Narrowing It Down: Buying a "Serious" Mask?

Because air pollution is becoming a looming and obvious problem now across the world, some folks have seen an opportunity to market air pollution masks that not only fit well and create the desired seal around the mouth and nose, but also masks that look cool. Marketing research shows the younger generation is well aware of the pollution issue. So they'll be buying these masks. But this doesn't mean some young whipper-snapper is willingly going to don a dorky duffel bag so she can breathe some clean air. The mask has to look cool. Come now to the rescue two contenders in the serious air pollution mask market: Respro and Vogmask.

Note: In this discussion, a "serious" mask means a somewhat more permanent air pollution mask. A mask that one won't feel inclined to throw away like the many papery surgical masks available in convenience or drug stores. Some high-quality air filtration masks can be had from well recognized brands such as 3M. But these are the kind you use in industrial, chemical, and high-dust environments that quickly degrade the mask, and will thus soon be thrown away.

Which Is Better: Respro or Vogmask?

I wear a mask when I go for bicycle rides for exercise or when I ride my scooter. Because I wanted to know what both the Respro and Vogmask brands had to offer. In the end, I'm going with Respro. Read below for why I made this choice.

Cost

I bought both online as they don't seem to be available where I live, here in Taiwan. Respro SporstSta (Large Black): (USD $53 including shipping) bought online, mailed from the UK. Arrived without incident within a week. No import tax paid. Vogmask C2v (Large Black): (USD $50 including shipping) bought online, shipped via UPS from the US. Arrived in about 10 days, including getting stuck in Taiwan customs because it was a product they hadn't seen before. They wanted to know whether it was being used for business purposes. No import tax paid.

Material Choice

Respro: The Respro's one-piece main body includes a thick, yet soft, flat neck strap that uses a generously large velcro patch in the back to secure it around your neck. This patch allows for a lot of adjustment in the tension with which you secure the mask to your head. More on adjustment later. The material from which the main body is made is stretchable foamed neoprene, like the material from which rubberized deep water diving suits are made, yet not quite so thick. Definitelyt durable, yet not overly industrial. A great balance of cool looks and long-lasting materials selection.

Vogmask: Not that this is all bad, but the Vogmask takes a more minimalist approach to materials sourcing. If you don't want something as thick and heavy-duty as the Respro, then the Vogmask is for you. But, keep in mind all the other factors discussed below. The mask is secured to your head by two elastic bands with limited stretch space that wrap around the back of both ears. So, you'll need at least two ears to wear this mask. Depending on how far back your ears are located on your head, the elastic bands may pull a ittle hard on your ears, thus causing them to bend forward and make you look like a dork. Read on to see another reason why ear bending is not good for cyclists and motorbike riders.

Overall Comfort

While both designs fit fairly well, I'm leaning more towards the Respro here because it's more flexible.

Respro: The Respro countours to your face, and the tightness can be adjusted with the Velcro patch behind the neck that secures the right and left mask flaps. One drawback to the Respro is that the upper part of the mask rides a little high, thus interfering with glasses (if you wear glasses). But on the other hand, the Vogmask suffers the same design issue also.

Vogmask: While the Vogmask fits well enough, the tightness is not adjustable. While the two ear loops that hook behind your ears are stretchable, if you order a mask that's too small, you're stuck with a mask that fits too tightly. Even if the loops do fit okay, you run the risk of your ears bending forward, which for some people is unacceptable as it may make you look like a geek. Considering that Vogmask seems to be marketing to a younger generation that wants to look cool in a mask, looking like a dork is serious matter.

Ear Displacement

Ear displacement is a fancy way of saying whether a mask bends your ears when you wear it. Ear bending.

Respro: Nope, pretty much no ear bending with this mask.

Vogmask: Yep, there be ear displacement. Once installed on your head, the Vogmask ear straps go behind the ears with some tension, and thus bend the ears forward slightly. In my case, this is not a case of a bad fit, as I bought the largest Vogmask size available. While having your lobes bent a little forward is usually not a big deal, for me it matters. It makes wearing this mask with my motorcycle helmet feel uncomfortable. The helmet is tight enough as it is. So having my ears protrude outward makes wearing this mask under my helmet almost unbearable. This mask won't go well with people who ride scooters and motorcycles, and perhaps bicycles.

Nose Fit / Facial Air Seal

This is perhaps the most important consideration. If the mask you buy doesn't fit well, then it's not protecting you from pollution. So what's the point?

Respro: The nose fit is adjustable using a really broad aluminum band that arcs across the top of your sniffer. The only negative comment about this silver-colored metal band is that it's riveted to the outside of the mask, and it sticks out like a sore thumb on my black mask. If my mask were a lighter color, or silver-ish, it would blend in a lot better. The way I remedied the silver metal band was to apply some black electrician's tape over the band, and now it's barely visible from a distance against the black fabric of my mask. But, I gotta say this band is the perfect mix of flexible yet firm, whereas the band on the Vogmask flexes too easily and thus may compromise the pollution seal. Elsewhere, the seal on the Respro is snug and complete against my face because its material bends so easily. I feel 100% confident the air seal is there for me, keeping that pollution out of my lungs.

Vogmask: Like the Respro, the Vogmask uses a metal band to keep the mask contoured against the bridge of your nose. As a plus, this metal band resides hidden behind the cloth construction of the mask. It doesn't stick out like a sore thumb like on the Respro. But the band is neither broad nor thick, and thus bends easily. I don't feel it's keeping the face seal intact, and thus I'm not sure whether my lungs are being protected from the dirt in the air due to a bad facial seal. Also, because the exhaust valves on this mask don't allow the air to escape the mask so easily when exhaling, some of this air escapes from the top of the mask, thus causing my glasses to fog up. The escaping air cannot be remedied, and might even cause the metal band to bend somewhat and thus compromise the air seal. Having my glasses fog up from this escaping breath can be visibility hazard for guys like me who ride a motorcycle or a bicycle. In this respect, Vogmask is not the best choice if you wear glasses. Again, also consider the helmet factor with your ears poking out due to tight earbands on the Vogmask.

Adjustability

Respro: The Respro is secured to your neck with two stretchable neck flaps running below the ears on either side of your head. They fasten together behind your neck very securely with a generous patch of Velcro. This Velcro allows for loads of adjustment for fit and tightness.

Vogmask: Aside from being able to order the mask in different sizes, and tightening the wimpy metal band in the nose piece, the Vogmask is pretty much not adjustable.

Head Positioning

"Head positioning" refers to whether it helps to hold your head in a certain position for the mask to work well.

Respro: Yes, head positioning does matter with the Respro. Generally the mask is designed to fit your head as you hold it in one position. If you look up or down, you can expect the tightness to vary. Due to the way the neck strap is positioned, if you turn your head upwards, the mask tightens on your face. If you look downward, the mask loosens slightly. If you move your head enough, the mask can go from very tight to somewhat loose. This kind of thing matters, say, if you're riding a street bike. While your body is leaned forward, your head is cranked upward to look at the rode. Same goes for a "crotch rocket" style racing street motorcycle. Not to fear, just adjust the velcro fastener in the back of your neck for the optimal fit.

Vogmask: As one good point to the Vogmask, head positioning only slightly affects the fit of the mask on your face.

Disposability

This refers to whether the mask is meant to be disposable.

Respro: The folks at Respro know eventually the filter element within the mask will either wear out or just get so dirty that it needs replacing. With this in mind, the filter element can be removed, thrown away, and then replaced with a fresh element. You get to keep the main body of the mask. If the element gets dirty, heck, you could probably just hand wash it and reinstall it to stretch out its lifetime.

Vogmask: The filter element and the mask body are sewn together as one piece. Once the element gets too dirty and/or wears out, the entire mask was meant to be thrown away. And then you have a buy a whole new mask.

Valve Flow

Both of the Respro and Vogmask masks I bought came with valves that are supposed to allow your breath to leave easily when exhaling.

Respro: Seals shut when inhaling. Opens easily to allow exhaled air to escape the mask freely.

Vogmask: The valves are a definite fail on the Vogmask. These valves aren't large enough to allow exhaled air to escape fast enough, even under normal (resting) breathing conditions. If you're exercising, it's even worse. Exhaled air escapes through the sides of the face seal. While this is OK for some folks, as I've mentioned previously, this escape may eventually bend the Vogmask's not-so-stiff metal nose clamp, thus causing it to distort and possibly lose a good seal on your face. Also, the Vogmask flexes visibly while you breathe. Some folks might not like this - especially if they're trying to go for a "cold-and-dead" look like Darth Vader.

Respiratory Force

This refers to how much force is required to draw air through the mask into your lungs.

Respro: Unnoticeable. Little to no effort needed to inhale and exhale. Very comfortable.

Vogmask: While it does not require any over-exertion at rest, the effort needed to draw a breath is noticeable.When using the mask during exercise, I felt oxygen flow was insufficient, and I removed my Vogmask.

Warmth / Coolness

This refers to the overall sense of warmth or coolness one feels while wearing the mask. In a warm climate, of course you want a cooler mask. In a cold climate, it's nice to have a mask that helps keep your face toasty.

Respro: The Respro mask is built a little on the heavy-duty side. What's good about this is it will help keep your face warm in cooler climes. As minus for people like me living in the tropics, having to wear a slightly heavy mask kind of sucks.

Vogmask: This mask will help somewhat in keeping warm in cooler climes. Because it is built of lighter materials, it will help keep your face cooler in a warm climate.

Conclusion

For overall durability and function (pollution protection), go with Respro. For a cooler-looking, some questionably functional and fashionably form-fitting look, go Vogmask. The version of the Respro I ordered has a slightly heavier, more industrial feel to it. But it enjoys a sleek cool look nevertheless. One might even be able to use it as a lightweight face warmer for downhill skiing! Thankfully Respro offers lighter, less industrial masks as a part of an overall really large range of choices on their website. The Vogmask seems to have been made more as a fashion statement, than as a functional health-preserving tool. While the Vogmask does come in various sizes, its non-adjustable ear loops do apply some yank to my ears. And this achieves a somewhat big-eared dork look. As a plus, the Vogmask is lighter and looks cool. As a minus, one's confidence in its facial seal might seem questionable - for me that is the most important consideration

My Choice: Respro

Respro is durable, eco-friendly (using a replaceable filter element), little to no effort to breathe both in and out, and a rock-solid facial seal that I know will keep the dusties out. And it looks cool. The last time I looked, Respro had loads of design and color choices for those who are sensitive for what they buy on the fashion-conscious side. Both durable and cool-looking, Respro is the better balance between fashion and function. Definitely worth the USD $53 I paid for it. The package arrived without delay from England via the UK international mail. Vogmask is lightweight, and given that it takes some force to both breathe in and out (especially if exercising), the mask flexes visibly, which to me seems to give it a somewhat cheesy and not-so-durable feel. I feel this mask is best for use while in a somewhat rested state, like walking to work but definitely not for accelerated activities like sports or exercise. The feel it leaves me with is that it's merely a notch or two above those paper-element masks one can buy in a store - not worth the USD $50 I paid for it. On the bright side, Vogmask also does offer a range of fashionable choices. I feel this mask is more appropriate for a metro hepcat who wants to look cool while making it clear the intent is to breathe some clean air. My package arrived from the US within a week via FedEx and was delayed in customs because the customs folks didn't recognize what is was for. I had to explain away as a clothing item for one's face.

NOTICE: This review is a personal opinion. It is NOT a paid professional endorsement, and is based upon the subjective observations of a single user and his experience with two different products that might be designed for entirely different purposes. If you disagree with what's written here, that's okay.