My god, you had two friends who lived to be 500 years old? Smokers or not, that's doing pretty well I'd say!

My point is that it's impractical to buy enough masks to last something like the Spanish Flu. That lasted from 1918-1920. Compared to that, trying to have enough masks to last through a common cold season is small potatoes, but still impractical for your average person to stock up enough masks for.

Oh dear! Oops!

Please amend to read "fifties"

I use the the N95 almost on a daily basis. It cut the instances of family illness more than in half. While i have 2 or 3 types available to me, I prefer one particular style to 'have on me'. The name everyone uses to describe it is the 'duck bill' mask. Almost all hospitals have them. They are great because they pack flat and I can carry several without really noticing them there.

Interesting experience. When are you wearing the N95? At work? Just around the house?

Reducing your colds/flus is great. I'm glad to see the success you guys have had. Unfortunately, in a deadly pandemic, it's that "other half" that could still kill you.

I don't think anyone could ever really know for sure, but I'm curious how the N95 seems to protect your family? I wonder if it's the actual air filtration, or does it simply reduce how often you touch your mouth/nose? It would be interesting to experiment and see if using even just a simple surgical procedure mask has the same effect for your family. If it does, they're certainly way cheaper than buying N95's.

LOL, yeah, those duck bill N95's are the cat's meow, fashion-wise. One of the models I have on hand is a box of the 3M 9210/37021. They also fold flat. Instead of the duck bill, they look like ... the Optimus Prime-look from the Transformers movies come to mind, LOL. It's like this smooth, flat surface across your face.