A Prince George man’s new magnetic mask invention is taking off across North America.
Ian Sims invented ‘MagneMasque’ after he struggled to take his mask on and off during the cold winter months when he was often wearing a toque and/or hard hat.
“I just thought there’s got to be something better than this where I can just snap it around on the back of my head because this is driving me crazy taking it on and off all the time,” he explained.
Sims knew that magnets were a relatively non-invasive way to get things to stick together from his background in engineering, and figured it would work much better than velcro or any kind of polymer.
He says he got a lot of questions from people after developing his first prototype and ended up making a lot more for his friends that worked in Prince George’s construction industry.
“People can wear it with their hard hats and they have these high-visibility straps so they work perfectly for industrial application,” Sims explained.
However, construction workers aren’t the only ones that have been utilizing the mask, Sims says he has had excellent responses from his younger relatives as well.
“Finally these kids love their masks because they can stick them to the fridge or to the locker, they can do whatever they want with it and it’s just fun for them.”
Sims adds he was surprised when he found out that nobody had thought about this idea already, considering how long the pandemic has been going on.
All MagneMasque’s are manufactured in Prince George at Sim’s shop, and 90% of the materials used are sourced from Canada.
He now offers MagneMasque’s in different sizes and styles that offer different levels of protection, each mask has a removable strap that can snap on and off.
The masks have been sold in communities across BC, including Surrey and Kamloops and Sims just filled an order that’s being sent out to Phoenix, Arizona.
They range from $8.99 to $18.99 and can be purchased off the Simian Quantum website or magnemasque.ca.
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