What’s the Deal With Neck Gaiters?
There’s debate over whether the popular running accessory can be a replacement for a mask
Step outside during the pandemic, and you’ll (hopefully) see people in a wide variety of face coverings: colorful cloth masks that loop behind the ears, cowboy-inspired bandanas, the rare N95. Occasionally you’ll see a tube of fabric encircling a neck and pulled up over the nose. This is the neck gaiter or buff, favored by athletes for its breathability — and by some face-covering proponents for its convenience.
Research published this week thrust neck gaiters into a harsh spotlight, raising concerns about their effectiveness in preventing the spread of the coronavirus. The research, published in the journal Science Advances by a team at Duke University, investigated a new, cheap method of assessing the effectiveness of face coverings using a setup involving a cellphone camera and an inexpensive laser. In testing this method — the idea is that the laser allows one to visualize and record the movement of any droplets expelled through a face covering when speaking — a speaker in the study wore 14 different types of face coverings, one of which was a neck gaiter, and said the phrase: “Stay healthy, people.”
Some of the findings were unsurprising: N95 masks, used by health care workers…
