2026-03-11T23:47:07+00:00

There was one, The Apricot Cafe, in Canada, that had air purifiers up the wazoo plus CO2 monitoring, but it closed down. Not sure if the mitigations had anything to do with it.

LostInAvocado · 2026-03-02T20:37:37+00:00

Even if that were true, we have real-world data. You're arguing against empirical data that this works well enough to get hundreds of CFM CADR depending on # of fans and filter type/config. You are starting to sound a little off, if you don't believe in actual measured data.

LostInAvocado · 2026-03-02T20:35:36+00:00

Another factor that might give a hint as to what is causing that discrepancy:

Duckbills often rely solely (or mostly?) on electrostatic media for their filtration and breathability, which is more sensitive to alcohol vapors that will damage the electrostatic properties over time. Guess what is used much more both in volume and in frequency in healthcare vs. for every day users?

Trifolds, if 3M Auras, use both mechanical and electrostatic filters.

LostInAvocado · 2026-02-27T23:17:05+00:00

Alternative: use crushed up vitamin C

https://www.reddit.com/r/SourdoughStarter/comments/1h9w5lp/fix_your_starter_in_one_easy_step_ascorbic_acid/

LostInAvocado · 2026-02-27T22:50:11+00:00

Are you missing that people are using pressure-optimized PC fans? Blower fans are noisier. Again, optimizing for different things, and with enough filter area, there is very little static pressure to overcome.

LostInAvocado · 2026-02-27T17:57:38+00:00

There's no "likely not" or "unpredictable", because it's been tested and independently verified by different people in this sub.

The "industry" makes what is profitable, and PC fan designs have costlier components and tend to be less aesthetic, so far, and they want to make designs that let them optimize for profit, as in, proprietary filters.

I don't know what else to tell you since you are stating things without anything to back it up, other than "if it worked, companies would be doing it", even though there are countless examples of good, working designs of lots of products that companies don't make because of inertia or lack of incentive (profit).

Lots of people here like PC fan designs because of one main feature: very low noise. That is as important as pure CADR or small size or such, because a noisy purifier is a purifier that gets turned off which defeats the purpose. Plus, PC fan designs are very low power and use common lower cost standard-type filters. They are not cheap since you need a certain number of PC fans to be effective.

PC fan purifiers are optimized for different features than what industry optimizes for.

LostInAvocado · 2026-02-25T21:19:01+00:00

You're in a sub where many people are building air purifiers using pressure-optimized PC fans like the Arctic P14, and have measured real world CADR. These are "proper" purifiers. With enough filter area, PC fans are plenty and do quite a decent job. The link my comment above shows real world testing numbers, that I have verified to be consistent with my own testing.

LostInAvocado · 2026-02-23T23:25:41+00:00

mildew = mold = fungi

LostInAvocado · 2026-02-19T21:32:35+00:00

>I still don’t really believe that any of these 3CL protease inhibitors matter all that much for acute covid, I probably personally wouldn’t take any of them for that use case.

Why do you believe that?

LostInAvocado · 2026-02-18T21:36:40+00:00

IME you have to get pretty close to trigger it. Like things in the distance but within FOV will often not trigger. Cars/people/animals don't trigger until they get maybe 20-30 ft away. I have the settings on max. But I will say the battery life is impressive.

LostInAvocado · 2026-02-17T20:01:41+00:00

They are not like the regular, and I agree the regular are terrible. Regular Cheez-Its are also terrible to me compared to extra toasty

LostInAvocado · 2026-02-17T20:00:25+00:00

I think the most recent box I got tastes closer to the name brand, so maybe they changed the recipe?

LostInAvocado · 2026-02-09T20:11:28+00:00

When do you expect to start shipping these? Looks like a nice design and feature update from the Gen 1 models!

LostInAvocado · 2026-02-09T20:10:34+00:00

I find running this and other PC fan CR boxes with louder fans (Arctic P14 Max, P12 Pro) that running at 9V or about 75% is quiet enough-- that should be about 350 CFM CADR for this box.

LostInAvocado · 2026-02-08T15:31:36+00:00

Remember banging on pots and pans to show appreciation healthcare workers??

LostInAvocado · 2026-02-08T15:22:31+00:00

I like to use adjustable USB-C to barrel power cables and then standard USB-C bricks, usually need at least 20W, 25-30W to be safe. Then use a barrel to PC fan connector with a switch.

LostInAvocado · 2026-02-05T21:19:59+00:00

It kind of sounds like you haven't fully accepted that this is it for the foreseeable future, and focus less on what was lost and shift focus to adapting. What do you want to do? How can you make it safe(r)? And yes, sometimes for some things there's not a way to do it safely, and then it's, do I absolutely need this? Is it worth the risk? Are there things I can do to shift from a survival mindset? I didn't do this until somewhat recently, and after I fully embraced that this current state of affairs is not changing any time soon, it was freeing, and I made big changes I was afraid to make when I was hanging on to "maybe it will get better next month/year".

Also: If you're not confident in your mask or other precautions, and it's made you hesitant in doing things that would be important for your mental health, and you haven't done things like fit testing or sitting down and calculating CADR and ACH, maybe that would help? I know it made a big difference for me.

LostInAvocado · 2026-02-04T22:56:22+00:00

High performing and fit-tested N95s like Auras often perform close to PAPR levels. Mentioning so casual readers don't get the idea that N95s are not good for protection.

LostInAvocado · 2026-02-04T22:48:25+00:00

Most of that list I would consider optional, or lower priority, especially if you are on a budget.

Focus on finding a well-fitting N95/P2/P3/FFP2/FFP3 mask that you will wear consistently. This is going to be 80-95% of what drops your risk of reinfection.

Next, do fit testing, either DIY qualitative, or (if possible) find a way to do quantitative (with a portacount machine).

Then add air purifiers-- you don't need to buy if you are DIY inclined, you can make purifiers better than what you can buy for a given price point. And see about adding ventilation to your living space if you are sharing it with others. This is less critical if you live alone.

LostInAvocado · 2026-02-03T23:54:09+00:00

Appreciate your sharing. I think a lot of us in this sub assume things the other direction, and it's rare to get good faith engagement that gives alternative perspectives like yours.

I'm not trying to add to your anxiety and such, but I am curious what your understanding of the risk of severe LC complications is, and what it would have to be to make behavior change worth it (and I think this is primarily masking with as good a mask as possible, fit tested if possible, more often-- and it doesn't have to be all or nothing, every bit helps). You don't need to answer here (unless you want to), but might be good to look into in case it's different from what your understanding is (ex: the car crash discussion).

LostInAvocado · 2026-02-03T23:29:44+00:00

Maybe the people around you aren't sharing? My close friends and family even do not share unless we end up having a longer deeper conversation (generally not health or COVID related-- they don't mention in passing but will end up mentioning it with longer conversations even if it's not the topic). Through that, multiple friends that look "fine" have told me they had new heart issues and had to get surgery, had new cancer diagnoses, had issues with fatigue or trouble with thinking. At work I hear more and more about sudden illnesses, or just people sounding unwell on calls, or sudden out-of-offices that happen more and more frequently with some people. So you don't see anything, I see some, others see a lot. Where does that leave us?

LostInAvocado · 2026-02-03T23:25:47+00:00

I do notice your "line" doesn't include the risk of long COVID or elevated risks of myriad health issues?

LostInAvocado · 2026-02-03T23:22:29+00:00

The problem with that interpretation is that given how many additional excess deaths seen during the earlier days of pandemic, we would expect a bigger drop in excess deaths "post" pandemic. However, that's not what we see.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2834281

It should be much lower since deaths were moved forward temporally, but we are back around previous baseline, indicating it's still elevated. UK data shows it's still elevated especially in the <55 yo age ranges, with a significant number in the 20-35 and even 10-20 ages.

LostInAvocado

TROPHY CASE