I spent a week wearing a face shield instead of a mask, and I'm never going back

Hilary BrueckJun 3, 2020, 23:54 IST

Me in my beloved shield.Courtesy of Sateesh Venkatesh

Face coverings are required in many places around the US to protect people from coronavirus infections.
I tried wearing a face shield instead of a face mask for about a week, and fell in love.
The shield is easily cleaned, easy to see through, simple to breathe and talk in, and provides a physical barrier that protects both the wearer and others from infection.
There is no solid evidence about whether a shield is superior to a mask, protection-wise, but experts say there's no reason to think that face shields are necessarily inferior viral barriers.

I'm just going to say it: I hate wearing my face mask.

Homemade face masks are uncomfortable, sweaty, difficult to breathe in, difficult to talk in, fog up glasses, and require regular washing.

Plus, they're imperfect viral barriers, especially if you're taking them on and off all day to talk, breathe, eat, and drink.

Luckily, I've found something far better.

I've been wearing a rigid plastic face shield — a protective barrier against disease made of plastic — that covers my eyes, nose, and mouth, in place of a makeshift face mask. I've been using it for about two weeks now as I walk around my neighborhood in New York, where face coverings are required in public to help protect people from catching the coronavirus.

The results have been delightful.

So before you brave another trip to the grocery store or the park in your Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-recommended homemade mask, hear me out.

Wearing a mask in addition to a shield is the most iron-clad form of virus protection.

Courtesy of Stephen Chininis

Chininis and other inventors and manufacturers have started making shields that attach to a baseball cap, which anybody can wear.

Courtesy of Stephen Chininis

I tried out a face shield from a packaging company based in Michigan, which costs around $1.50.

Courtesy of Sateesh Venkatesh

As you can see, the seal around the sides of the face and below the chin is not air-tight, but public health experts assured me that for most everyday encounters, that's probably OK.

Courtesy of Sateesh Venkatesh

As you can see, the seal around the sides of the face and below the chin is not air-tight, but public health experts assured me that for most everyday encounters, that's probably OK.

It's a lot easier to communicate with people in a shield, and easier to breathe. I've also gotten nothing but compliments on my new look.

Courtesy of Sateesh Venkatesh

Bonus: there's is no need to take the shield off when you get thirsty.

Can you even tell I'm wearing my shield here? Barely. Sateesh Venkatesh

Shields do have one fatal flaw. They are terrible for exercising.

Courtesy of Sateesh Venkatesh

Once, just once, I tried to run in my shield. Never again.

Hilary Brueck/Insider

After just six minutes on the run, the wind blew my shield off entirely.

Hilary Brueck/Insider

I finally figured out that wearing a cap with a narrower bill that frames my face more tightly than this one really helps to keep it from sliding off.

Hilary Brueck/Insider

Fortunately, it's not that hard to keep the requisite six feet distance from other people when I run outside during this pandemic, shield or no shield.

Hilary Brueck/Insider

From now on when I run, I'll be shield-free.

Hilary Brueck/Insider

But for everything else I do outside, this narrow-billed cap made from a soft, polyester-spandex material is the one I've settled on that fits best, and keeps the shield tightly wrapped around my face. I'm never going back to life in a mask.

Sateesh Venkatesh

But for everything else I do outside, this narrow-billed cap made from a soft, polyester-spandex material is the one I've settled on that fits best, and keeps the shield tightly wrapped around my face. I'm never going back to life in a mask.

Shields could even provide a more comfortable way for protesters to raise their voices right now, while keeping any viral particles behind a protective barrier.

People gather to protest the recent killing of George Floyd on May 29, 2020 in Detroit, Michigan. Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images

I'm not the only one who thinks shields are underrated coronavirus-fighting tools. A group of doctors wrote recently in the medical journal JAMA that shields might help "reduce transmissibility below a critical threshold," if everyone wore one out in public.

Ruobing Su/Business Insider

I'm not the only one who thinks shields are underrated coronavirus-fighting tools. A group of doctors wrote recently in the medical journal JAMA that shields might help "reduce transmissibility below a critical threshold," if everyone wore one out in public.

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I spent a week wearing a face shield instead of a mask, and I'm never going back

Wearing a mask in addition to a shield is the most iron-clad form of virus protection.

Chininis and other inventors and manufacturers have started making shields that attach to a baseball cap, which anybody can wear.

I tried out a face shield from a packaging company based in Michigan, which costs around $1.50.

As you can see, the seal around the sides of the face and below the chin is not air-tight, but public health experts assured me that for most everyday encounters, that's probably OK.

It's a lot easier to communicate with people in a shield, and easier to breathe. I've also gotten nothing but compliments on my new look.

Bonus: there's is no need to take the shield off when you get thirsty.

Shields do have one fatal flaw. They are terrible for exercising.

Once, just once, I tried to run in my shield. Never again.

After just six minutes on the run, the wind blew my shield off entirely.

I finally figured out that wearing a cap with a narrower bill that frames my face more tightly than this one really helps to keep it from sliding off.

Fortunately, it's not that hard to keep the requisite six feet distance from other people when I run outside during this pandemic, shield or no shield.

From now on when I run, I'll be shield-free.

But for everything else I do outside, this narrow-billed cap made from a soft, polyester-spandex material is the one I've settled on that fits best, and keeps the shield tightly wrapped around my face. I'm never going back to life in a mask.

Shields could even provide a more comfortable way for protesters to raise their voices right now, while keeping any viral particles behind a protective barrier.

I'm not the only one who thinks shields are underrated coronavirus-fighting tools. A group of doctors wrote recently in the medical journal JAMA that shields might help "reduce transmissibility below a critical threshold," if everyone wore one out in public.