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Comment by Wowfunhappy | Hacker News Reader

> It just hardly seems like much of an inconvenience.

Not arguing that any of this is a good enough reason to not wear a mask right now, but, I find them pretty darn inconvenient.

It's very uncomfortable. It fogs up my glasses when I’m inside, and covers up a large part of my field of view even when I’m outside. I can't ride my scooter at all because with that field of view loss, I'm worried I'll crash into something. Talking is more difficult, both projecting enough to be heard through the mask and straining to hear others.

I've tried several different masks at this point, so I don't think that's it.

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When I'm doing construction, I often wear a form-fitting N95 mask (for dust protection) and safety glasses.

The top of the mask, and the nose-bridge of the safety glasses, compete for the same location on the bridge of my nose.

If I layer them so that the mask touches my skin, and the eye glasses rest on the mask, I have no problem with fogging.

If I layer them the other way: the eye glasses' bridge directly on my skin, and the top of the mask resting on the eye glasses' bridge, I get fog.

Maybe you're experiencing this?

I usually avoid this simply by putting my eye glasses on after my mask is in place.

It's almost completely dependent on the masks construction. I never had problems with my n95 from 3m, but the kn95 I have is impossible to wear with glasses no matter how I fit it.

The surgical mask a friend got for me in March looks near identical to the pack of masks I got recently besides the color but the one she got me fogs up my glasses while the pack I have now never does.

FWIW, the mask I was referring to in the GP is the GVS SPR457 Elipse P100 [0].

(As a side note, I haven't tried many masks, but I find this one extremely comfortable and effective.)

[0] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013SIIBFQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b...

Try washing your lenses with a drop of dish soap. That will help with the fogging.

https://www.npr.org/2020/05/08/853009325/how-to-prevent-glas...

Do you want some nose clips to prevent your glasses from fogging up? Also keeps the mask tight to your face solving your FOV issue.

>I can't ride my scooter at all because with that field of view loss, I'm worried I'll crash into something.

Just how big of a mask are you wearing? No mask I've used or seen would prevent this at all, sounds a bit dramatic to me. Plus, why are you even wearing one while riding your scooter? It's not needed unless you're in close proximity to people.

Why do you need to wear your mask while scootering?

They're more annoying for some people than others, there's no surprise in that. Still, there are nurses and doctors in disease wards who have been wearing these things full time now for more than three months, so... I think you can deal. Keep experimenting, you'll find something that works.

Or just stay in environments (your home, or outdoors with consistently good distancing) where you don't really need the mask.

I tuck my cloth mask under my sunglasses and this avoids any fogging. Also, don't ride a scooter with a mask on.

Yeah, this part confuses me about GP's description. If any breath is being directed upwards towards your glasses, you're not adjusting the bendable part right to form-fit your nose.

This is why it's mostly meaningless to recommend everyone to wear a mask. Many do not know how to use them properly. And a lot of people can't afford them. If you can even find some to buy that is.

No, this is why the CDC should be running 30 second "how to properly wear a mask" public service announcements.

They've been in stock online, locally at my grocery store, at Target, and at Costco for weeks now. Quite a few stores will hand you a free one if you don't have one (I know Kroger will), and a washable reusable one will set you back a few bucks at most.

If we discovered people weren't wearing their seatbelts enough, getting rid of seatbelts would be a silly mitigation.

So just pull the mask down while you're on your scooter. On the road you're effectively "alone" outdoors.

You haven’t ridden in Manhattan, I suspect. People would get right up to me constantly, even during Covid.

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