Once N95 masks became readily available and cheap, it was (and is) mysterious why people weren't being told to wear them to protect themselves instead of wearing whatever was at hand to sort of protect themselves and others.
Oh, and if you thought surgical masks were mildly uncomfortable, N95s are an order of magnitude worst. They pretty much need a perfect seal with your face and the 3Ms use a really tight rubber band to achieve that. 2 bands, actually.
I currently work on site and wear surgical masks all day, it's fine. Not sure I would want to do the same if it was N95s.
Not proof--but a sign.
They are expensive, and I do not reccommend wearing them. I do not reccommend doing anything, expecially anything that has a high chance of bringing unknown costs.
I've worn N95s for hours (actually P95s which have a nicer seal) and I agree that they're less comfortable than less effective alternatives. But it is a bit curious that people are concerned enough to be wearing their homemade mask alone in a car or walking outside by themselves but are unwilling to endure the slight additional discomfort of a known effective mask.
...if you got a real one, and not one of the less effective fakes.
Not because I'm "afraid" but because I'm too lazy to take it on and off between every stop I'm going to make.
This attitude that people are wearing masks alone because they're afraid and/or stupid is toxic.
Part of the problem is everyone feels the need to judge others. Why does it bother you that people wear masks on the beach? Why can't you just let them be?
What bothers me is that the sort of inconsistency I described is emblematic of the same muddled thinking that the CDC has demonstrated throughout. This is a problem for a number of reasons.
When people don't understand the reasoning behind a policy they are less likely to comply with it and it will lead to excess deaths.
Another reason is that, if no explanation or an incoherent explanation is given for a recommendation, people have to decide whether to follow it based solely on trust or the authority of the recommender. I don't think either of these is good for the long term health of society. You can see how this problem has manifested itself in the resistance of many people to being vaccinated or wearing masks.
If you tell me something works but can't explain how I will consider if the claim is worth evaluating then attempt to understand it myself before accepting it.
If you tell me to trust you with no explanation I will immediately distrust you.
So, yes, we should explain why an N95 is better than a handkerchief, but it seems like there are plenty of people who don't care about the details and just need to be told that one is more effective.
Similarly, people like to argue against things like the minimum wage because it doesn't fit some economic model, but they don't realize those models are made up post-hoc to fit older real world data that turned out to be biased and incomplete.
Oh, and the West had to deal with scurvy for hundreds of years after discovering the cure (lemon juice) because we'd invented the food poisoning and germ theories of diseases and so we refused to believe you could cure one with food.
So don't worry too much about modeling things.
Because they're difficult to wear. There are a bunch of photos on social media of HCPs who've got bruised faces after correctly wearing N95 / FPP3 for a day or two.