For a long time, there has been a hunt to find good, high-quality black respirators. While the 3M Aura series is well respected due to its great average fit, nothing has come anywhere near the same performance in black. In fact, until recently, the only black masks and respirators that were easily found were standard KF94/KN95s with earloops that tend to fit poorly. Luckily, there seem to be more options on the market than ever before!
According to ResTestThePlanet, which aggregates fit factors from a range of contributors, the current best-performing black respirator is the HYX1002. While the fit is, as always, very individual, the HYX1002 has performed well in regards to fit on the current five contributors. I haven’t yet had the chance to try the respirator myself, but this is promising. Too bad it’s so hard to get your hands on the respirator!
Today, another option has hit the market: the CSA N99 CAN99 Surgical Respirator. Released by the Canadian company Vitacore, this respirator is a black version of its popular Aura-inspired CAN99 line. While I also haven’t tried this respirator, many people say it fits very well and is breathable. However, ResTestThePlanet results for the white version (which I believe is exactly the same outside of the colour) are far poorer and indicate a significantly worse fit than the HYX1002 on the subjects who tested it.
Since fit is so individual, I don’t want to make any broad recommendations here. However, if you are looking for a black respirator or are already a fan of the original CAN99 respirator, it could be worth checking out this new model from Vitacore. Either way, seeing more black respirators hitting the market is great.
Once the respirator has been tried by a few more people, I’m looking forward to hearing some opinions on how it feels and also (hopefully) some fit test results! Have you tried the respirator? What do you think of it?