What are some common things you need to survive every day?
Off the top of my head, I’ll say food, water, access to the internet and most importantly video games.
Definitely not being biased on that last one there.
Nowadays, though, masks and hand sanitisers are often added to that list and we’re all familiar with the former’s shortage.
How to combat this aside from obviously not overbuying and using them unnecessarily?
Make your own.
Gill Mask
As the now-famous saying goes:
According to The Straits Times, A Singaporean company has come up with an invention that could significantly extend the lifetime of masks.
Not only that, but it also looks pretty cool too if you ask me.
Enter the Gill Mask.
It consists of a silicone facepiece with straps that fit over a user’s face, but the mouth area is a detachable cartridge that can be fitted with a filter.
What kind of filter? Your old surgical face mask!
All you have to do is cut out a portion of the face mask and slot it in as a filter and viola, a gill mask ready to go.
Since you can keep using cut portions from the same mask, it’ll help save the stash you probably have at home.
It’s also airtight so any breathing will only go through the filter and won’t those pesky side openings of regular masks
I’m all for fresh air.
The director of Mdesign Solutions. Mr Jean-Luc Fringeli, mentioned that since we’re only breathing on a small surface, there’s not much point in using up an entire mask.
The benefits don’t stop there by the way.
The Gill Mask’s filter does not touch the user’s nose or mouth, reducing the amount of moisture that it comes in contact with.
Which means you can use your already small piece of the cut mask even longer.
Minor Inconveniences
Not everything is made perfect, sadly.
Specialist Leong Hoe Nam mentioned that effectiveness could be limited if users have to remove the mask to touch or scratch their face.
The comfort of wearing gill masks may also vary due to varying face sizes.
It also doesn’t look the easiest to breathe in, a sentiment Mr Fringeli shares. However, he did mention that it should be alright for people who don’t do strenuous activity.
Full-Scale Production
Mdesign Solutions isn’t slowing down one bit on these masks, however.
They aim to produce a whopping 300,000 of these masks globally.
From those, 1000 would be shipped to Singapore and sold for around $25 each in online and retail.
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Not the most but better than nothing.
Mr Cheong said the company is also engaging various public hospitals here to work on developing a variant of the mask that is tailored to healthcare workers’ needs.
Definitely getting one of these masks now. Who knows, it could even come in useful during future haze events.