Is a powered respirator heavy? Does it hurt your neck?
The complete unit is 3.9 kg, but almost none of that is on your head. The blower, filter and battery sit on your belt and feed the hood through a hose. What your neck carries is the hood.
This is the question that decides whether a respirator gets worn or gets left on the bench, and the total weight of the product is close to useless for answering it. What matters is where the weight is.
The complete unit is 3.9 kg. The heavy parts — blower, filter, battery — are belt-mounted, and a hose carries the air up to the hood. Your neck and shoulders are supporting a hood, not a machine.
Compare that with a powered face shield, where the blower, filter and battery are all mounted on your head. Those are excellent for short bursts and they are quicker to put on. Over a full day they are a different experience, and it is the single thing to think hardest about before you choose either one.
The honest downsides of the belt-mounted design: there is a hose, and a hose catches on things. You are wearing a belt you have to remember to take off. And getting in and out of it takes longer than flipping a visor up.
Related questions
I have a beard and I wear glasses. Is there anything that works? Do I actually need a respirator for woodworking, or is that overkill? Does the carbon pre-filter mean it handles fumes? Should I spend on dust collection or a respirator first?The Breathie Thingy
A powered air-purifying respirator for woodworkers. $499 for the first 30 units of each batch, including a spare filter kit.
See the current batch