favorite playa wear

[tamarakay]

My husband lives in sarongs and at night slips on silk long johns under it.

[Elliot]

About gloves. Avoid the stiff generic work gloves with wide stiff cuffs. Spring for form-fitted knitted "mechanic's gloves" with velcro closure on the wrist. Home Depot has them for as little as ten bucks, and I swear by those. Knitted flexible on the back of the hand, and soft leather in the grip. Compared with those general purpose glove-like "slabs", the mechanic type gloves are like a second layer of skin, yet they protect you just as well. Get the size that fits you correctly.

[Simon of the Playa]

in my 17 years out there i have never worn a mask.



ever.

[Roberto Dobbisano]

in my 17 years out there i have never worn a mask.



ever.

thats because you're MADE of dust, why bother?

[H.G.Crosby]

of course, the g*d's honest truth is WE wear what WE normally wear in defaultia,WE burn year round, why dress up, we dont need a stinking costume, WE ARE ONE.

[Monkeystyle]

Yeah, i think after two weeks of camping befor bm im good for build clothing, and i always carry two pairs if mechanic style.gloves in my trunk near my embergency gear.

[Monkeystyle]

Also glad to know theres a meet and greet with you all on wednesday. I'll make sure to show up... Assuming nithing screws up with the tickets tomorrow....

[Canoe]

... gypsum which is what makes up the finest particles on the playa...

cite please

how do they work for us bearded fellows?

Not well. Better than not having it, but there's leakage. So if you've got medical issues... And for the fine playa dust, you want N100, not N95, but again, N95 is better than not having it.
I got a full-face model, ... I take the gas-mask frames, but it still leaks with the beard.

Don't confuse the style of mask (9211) with the specification of the filter (N95, N99, N100). Different masks fit different people. And beards can be a real problem for someone who needs filtering.

[list][*]Because fit is so important, NIOSH recommends and OSHA requires that each respirator wearer receive an initial fit test and annual fit tests thereafter. It is not possible to predict how well a respirator will fit on a particular face, even for respirators that fit well on a broad range of facial sizes.
[*]the most important aspect of a NIOSH-certified respirator’s performance will be how well it fits to the face and minimizes the degree of leakage around the facepiece. This must be measured for each individual and their selected respirator. [/list]
A doctor on the playa completely dissed the cheap surgical masks people were wearing, and the N95, stating that only HEPA would provide protection for those who needed it. I've been told that N100 is equivalent to HEPA (that could be wrong, the certified specs for N100 look pretty similar).

You need to separate what works for most people vs. what will work for those that have an issue with dust in general or with specific components of the dust blowing on the playa, be it the fine clay or other soil components (SiO2, Al2O3, quartz, micas, calcite, feldspar, vermiculite, illite, and kaolinite), aquatic micro-fauna eggs or dead body parts, bacteria normally on the playa, bacteria deposited by migratory birds, bacteria blown in off of surrounding land or the bacteria in the water that the water trucks spray on the dusty BRC roads.

As previously stated, I get along fine with the cotton bandana a la cowboy style, and I really like the keffiyeh or shemagh for when the wind really kicks up.

BUT, that's not what everyone will experience. Making a blanket statement that N95 is perfectly fine for the playa as it's recommended for Gypsum can mislead some people who may be here on eplaya seeking to know what will completely do the job. If you'd like you can go read what the N95 vs. N99 vs. N100 spec mean, that link is available in the thread previously provided. As yes, it's hard to breath through a N100 compared to a N95 - it's doing more filtering...

[Monkeystyle]

went to the army surplus and bought a shemagh today about an hour before the ticket sales

[Canoe]

went to the army surplus and bought a shemagh today about an hour before the ticket sales

A monkey with confidence.

They're effective. They're practical. They're fun.