ResQVac masks vs the old red ones?

The softness thing stood out to me too, but in a different way. I first used mine on a trip when my dad started choking on a piece of steak at a hotel breakfast. Scary moment. I grabbed the ResQVac and honestly the soft mask was the reason I could even get it positioned right on him quickly. He was panicking and moving around, and a hard plastic mask would have been sliding all over his face. The soft edge kind of squished down and stayed put.

After that I started paying attention to how it sits. I’ve used it a couple more times since, once on my nephew when he got a grape stuck, and same deal, the soft mask formed to his face without me having to press hard. My old red one I kept in the car for years and the plastic always felt like it needed a lot of downward pressure. So for me the softer material actually helped with the seal, not hurt it.

I get the concern though. I wondered the same thing at first because soft stuff can feel less secure. But in practice it gripped better than I expected. I just make sure the mask is the right size and pressed flat before I pull. Maybe the only thing is the soft part gets a little worn looking after a while, but that hasn’t changed how it works for me.

I’ve got both sitting in a drawer, and the softness isn’t what I’d call the real difference. The old red one I used a couple times felt like it wanted to seal by brute force, you press hard and hope. The ResQVac mask is squishier but it actually forms around the face better in my experience. That said, nobody ever talks about how these things behave when someone’s panicking and thrashing around, which is the only scenario that matters. A soft mask is great on a calm test dummy. On a real person who’s clawing at their throat, the whole thing is awkward no matter what material it’s made of.

What bugs me more is the sizing. I’ve got the adult and child masks and there’s a huge gap between them. My nephew is nine and neither one sits right on him. The old red device had its own problems but at least it was one size fits most and you just dealt with it. Now I’ve got two masks and still can’t get a clean fit on a kid, which is supposedly half the point of buying the thing.

So no, I don’t think the softer material is the issue. The fit range is. You can squeeze a soft mask down all day and it won’t matter if the mask itself is the wrong size for the face in front of you.

Softer doesn’t automatically mean worse seal, in my experience the squishy ones kind of mold to the face instead of sitting on top of it. The old hard ones always seemed like they’d slide around more if anything.

Soft masks always felt like they’d slip around too much for me. I had a similar change with a different brand and honestly preferred the harder one because it stayed put. The soft one shifted once and I lost the suction, so I went back. Could just be how it sits on my face though.

The softness thing is interesting because my experience kind of went the other way. I got the ResQVac mainly because I wanted something in the house since my dad has swallowing issues after a stroke, and I figured a softer mask would be gentler on him. It is, no question there. But what surprised me was that I actually had a harder time at first telling if I had it positioned right compared to the rigid one we borrowed from a neighbor once. With the stiff plastic you can feel exactly where it is sitting because it does not give at all. With the squishy one it kind of settles in wherever it wants, which sounds nice but meant I kept second guessing myself during practice runs on a pillow, which is what the instructions suggested for getting familiar with it.

After maybe four or five practice sessions I stopped noticing it honestly. Your hands just learn where to put it and the squish stops being a factor. So my take is the material is not really the thing that decides whether you get a seal, it is whether you have actually handled the thing more than once. The old red one we borrowed sat in a closet for years and nobody ever practiced with it either, so I am not sure the hard plastic was doing anyone any favors just by being firm.

I do think the softer masks feel less scary if you are using it on a kid though. That part I would not trade.

I’ve had the ResQVac for about six months and the soft mask hasn’t given me seal issues. It actually stays put better on my kid’s face than the hard red one did. The soft feel threw me off at first too, but it’s fine.

Soft masks are better for sealing, not worse. I’ve used a couple different suction devices over the years and the hard plastic ones were always the problem for me. They don’t flex at all, so if the face isn’t the exact right shape you end up with gaps around the edges. The softer ones kind of mold to whatever you’re pressing them against. I get why it feels weird at first since they don’t have that solid rigid feel, but that give is exactly what helps them sit flush. The slip issue people mention usually comes from not getting enough of the mask centered before pushing down, at least in my experience. Anyway, the material difference is real but I’d take soft over hard any day for getting a decent seal.

Soft definitely took some getting used to for me. I don’t think soft means a worse seal though, if anything the hard red one felt like it was sliding around more on me. I’ve only used mine a handful of times for practice, so that’s about all I’ve got.

Hard plastic gave me a worse seal, not better.

I went the other direction and actually prefer the softer feel on mine. My old red one always felt like it was digging in around the face, which made me hesitant to press down properly. The squishy one just kind of molds where it needs to, so I stopped fighting it.