$15 Viral Helmet version of a $2000 hospital mask/PAPR
The world’s best COVID mask costs $15. At that low price, which is cheaper than a COVID test or a COVID vaccine shot, there’s no way that cost should be something that stops people from being protected from COVID.
Today, the $15 Hoodie Viral Helmet™ is introduced. It’s not something you can buy. It’s a free-to-built set of plans to build something called a Viral Helmet. You can buy a pretty-good viral helmet for about $300. Or, for $15, you can have better-than-hospital protection.
The key parts are the two 99.99% Viral Filter Efficiency (VFE) filters on the intake and the exhaust. These filters are sourced from the same vendors hospitals use for medical lung/respiratory procedures (PFT filters). They are a proven technology.
A fan on the intake creates positive pressure, just like in a $2000 PAPR. The bag encloses the whole head. A neck strap creates an enclosed “bubble of protection”.
In the case of a small leak/gap, the positive air pressure means any leak would be outward. Contaminated air does not come in.
The most important feature is the low price to make these. At scales of making 50 or more, the price goes down to about $15/each and possibly down to $10.
The kit is re-usable. A 5000mAH USB battery pack lasts 5–10 hours. The filters, which cost about $1 each, are regularly used for under 24 working hours before hospitals throw them away. But, if you are using your own helmet, you can probably safely reuse the filter until it gets visibly clogged.
More details and complete build instructions on the project page: https://www.viralhelmets.com/15-hoodie-viral-helmet
TL;DR
There is now no cost excuse for why everyone could not have 99.99% viral filter efficiency protection. The $15 Hoodie Viral Helmet™ is better protection than what hospital COVID-19 wards use.
HISTORY
The basic idea came from a post in March 2020. Two Seattle doctors saw the N95 shortage coming. They asked for a way to build protection that hospitals needed. Hospitals already used $2000 Powered Air Purifying Respirators (PAPRs), but they didn’t have enough of those or the N95s.
After a wild ride working on bunnypapr.org, a $30 version of a PAPR with a lot of 3D printed parts, that project fizzled. The plans are still up, but demand for better masks has been weak. Hospitals won’t touch anything that isn’t certified for legal reasons. (Though, paradoxically, they are okay making healthcare workers reuse N95 masks for a week at a time which is probably worse. But 2020 didn’t make a lot of sense overall.)
We found a few private practice doctors who love them, and also some dentists. But we couldn’t find funding or backers who wanted 100’s of these. A few hundred were made and distributed. And then bunnypapr.org stopped.
Now, we sadly are still in a low-demand world for better protection. Not a lot of people want these. The Hoodie Viral Helmet™ is simpler to make than the bunnyPAPR. There are fewer custom 3D parts. The plans are up and free-to-use.
If you have the desire to get 99.99%+ viral protection, the Hoodie Viral Helmet™ can get you it for about $15.
