The Greatest Gift: Health and Safety
R. Riveter teams up with O2TODAY, an innovator in the protective face wear space, to combine American craftsmanship and the science of healthy breathing, producing face masks designed specifically for ultimate protection, comfort, and style.
With COVID-19 cases on the rise across the country and flu season upon us, wearing masks to protect ourselves and others is more important than ever.
There’s no doubt it’s been a challenging and even scary year. In the early months of 2020, we started hearing words and phrases like: “Coronavirus” and “social distancing.”
Several cities locked down, travel came to a halt, and suddenly, in many states, we needed face coverings or masks to get groceries and run other errands. There’d never been that kind of demand for protective face masks in the United States, and in many cases, people relied on sewing their own to get by.
Even at R. Riveter, we paused production of our signature handbags and began producing masks to help meet the need.
Now, several months later, face coverings are easy to get your hands on. You can purchase a face mask at the gas station, the grocery store, and most of your favorite retailers. But it’s vital to remember that a cloth face mask or face covering doesn’t provide nearly the protection from infectious particles as a high quality, effective face mask with filters designed to reduce exposure to airborne threats.
That’s why we’ve teamed up with O2TODAY, an expert in the protective face mask industry. And when we say experts, we mean EXPERTS. Since 2015, long before COVID-19, O2TODAY has empowered humans to control the most important thing we do but don’t think about – breathing. An innovator in the protective face wear space with industry expertise in design, material science, and environmental health, O2TODAY’s mission is to help millions of individuals and families take control of their health through safer breathing. They do this by producing extensively researched protective face wear that reduces exposure to airborne threats, from respiratory droplets and pathogens to air pollution.
“It’s a perfect fit. O2TODAY was looking for a company committed to quality, American-made craftsmanship. That’s what we do. Additionally, our team produced face covers early on, but now that we’ve collaborated with experts in the protective face wear industry, we can provide the very best on the market,” said R. Riveter co-founder Lisa Bradley.
Together, R. Riveter and O2TODAY are producing masks that are stylish, comfortable, American-made, and most importantly, designed to protect you and your loved ones.
R. Riveter x O2TODAY masks:
- Stylish, specially designed mesh shell for maximum breathability and comfort.
- Filter pocket for disposable N95 performance-tested filters made with premium US material and produced in Salt Lake City, Utah at O2TODAY’s manufacturing facility.
- Filters tested at Nelson Labs, the leading global provider of laboratory testing for MedTech and pharmaceutical companies, with over 98% filtration efficiency of particles down to a size of .3 microns. In simpler terms, with proper usage, filters will block respiratory droplets that could carry the virus and most pollution or airborne contaminants that can get into your system.
- Nose seal provides more space, additional comfort and eliminates “fogging” for those wearing eyeglasses.
- Masks available in five sizes. Each mask has a built-in slider on the ear loops to adjust the tightness and a behind-the-head clip so the wearer can opt to connect the ear loops behind the head.
- R. Riveter x O2TODAY masks retail for $35, including two disposable N95 performance-tested filters. Additional filters can be purchased from O2TODAY.
“To put it simply, these are the masks we should be wearing. Think about face masks as bullet-proof vests. The mask cover or shell is the vest, but without a tested nonwoven filter, there is no Kevlar layer or plate providing protection. Without a proper filter, a “face-covering” is just layered fabric and not as effective as a protective mask,” said Bruce Lorange, Founder and CEO of O2TODAY.
"It’s time to invest in filters that work, time to invest in our health and protect ourselves and those around us from what we can’t see,” Lorange added.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner, agrees. “Buy a better mask,” he wrote in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed.
“While there are still some shortages of medical masks, health care workers have dedicated supply chains,” he added. “It’s time to revise the guidance to consumers. N95 masks and their equivalents offer the best protection of the virus and will filter out at least 95% of the infectious particles.”
Gottlieb went on to write, “Surgical masks offer protection of about 60%. Cloth masks are the least protective. Encouraging Americans to wear higher-quality masks is a simple step that might make a difference.”
So give yourself and your loved ones the greatest gift this holiday season, the gift of health and safety.
