Armbrust KN95 GB2626-2019
Overall Result
Filtration
Breathability
Standard
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Review
Video Transcript
Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the place we are testing every single mask in the world, including something I am very excited to announce because we've been working on this for a month or two or three. I don't even know. But the very first USA-made KN95.That's right, guys. Here's the deal. I have been testing a lot of masks. I don't know if you've noticed the channel, but I've tested a lot of masks here. And a lot of times, I test KN95s. And when I test KN95s, the thing that kills me is that so many times, they're not following the simplest instructions that the KN95 standard has. And I was like, "This is so stupid. I'm just going to make a KN95." And I looked it up. I bought the platform, looked at all the instructions, had my product team put it together. Here we are. Six weeks later, we actually have this beautiful, beautiful KN95 made. So I'm going to talk about the different elements here and what makes this a KN95. But first, let's put it in the clamper.
So just something we're trying differently here, by the way. We're doing an overwrap on the box, so the box is getting sealed, which is annoying to open, but just looks damn shiny and beautiful here. Open this up here. And we know it has not been messed with in any way, so I'll open it up. And the difference is inside the box is not going to be sealed now because we are overwrapping them. All right. So I'll talk about this in a minute, but let's get it in the clamp.
That's good. And we'll let it rip. This is a PFE machine, particular filtration efficiency machine. If you want to find out more about how this guy works, check out that link. We are basically doing the NIOSH test here. We're using NaCl.
Well, spoiler alert. You don't need to look at the link, because I just told you most of the things. All right. Let's talk about KN95s. I'm going to switch back to the box cam here. So most KN95s that you see are just going to say "KN95" and that's it.
And I have some theories on why, but part of the KN95 standard is to say on the actual mask, on every single mask you make, which by the way, is that annoying? Yeah, it's annoying to do. You got to have the manufacturer name. You got to have the standard, because there are different KN95 standards. This one is the GB2626-2019. That last one is the year the standard is being used. There's also 2006. It's kind of like Dom Perignon. There's different vintages of KN95, except for KN95 is apparently more exclusive than Dom. You got to have the, I think, actually this might be optional, but we put the model number on there. And we put "Made in USA" because they're not usually made in USA.
There's no part of the standard that says the mask has to be made in China, although you do have to have Chinese instructions. It's part of the standard, which we've put at a QR code. So if you go there, you're actually going to see Chinese instructions. Why? Why are we doing Chinese instructions?
Because it's part of the KN95 standard. Now, most masks that you get, you open up, just say "KN95" on it. And I would say probably about 60% of those that I've tested, they're going to fail. They're going to fail and they're not going to, on this machine, they're not going to have something that is actually passing at 95%. Because just like N95, the 95 of KN95 is actually talking about how much filtration that it's doing. And it's got to pass this exact machine. This machine, it's got to pass that standard. But most of them don't most. A lot of them are in the 20 or 30 percents. I would call them counterfeit. You've probably heard this, counterfeit KN95s. Well, the thing is is a manufacturer, if they're not following the easy to follow things, they're probably not following this 57 page document that has a lot of things.
So for example, one of the things that we had to do to test our masks and the reason why it took us six weeks to get to the sun is we have to take the mask and we have to put it in a humidity chamber. And we have to bring it to 80% humidity for 24 hours. And then once it's reached that 80% humidity, we take the mask out and then we do what's called a load test. We put it in a machine like this and we load it with NaCl. And we run that for maybe 20 minutes, maybe an hour. It's different for every type of mask in this test. And the machine will actually show the filtration over time and how well it does. Why is that test important? Because it's annoying, right? 24 hours, you got to load it to 80% humidity.
And then you got to load it out for 20, 40, 80 minutes, something like that. That takes a lab tech a lot of time. In fact, if you pay a lab to do that test, it'll cost you about five grand. That's right. And we could do it a lot cheaper internally, but it still takes a lab tech most of the day to do that, because we have to do that with 20 samples. Why? What is the purpose of that? Well, it's very similar to the NIOSH test, the N95 test. And the reason why the KN95, which is a Chinese standard, the reason it has that test is because it's meant to put the mask at the most possible use because I'm doing a two minute test here, right? I'm just doing a quick two minute test.
This machine will not test how that mask will perform in the real world and over time. If you're wearing this sucker for 8 hours a day, 12 hours a day, it may pass that two minute test, but is it going to pass that test once you actually put that mask to work, right? Those are some of the tests that NIOSH makes you do and the KN95 standard makes you do, right? Very annoying, very expensive to do.
Now, the question is if a manufacturer is not willing to do something very simple and they're not willing to write GB2626-2019, which most of them don't have on there, most of the ones at Amazon don't have that simple thing, do you think they're going to be doing that load test? Right? Do you think they're going to be doing the seven other tests that you have to do to get KN95? No, probably not. I mean, that's what I would think. What I realized was, while I don't personally like the KN95 design, because I've done this before, it makes you look like a duck. I'm not a super big fan of a duck.
That's it. No more Mr. Nice Duck.
I didn't decide to make this initially, because I just didn't like the way it looks. But it actually, it has a really good fit for a large number of people. I know a lot of people are looking for a KN95 that you can trust, and you can trust this mask. 100%, a hundred percent in the materials in this mask are made in the United States. Why is that important? Well, number one, there's the quality concern. But number two, it's supply chain resilient. If everything goes badly again, we can still make this mask here, so that's great. And I get it, why people look for KN95. I mean, an N95 is a little bit uncomfortable having the head straps. It's hard to put on. This with the ear loops is a little bit more comfortable and you're still getting a pretty good seal.
We're also going to be, next week, releasing a kid's version of this too, which is very exciting. It's a smaller version, so kids or maybe if you have a smaller face. So that way, you'll have something that could fit you. I'm super excited about this and there's going to be a couple caveats. So I want you to stick with me on this. All right. So if you made it this far and we are many minutes into this, let's talk about some things. So number one, this is a new product. That's pretty good. That's pretty good, but if I... Look it broke. This is a new product for us. We're releasing the first hundred thousand masks to our closest customers. And if you're watching this, you're probably one of those, honestly. If this happens to you when it's on your face, you write us support at armbrust.com.
I'm going to replace any mask that breaks with a new mask, okay? Anytime you stand up a new manufacturing arm, there are issues that happen. And we have quality control in place, but stuff happens. So please help us. It took six months to get our ear loops right, and sometimes they still break on our surgical mask.
So please help us. Write in. Let us know if you're having these issues. We'll replace them. The second thing is, if you look on the inside, you're going to notice that there's this nose foam. Now, I would say probably 50% of KN95s don't have this in there. This provides a super extra level of seal. Having this here allows it to seal around so many different nose shapes. It's very important. But the other thing that it does, honestly, it kind of adds a little bit of a weird smell.
This is a 3M nose foam with a glue that kind of sticks on there. We buy this from them and it sticks right inside the mask. But it has a weird smell. And actually, when I open this up and I do a smell, some people smell it, some don't. I've been testing masks for a year, so I'm so sensitive to this. It has a smell. It has a smell. I prefer to have no smell, personally. That's what I'm shooting for with our other masks. It was unavoidable in it. So you're going to have to give us some time. If you are very sensitive, honestly, probably don't buy this mask. It's not atrocious. We tried it with our whole team, and half of them don't even notice it.
I notice it. And I just want to let you know that we're working on a solution there. And the solution is actually kind of interesting, and I'm excited. But I don't want to announce anything yet. But I'm really excited because it's kind of the first of it's kind, so it's going to be pretty cool if it works out. But if that's an issue, again, write us at support at Armbrust USA. And if you let us know that smell is an issue, we'll refund your money. But does any of that matter if it doesn't protect you? Now, remember, we're doing all these tests, but the most important tests, what we're doing here is the filtration test. Because if the fabric doesn't filter, what good is the mask, right? Yes, fit is a concern. This has a really good fit, I think. But filtration, if it doesn't have filtration, it doesn't work.
And that's the biggest problem that I found with most KN95 masks. So remember, KN95, the 95 means it has to filter at 95% using NaCl, which is what we're using here. So without further ado, 28 minutes into this video, there we go. 98.253. 98.253. Now, we're using the same material... Not the same material, but we're using similar material from similar vendors in the United States for the filtration media. So why is this a little bit lower than our surgical masks? Now, our surgical masks have to pass 99. So the standards are a little bit higher. And this is a little bit more of an aggressive test than the surgical mask test, so that plays a role as well. But I like to see things in the 99s. That's me. But why 98.2? We're still passing the standards. I like to be better than most.
The reason is the design. So if I jump into this real quick and just show you, because of the way that the sonic welding is here, it actually does change the melt blown at this location. And this is just my own, this isn't science. I'm not a material scientist, believe it or not. I'm wearing a lab coat, but I'm not a material scientist. I believe that it's this aggressive seam that we've put in that brings it down one or two percentage points. Again, still way, way beyond what we've seen. And the breathability is pretty high. We're at about 140, 130 pascals.
That's pretty high. That's very similar to our surgical masks. Again, you don't want to see anything above 150 pascals. That's going to be hard to breathe in. And it's not the most breathable. We've tested masks here that are under a hundred pascals.
That's great. But making some of our fabric the way that we do, you generally, you balance filtration and breathability. And that's kind of the balance that we've come up with. All right. So we did it. Super excited. Cue balloons, explosions, all of that. Very excited. I would love, love, love your feedback. We're actually, we're running a competition, which I will put a link down below, where you can actually win some of these masks if you want. Or buy them and check them out. Give me your feedback on this mask. If we can improve this, we want to improve this.
This is the first version. Version one. You're going to help us make version two and three and four and five way better. So please give me your comments. Give me your feedback. Very excited. 98.23 and I will catch you on the next test.
Description
One of the best, most protective masks we sell, the Armbrust American KN95 is a flat-fold-style mask with 98.61% filtration. This is also one of the only certified KN95 masks made in America by a U.S. manufacturer. We stand by its sturdy construction and odorless smell, providing you with a great way to stay safe.
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8 comments
Hi? I have a box of kn95 with gb2626-2019 on the out side of the box but the mask itself has no markings at all. Not even KN95 as shown on the front of the box. Are these mask counterfeit?
Reesie j
August 10, 2022
Have been wearing your KN95 mask for almost a year, and have been comfortable for long periods from rides to and from airports, as well as time in airport and on flight.
My only issue at this time is with the last shipment, which arrive damaged with one of the two boxes so badly crushed that the box opened, exposing the 20 masks inside.
Can you help me with this? Thank you.
Karen Fritz
June 12, 2022
I am looking for a really good KN95, earloop that will fit my small face and I wear glasses. 5.5 inches mid nose bridge to just under chin. 8-8.5 inches across face over mid nose to mid cheek. Many women are looking for effective masks that fit.
Nancy Ford
April 08, 2022
Compare the effectiveness of your surgical level 3 masks with your kn95 masks.
greta vines
February 15, 2022
What is the difference KN95 GB2626-2019. KN95 GB2626-2006?
Barbara Souther
January 27, 2022
KN95 GB 2626-2006 authentic masks?
Barbara Souther
January 27, 2022
Finally – a US manufacturer with reliable statistics. And ear-loops! All you need do now is offer in several muted colors!
Alan Ingersoll
January 16, 2022
So very happy to find American made mask
Regina Stevens
January 14, 2022