@Jaramiah Severns, very good and fair question and one which I had myself. As I see it, a good integrated PAPR system vs the non integrated approach has several important advantages.
- higher safety and effectiveness - which comes from a variety of factors.
With a mask, seal is important. The particles which are the most dangerous to your health are the smallest ones as they can make their way deep into the lower lung where your body doesn’t have as effective means to sweep them away, and if you don’t get a good seal, these small particles can enter a mask in the gap between your face and the mask. This is especially true for those of us with beards. I’ve seen it often when I’ve looked at the mask edges and seen it in my beard. The bread is not an effective filter for small particles.
With PAPR my whole face is dust free, regardless of beard, including no dust accumulation on my glasses.
For those who have challenges breathing ( I fortunately do not), such as asthma, COPD, etc, I’m told breathing through a mask can be tiring, since your lungs have to overcome the resistance in both directions. PAPR’s of course use the motor to do that work.
My glasses nor my visor don’t fog up, since there is a constant flow of fresh clean air from top to bottom. Clear vision is a good thing!
With the helmet I have (M-307), it’s much more impact protective than the normal Uvex face shield, both for eyes and head. ( having had pieces on the lathe blow up or come off the chuck while turning, this isn’t a small benefit).
For my system where the battery and motor weight are not sitting on my head, but on a belt at my waist, it’s very comfortable to use for long periods, whereas the Peek and Trend units I’ve tried are heavier and weirdly balanced, nor are they as impact resistant. They are also loader in my ears.
Do I always use my PAPR ? Sometimes not - particularly when not sanding or using volatile finishes and am turning between centers on green wood. But I wear it much more than not.
