My Must-Have for Being Out with My Family this Season

This post contains affiliate links. All opinions are my own.

We live in NYC, and in the last 2 years we haven’t really gone anywhere. But before that we rode the subway or bus almost daily. While my oldest child has the option to bike to school, my daughter was going to have to get to school either the subway or the bus the two days a week she is scheduled to go to school. I bought a bunch of cloth masks, but with school starting, I panicked because I got nervous about taking public transportation with her. I’ve heard all the news reports saying the KN95 Particle Respirators, otherwise known as KN95 Masks, were the best masks non-medical professions should use, so I was beyond relieved when I got some KN95 Masks to try out.

If I was going to have to take my child on the subway or bus, I wanted to have the best mask possible for us to wear and that’s the KN95 Mask. This is my must-have for being out with my family this season.

By wearing a mask, I wanted to guarantee our safety and the safety of others around us. This isn’t the time to be selfish. And while the KN95 masks may not have the latest print or design, KN95 masks are vastly safer and are considered to be among the most protective masks available by the CDC and FDA. My brother-in-law, who is a dentist, always wears a KN95 Mask, as he feels that these are the safest.

Riding the Subway

So how was it taking public transportation? Honestly, some subway cars were empty and some were actually pretty full. No, it wasn’t like before Covid, but there were entirely too many people on two of the trains I was on, and some not even wearing masks.

This train was another F train and was entirely too packed, but yes, all people were wearing masks.

But am I comfortable riding public transportation again? No, not the subway. I would have to see it really empty and I am not sure that I can guarantee that. I’m actually pretty upset about it and I think I may have to either break my rule about not driving to pick up my daughter (her school is one exit from Manhattan) or I will stick to the MTA bus, which unfortunately makes the trip to her school 55 minutes, rather than the 35-40 minutes the subway takes.

But wearing the KN95 mask, I did feel safer. If I was able to control the way I can travel and wear a KN95 Mask, I would feel a lot more comfortable and the KN95 mask is my must-have for being out with my family this season.

KN95 Masks are Certified to Block 95% of Particles

However, more importantly than with a cute cloth mask — KN95 masks are certified to block 95% of particles and unlike cloth masks, water/droplets cannot pass through them.

And to get a little more science to throw at you – KN95 masks are rated to capture 95% of tiny particles (0.3 micron particles). For reference, a human hair is 70 microns in diameter while bacteria and viruses are between 0.2 microns and 3.0 microns in size.

Plus, unlike cloth and bandana masks, KN95s are NOISH and FDA cleared due to their Tri-layer Protection. Individual Hydrophilic, Filtering, and Hydrophobic layers offer superior protection that normal cloth masks can’t contend with. Find out more info here.

How to Put on a KN95 Mask

• Take mask out of plastic package
• Fit mask to the bridge of your nose
• Loop straps behind or ears
• Check the fit, make sure it is fitting correctly.

And while I don’t love it, we will be wearing masks for the foreseeable future, wouldn’t you want to wear the safest one you can?

And here’s another perk: KN95 masks are disposable but can safely be reused several times. However, cloth masks need to be washed every day (and most people unfortunately don’t do that, so the limited protection they offer can actually get worse over time.. I joke about how all I seem to do is wash masks, but I really do feel that the KN95’s, which are tested to filter 95% of particles from the wearers, are a better choice when I can make sure I have them on hand.

The KN95 mask is a must-have for being out with my family this season.

Additional Resources to Research Mask Use

For more info about the “Effectiveness of Cloth Masks for Protection Against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2” – go here.

Article from the Mayo Clinic: COVID-19: How much protection do face masks offer?

Buy here: https://amzn.to/3Ne8Qq6