JunkiCosmonaut

Thats quite a drive! With that kind of distance you would probably be better off just grabbing some off ebay. I think people sell them pretty cheap on there still. myself and a few other people started making them because they were having physicians, nurses...etc reuse masks they wash, but a washed mask is still pretty nasty. Long story short, one day they didnt need any more and so now theres a box of them laying around my garage

Exactly! Virtue signaling is our highest virtue.

By the way, I had 3d printed a bunch of masks when there were shortages for a number of friends/family in health care work to their spec. I have a bunch left. If anyone wants a 3d printed mask and replaceable filter I will give you one or a few for FREE I just ask that you meet me in Knoxville. The link shows specifically what they are. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4225667

Typical Face coverings do nothing to prevent the spread of a virus 5 microns in size average. Especially the cloth covers they sell. Getting sick is as easy as exposing any amount of active virus to a mucus membrane. The greatest risk is contacting an infected surface and then contacting your face either directly or by proxy. From what I've seen the past few months the average person has no clue how to use gloves to prevent cross contamination.

Exactly, I dont encourage someone to buy an ar15, ak47, ar10....etc unless they have the money to spend. Most newbies just dont wanna drop that kind of money and most, in my experience, tend to miss a whole lot even at 15 yards. But if they ask and they have a few grand, then yeah, rifle pistol shotgun combo for sure. You're absolutely right that in a riot, civil unrest, SHTF sort of scenario you're gonna want to avoid and evade. Effective ranges will be close. Edit: not saying I encourage a rifle first. I always encourage buying a good handgun first or shotgun.

I have had several family and friends asking about owning their first firearms due to the recent riots, and money is usually a factor. My break down for them is usually this: if you're a decent shot or willing to train first buy a good used handgun and a good holster (m&p, glock, Springfield,..etc brands that are common and reliable even after heavy use). A handgun can be kept on you at all times, you have two free hands, and if you need to be out for whatever reason its concealable. Next get a decent shotgun like a mossberg 500. My reasoning is that first, they can be bought used for 300 bucks or less. Second, they are always gonna go bang even with a beating, and lastly they're not the best shots, and its a shotgun it's a one-and-done if you give a potential violent attacker a load of 00 to the chest. When asked what caliber/guage I usually say. "Whatever you can find the most of" and leave it at that. I have found most newbies will pay 450 for a used glock 17, but nearly throw up at the thought of paying 600 for a new one. I just try to keep them away from Taurus.

I would like to see numbers on how all the efforts made to prevent the spread effected the spread of other know communicable diseases. I cant find really good flu data anywhere. It's not apples-to-apples of course but it would be insightful.

The recent rioting and civil unrest has me thinking back to the days of when prepping for the "zombie apocalypse" was in vogue. The walking dead and a lot of media really helped to spur that on an imaginative level I would think. With the recent corona scare, whether it was legitimate or not, caused a lot of panic among the general populace leading to shortages in everything from toilet paper to batteries in some places. For myself, and many of my good friends, prepping has come back to the front of my mind. Generally speaking, as long as you have the unprepared, the opportunistic, and the interspecies preditor (which will be always) the metaphorical "zombie apocalypse" will always be real. I think that your question has become very relevant recently.