Lets talk about welding helmets. These aren't trivial.
What I have seen is that whatever the price they will have the same weak, shitty plastic interior which distorts and does not allow the helmet to be reliably tipped in place by the movement of the head.
In mine my nose is actually square in the window and touches the glass and fogging is a huge problem, sometimes I need to weld holding my breath. And sommetimes I don't see where I am going.
I have all kinds of choices when it comes to color but would prefer a wider headband for comfort during longer use.
Do I just have the wrong selection at the hardware store?? Is there anything better out there??
IMHE, you can fix this by buying a $300 helmet like my Neiderman, which has a lovely "hat". You can spot this design from the outside, because one side has two knobs, one to adjust the tipped down position.
OTOH, I don't use it, preferring to use the $75 "Happy Shopper" helmet with the retaining nut that pokes up my nostril and the hinge that won't stay in place. It does however have a lens that works rather better !
From my experience, welding helmets are like web sites. The less you spend, the better they are.
The best helmet I had for years was a Fibremetal that had a chin bar to stop the helmet coming down too far. Dropping a crane load on it finished it. That was over thrity years ago. I find that head bands seem to be weak in design. The ratchets fail, the unit slips all over my sweaty skull, and the hinge friction is either too much or too little. I tend to favour Jackson but my latest one was a unknown import that seems to be holding up. It is light plastic and no good for overhead. Randy
A hood is a combination of its components. Lens. Headband. Adjusters. Cover.
I have known welders that used those thin light cheesy hoods that had pieces of tire inner tubes for head band tensioners. I know welders who used nothing but Huntsmans. The hood had nothing to do with the way they could weld.
A hood has to fit your head. I wear a 7 5/8 hat, so I have either an enormous brain, or a thick skull. Tests were inconclusive. Some people have big ears, big nose, high cranial crown, big hair, etc. One size does not fit all. I have a NexGen EQC on a Jackson, and the Jackson will barely hold it up without falling down unless I tension it so tight that I have to move it down with my hand. I hate it, and am replacing it with the Huntsman
951.
A hood has to fit into your work, too. A hood that is good for standing and doing repetitive welds on a production line might not be good for the constant change of position on a pipeline. In some circumstances, a small lens is good, and in others, you would want a large lens. Sometimes you need a hood that comes lower to protect that vee of skin your shirt collar doesn't. Or you have to make a leather snood for the helmet. Some helmets are mounted on hard hats. Some hoods don't allow for enough adjustment to look up or down far enough.
Bottom line, end of story ................... whatever works for you and your fat/skinny head. One size does not fit all. That is why there are so many manufacturers. And so many of those cute little Comeaux hats to fill up the gaps.
You really need to try some different hoods on. Each manufacturer gets the specs a little different.
The most comfortable hoods I have ever used were Speedglas hoods. Part of that is that they use the lightest weight shell of any company, but hey also tended to have decent headgear.
I have a Jackson Nexgen in a Huntsman 951P hood now, and I do like it better than the Jackson hood it came in, but I still find I have to replace the headgear every 9 months or so. The ratchets just wear out.
Nobody seems to make a long lasting head ratchet anymore. Fibermetal had good ones for a while and then Jackson, but now I can't find one that even lasts a year.
The auto-darkening helmet from Harbor Freight is a good value. Keep in mind that I've welded all of three hours so far, but it's definatly a much better helmet than the flip-down types. I'm sure its not as nice as the more expensive ones, but for $50.00 it's a really good deal and I'd certainly recommend it to anyone who doesn't have an auto-dark helmet.
I settled on the solar powered one, with a knob on the side and two little switches on the inside (sensitivity and reaction speed). I'm pretty sure it was the 46092-7VGA. It usually goes from about $100 (US), but it was on sale for about $50. I've tried the one down from that, the most inexpensive auto-dark helmet HF carries, but I had a real hard time seeing the weld. It was too bright no matter how dark I set the lense. It didn't have the knob on the side, but a little one on the inside of the helmet, which was a real bother to adjust w/gloves on.
First, ditch the fuzzy crap they put on the headband. I'm now on raw plastic, and life is great. The fuzzy crap forces you to over-tighten the ratchet and it keeps slipping anyway. It got to the point where it was irritating my skin. Finally, after going to bare plastic, things actually got better. Now the band adheres to my forehead at much lower "torque" settings, and it doesn't irritate my skin.
Manufacturers should explore this avenue by contouring the edges of the plastic to make this even more comfortable. My headband seems to be this way, and is therefore much more comfortable. The fuzzy crap is now at the bottom of a toolbox drawer somewhere.
On the subject of nose in the lense, I had to fiddle with the various adjustments on the helmet to get it right. It turns out that moving the lense closer to my face was the solution. It improved peripheral vision and reduced light coming in from the bottom and sides of the helmet. The bottom of the lens receptacle rests on the end of my nose and this allows the humid exhalation to be directed in the pocket below it.
Manufacturers could probably put a slight indentation on the lower edge of the lense receptacle that allow the bridge of the nose to fit. This would be close to a set of glasses. They'll likely bugger it up by putting more of that fuzzy crap.
A chin rest would be great, although it is doubtful they'll get it univesally correct. They will probably put too many adjustment features that will defeat it's original design intent, or put more fuzzy crap on it. Today's Dilbert is spot on.
I used to like mine when I welded offshore. It reminded me of what I had left back on the beach. I even slept with that helmet on occasion ........................
I love my Optrel OSE Satellite. Comfortable head band, easy to flip down, lots of room for my face, good field of view, light, easy to use controls, has an easy to use "grinding/cutting" setting.
I have a Huntsman 951-P I just got off Ebay and am not familiar with different hoods, so, I'd appreciate a comment on the virtue of putting, I guess, a Jackson Nexgen [lens ?] in the Huntsman hood.
The next time I go to the welding store ..... and they have one ........ I am going to pick up just that hood. The Jackson that houses the Nexgen is a good helmet, but the ratchets don't hold up the heavy lens very good. I have heard nothing but good about the Huntsman from people who have used it a lot. I believe it will solve the problem of the hood falling/creeping down on me. Then I will have two Jacksons sitting there doing nothing. Oh, well, there's always ebay ............
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