Yup. As I mentioned, I checked it out pretty thoroughly going 10 pages deep in Google searches with a variety of different search terms. Inventory is sold out nation wide.
It’s not surprising that small stores are out. I wouldn’t think that dust masks and respirators are really big movers so they may only have 5 or 10 on hand at any time. More ominously, as far as I could find, all of the very large suppliers such as McMaster, MSC, National Safety, Grainger, Walmart, Amazon, CVS and the ilk inventories are depleted. I also checked out less obvious sources like veterinary supplies, welding supplies, painter supplies and the story is the same.
Another portentous foreshadowing is that the big guys say they don’t expect more inventory before next May. Of course that may or may not happen. If COVID-19 flourishes all bets are off as masks and respirators will be mostly allocated to health systems, national defense and the like. General shop use will be way down on the importance list. Somewhat menacingly, a lot but not all masks sourced from China. I don’t know for sure, but it’s a good bet that even masks assembled in the US use materials from China. Not only is what is going on in China not well understood but it’s way too early to predict how it will affect manufacturing and lead times there.
Nobody knows how this COVID-19 thing is going to pan out. It could severely sicken 30% of the US population and become a really, really big and disruptive deal. Alternatively it could end up like a bad flu season, or a mild flu, or just another seasonal affliction that folks get accustomed to, or it may just fizzle out like SARS (also a coronavirus) did.
Who would have ever thought there would be a dust mask supply disruption? I’ve never really given them a second thought. I generally have some around for spray painting, grinding or sanding, etc. Run out? Quick trip to the hardware store solves it inexpensively. No big deal.
Because it’s a potential health issue, I saw many instances of price gouging during my Internet searches. Boxes of 10 masks that were $19.95, are now selling for $50.00 - $200.00. And that’s for disposable masks! Geeze.
I’m not trying to be alarmist, but simply saying that if you need dust masks or respirators the available supply is currently extremely limited, becoming more so, and sourcing any for any reason is tenuous, time consuming and rapidly increasing in difficulty while decreasing in likelihood of success.
Here's one for that creepy sci-fi feeling. This is from the home page of National Safety, Inc, a very large supplier of safety equipment:
It’s not surprising that small stores are out. I wouldn’t think that dust masks and respirators are really big movers so they may only have 5 or 10 on hand at any time. More ominously, as far as I could find, all of the very large suppliers such as McMaster, MSC, National Safety, Grainger, Walmart, Amazon, CVS and the ilk inventories are depleted. I also checked out less obvious sources like veterinary supplies, welding supplies, painter supplies and the story is the same.
Another portentous foreshadowing is that the big guys say they don’t expect more inventory before next May. Of course that may or may not happen. If COVID-19 flourishes all bets are off as masks and respirators will be mostly allocated to health systems, national defense and the like. General shop use will be way down on the importance list. Somewhat menacingly, a lot but not all masks sourced from China. I don’t know for sure, but it’s a good bet that even masks assembled in the US use materials from China. Not only is what is going on in China not well understood but it’s way too early to predict how it will affect manufacturing and lead times there.
Nobody knows how this COVID-19 thing is going to pan out. It could severely sicken 30% of the US population and become a really, really big and disruptive deal. Alternatively it could end up like a bad flu season, or a mild flu, or just another seasonal affliction that folks get accustomed to, or it may just fizzle out like SARS (also a coronavirus) did.
Who would have ever thought there would be a dust mask supply disruption? I’ve never really given them a second thought. I generally have some around for spray painting, grinding or sanding, etc. Run out? Quick trip to the hardware store solves it inexpensively. No big deal.
Because it’s a potential health issue, I saw many instances of price gouging during my Internet searches. Boxes of 10 masks that were $19.95, are now selling for $50.00 - $200.00. And that’s for disposable masks! Geeze.
I’m not trying to be alarmist, but simply saying that if you need dust masks or respirators the available supply is currently extremely limited, becoming more so, and sourcing any for any reason is tenuous, time consuming and rapidly increasing in difficulty while decreasing in likelihood of success.
Here's one for that creepy sci-fi feeling. This is from the home page of National Safety, Inc, a very large supplier of safety equipment: