Today, Thursday July 30th 2020, is day 131 of the shelter in place order in Illinois due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That is more than one third of a year social distancing and only going out for essential services.
I have been helping out my brother-in-law with some things in his apartments in the last couple of months. These dwellings are inhabited with people of course, so a face covering is required.
My wonderful Auntie Margaret made some custom fashion masks for me, my wife, and stepdaughters. They are great for regular use! However, carrying heavy tools and objects, swinging sledge hammers, etc in hot, humid apartments causes me to sweat. So much, in fact, that my dual-layer cotton mask with a filter sandwiched in the middle became soaked with sweat, sometimes after only 20 minutes or so. As you may have experienced, a wet mask is too difficult to breathe through and has to be removed, leaving me with no face covering at all.
I needed something breathable, and I was not comfortable with the level of coverage a bandana provides. I found these online and I love them:
These neck gaiters serve multiple purposes:
- Obviously, a breathable face covering that is always right there around my neck – all I have to do is pull it up over my face!
- Rinse it with cold water and wring it out and put it back on my neck to cool off
- Pull the back of the mask up over my ears and secure it with my hat. This protects my neck and ears from getting burned in the hot sun.
- Pull up the front to cover my face, then pull up the back all the way over my head onto my forehead. Try it. Makes an excellent ninja mask…
Hoy Manor 