RZ Mask Review and GIVEAWAY!

What better way to come back from a prolonged sabbatical than with a review of a really cool product AND giving away 4 of these awesome RZ Masks to 4 of our lucky readers?!?!

OK. So I’ve totally ruined any chance for suspense here as I’ve already used the words “cool” and “awesome”. So I think you can figure out where this RZ Mask review is going, but seriously, I was totally BLOWN AWAY with how awesome this product is.  They not only made it superior to other masks in terms of science and technology, but they also went a step further and made some really cool designs to boot.

OK. First the science that impressed me as it’s what truly makes these masks premium quality. I noted that they don’t call these “filtration masks”.  Nope. They are BREATHING masks…and it shows in the technology that they chose to incorporate into their product.  They weren’t interested in simply preventing germs from getting in or out. They were intent upon ensuring a person could BREATHE even in the midst of all kinds of real life scenarios such as motor-crossing, cold weather activities, as well as pollution, paint fumes, and agriculture contaminant exposure protection.  After playing around with this and digging into the structure of these, it’s clear that these are VERY applicable to those kinds of crisis scenarios that most of us have never had to deal with as well, but for which we prepare.  I had the unfortunate experience of trying my RZ Mask out once as the result of too much smoke in the house from complications in using the woodburning stove!

RZ Mask by RZ Industries offers 3 different levels of filtration depending on the filter you choose to use inside the masks. Regardless of which level you choose, you’re going to protect yourself from particulate matter AND fumes, odors, etc. with the two levels of filtration in each mask.  The level of protection you choose in a filter will be best determined by how dense the particulate matter is that you’re trying to avoid  and how prevalent the fumes and odors might be. (F3 Filter providing the best, breathable air scenario) All filters will trap particulates down to .1 microns.  Just to put that into perspective, human hair is 40-300 microns; bacteria is .2-3 microns. These will filter as small as .1 microns. 2 of the 3 filters that you can choose come with HEPA filtration (High Efficiency Particulate Air) and the F1 and F3 Filters also come with an inner layer of Active Carbon which handles the odors/fumes. On top of these filtration levels that you can select, they also offer two different types of materials for the masks, each type, M1 Neoprene or M2 Mesh being more effective in cold or warm temperature environments respectively. Yeah, in other words, they aren’t just slapping some elastic and el-cheapo materials together and calling it good. They have explored every type of possible scenario for use and created the filtration and material combination to meet those scenarios with exactness.  This attention to detail was VERY impressive to me.

Here’s a little secret about me. I’m a bit claustrophobic. I have a hard time wearing ski masks which makes me a terrible bank robber and an even worse skier. *grin* Even scarves and some turtleneck sweaters have to be avoided by me because I just can’t stand the feeling. So imagine my surprise when I found this amazing technology actually WEARABLE by this gal who’s so claustrophobic!! Lightweight and very comfortable. Heck, it’s even washable! I couldn’t believe how comfortable it was!

Part of what enhances claustrophobia, or a just plain uncomfortable experience–is that when I’ve worn these types of masks in the past the condensation that builds up as I’m breathing—especially when in humid or extreme cold environments—even fogging my glasses. NOT COOL when you’re trying to drive an ATV, right?  Imagine my surprise when I didn’t experience that with this mask as they all come with two one-way discharge valves specifically to dispel the condensation and a little adjusting of the nose piece will also help avoid that problem as well.

I now have my RZ Mask sitting on the shelf next to the woodburning stove.  There’s something that’s not functioning properly on the flue so that when I open the door, I’m liable to get a bit of smoke coming out the door regardless of how hot things are burning inside. After being exposed to this several dozen times thus far this season, I find my sinuses becoming easily agitated after dealing with building the fires or restocking the firewood in the stove. So I put this mask on every time now and it’s made a HUGE difference for me by drastically reducing the agitation and pressure to my sinus passages.

The manufacturer, RZ Industries, states that I can use each filter for about 50-60 hours if I’m using it to protect against allergens, pollution, odors, etc.  I’m sure I’ve exceeded that by about 10 hours now and I’m still benefitting from the mask. Their testing results came in at filtering 99% of the dust and particulate impurities in the air so that YOU don’t have to breathe them.

Have you ever been in weather so dang cold, that you feel like every time you breathe in, you’re breathing in hot coals??  Yep. It’s not fun.  I went outside to start work on the firewood that needed to be stacked and scraping ice off of my car. Naturally, that had to coincide with extremely low temperatures of -10 F with the wind-chill factor making it feel more like -20 F. The breathing sensation was so uncomfortable, that it made me quickly remember that I have this great RZ Mask, so I went back into the house to grab it and give it a shot. I couldn’t believe the difference it made. I had a sensation very similar to when I snorkeled in the Bahamas…I felt so protected in my breathing.  Yep, this mask has become a MUST HAVE in my preparedness supplies.  It’s all I can do to give any of these away, cause I’m now thinking of all of the places I want to have the mask PLUS spare filters (car, bug-out-bags, garage, closet with my coats, by the woodburning stove, in my gun bag so that I don’t have to inhale the powder when I’m shooting a thousand rounds, in my first-aid supplies for germ and bacteria protection, and in a 4 gallon bucket full of back-ups and more back-ups. I also need to get one for my dad who’s always working with the table saw and high dust environments!) Yep. This is the curse of a prepping geek—you can never have too much of a good thing like this.  But don’t worry. I managed to come back down to planet earth and realized that since I love this product so much, I’d feel pretty happy about sharing them with others. (There are SO many applications here such as those fighting in the military in sand areas, construction, masonry work, hunting (they even offer scentless filters) firefighters, painters, miners, DEA or law enforcement who are always being exposed to drug powder and fumes, emergency personnel, etc.)

Did I mention that they even have a holder built into them for your MP3 player?  Now THAT’S going to be a FUN ATV ride!

So…how do you get your hands on these awesome RZ Masks?  Well, you can purchase them yourself, if you’d like. (Click here for a direct link) They run $10 each, regular retail, but I found several other options for about $4-$5 less on Amazon for discontinued styles–some of which are pretty dang cool. When I consider how much I pay just for ONE of those flimsy N-95 medical masks, I kick myself!  Each mask comes with 2 replaceable filters. The sizes are Youth (ideal for under 12 years old), Regular (fits most) and Extra Large (ideal for those over 235 pounds). It comes in lots of awesome designs including the designs you see in the pictures plus an array of 5 other solid colors and they even do custom designs! Breathing was never so cool and hip!  You could also try your hand at a little luck as I’m going to give away FOUR of these hipster breathing thingamajiggers—aka RZ Masks.  I will draw 4 names at random from the COMMENTS posted here on the blog under this article AND on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/preparednesspro) . However, in order to be considered for the drawing your comment MUST include the words “RZ Mask” or #RZMask. The drawing for winners will be held on Valentine’s Day and announced that same weekend. So good luck!! Start commenting and share with your friends so that they too can have a shot at winning.  Good luck!!!