“Our health care workers are at greater risk to be sure, but, I still think we need at least a billion N95 masks a month for the next few months, to return to some semblance of safety AND economic recovery.”
That number is about right. China is making 100M per day now (but we don’t get any), and Taiwan is making 10M per day (they didn’t listen to the FluBros and immediately ramped up mask production). The pillow guy is promising something like 50,000 per week - better than nothing, but not much.
It would be nice if some of our larger companies got busy trying to make masks, but knowing how things work there, they probably gave up once they saw that they couldn’t import the rubber needed for the straps (no one told them that non-elastic laces also work).
There are a number of synthetic rubber compounds which can be made from domestic petroleum supplies, to make straps. Tear resistance and tensile strength are poorer with most (esp. the cheaper compounds), however, those issues can be addressed. And, as you say, elastic is not a mandatory need for straps, although I consider it “better”.
The tough part with N95 masks is the media, and consistency of the media. That takes some fairly sophisticated, hard-to-get / expensive-to-get-it-right equipment, and good QC. There was a good article on this, on here, a while back. China has a lot of trouble with both.