Ok first and foremost there was already a thread from back in 2009. Well it was just showing pictures of what people were using. So instead of reviving an old thread I figured I would start a new one where we can actually talk about our helmets along with more technical talk about what lenses to use for what material and not just show pictures. Though pictures are welcome.

So have having my wirefeed welder for some time and only using a cheap hf auto tint hemet i broke down and dropped a little cash to my Snap-on guy when he told me he would drop the price for me and be able to put it on my truck account. So i ended up getting the extreme face protector that comes with a clear lense, #10 shade fixed welding lense, and also a #10 adf welding lense for $250. One thing i like most about this helmet is the field of veiw. It goes from side to side not just a little box. On my adf lense its still has the box for the auto area but still has the full veiw. Pretty nice i think.
Now i have heard talk of others saying they have different colored lense shields like gold. The one on my adf lense is a nice metalic blue. My question is whats the different colored lenses for, is there a difference between them, or is it just personal preference? . Well here are a couple pictures of my new eye saver .

That is one bad ass hood! Wish I had a good excuse to buy one. I just can't justify it because I only weld a few times a year. I was thinking about the auto tint shield from HF myself. What was your opinion of it?

Looks like a really nice hood man. I bought a Jackson NexGen a few years ago and love it. Be sure to buy a helmet bag to store it in if you don't already have one.

Harbor freight auto helmet.4 years old and still going.

I had a cheaper auto darkening helmet in the past, it worked great when mig welding, but it would always turn off while tig welding. After alot of research, I bought the Nexgen based off of other's reviews. I decided it was worth the $2-300 investment to keep my vision

I use Harbor freight racing stripe auto blink helmet. Just as good as the sperian and Millers that my school stocks. I use my helmet mostly on tig.

almost looks like spiderman.
I've had the HF hood, kobalt hood (from lowes) and miller. Also used one from Mac tools.

The HF was good for stick/mig however once you get into tig you need to be able to read the puddle a lot better as it's more about precision on tig. The kobalt hood was $99 and I thought I was getting a good upgrade, but it was about the same (slightly better) than the HF hood. So I borrowed my dads hood he got years ago from Mac tools. Made by Jackson. Literally night/day difference. So I went out and bought the miller for $18x from cyberweld.com and I couldn't be happier. I will never use a Harbor freight one again.

My next one is going to be a miller digital elite when the time comes.

I use the miller elite stars and stripes! Miller | ELITE Series Welding Helmet - Stars and Stripes II?
It has the biggest welding view out there and i love this! Next on my list is the boyd coddington helmet or another american flag one.

Gamble97 said:

almost looks like spiderman.
I've had the HF hood, kobalt hood (from lowes) and miller. Also used one from Mac tools.

The HF was good for stick/mig however once you get into tig you need to be able to read the puddle a lot better as it's more about precision on tig. The kobalt hood was $99 and I thought I was getting a good upgrade, but it was about the same (slightly better) than the HF hood. So I borrowed my dads hood he got years ago from Mac tools. Made by Jackson. Literally night/day difference. So I went out and bought the miller for $18x from cyberweld.com and I couldn't be happier. I will never use a Harbor freight one again.

My next one is going to be a miller digital elite when the time comes.

Click to expand...

Going digital isnt really all that good! I would just stick with the normal controls inside, ive heard mixed reviews of them breaking and not breaking, thats why i never got the digital one. Never uad any issues with my normal elite.

My hf hood worked for me for the time being but as the old adage goes " you get what you pay for". I felt that when it comes to my eye sight i would rather spend some money. Havent got to use my new hood yet since i got home and probably wont. And as for the hf hood im keeping it for a spare because it worked it just has a small field of view that and i found that it liked to darken and lighten some of the time when it really shouldnt have. My new Snap-on hood claims 180° field of veiw. So that alone should be ten times better. Also i noticed a difference in weight as the hf hood is heavier than my Snap-on. Also the Snap-on hood came with a bag for the hood and also seperate sleaves for the two extra lenses.

The snap on xfp is cool i've had one for 3 years. I would not use it for a all the time helmet tho since it's extremely uncomfortable and the built in scratch protector on the lens sucks and starts pitting off ASAP. The adf sucks balls and i was always getting flashed cause it only has two sensors. I still love my fixed lens. I just bought a new fixed lens helmet from matco since i was tired of the snap on and have not been able to find my lincoln helmet. I will be buying a speedglas helmet next.

After all the high and low end auto tints and manny many cases of flash burn and other troubles with sweating in the electronics and so on i've gone back to the most simple red welding helmet i have, I buy good lenses and put in the proper shade forthe amperage i'm running (i actually have two cheap helemts) one with a #9 and one with now a #12, both in the standard green tinting.

I've tried the gold, the blue and such and didn't like the way it effected my vision of the bead, so i went back to the most basic stuff there is and i'm the happiest that way

I actually landed what might turn out to be a great account today. I was at the ducati dealer buying oil for a customer bike and then heard them talking about needing a case set welded or it was gonna be thousands to replace them with parts and labor so in the morning i head over to weld up some parts, if this works out i may either land that permanent spot i've been wanting with them or at least have some fairly steady work (if you know bikes and racing you'll know about how much work i'm talking about )

Here are a few pics of mine, it's a Lincoln Eclectic Auto-darkening.

So they took a Paintball Mask, and turned it into a Welding Helmet, sweet!

I have a JT whole head mask, i wonder if i can cover it in CF, and turn it into one.

For MIG welding and plasma cutting auto tints the way to go. I use a miller auto tint with the flame pattern, and it has a good sized window. I wish it went down to a shade 8 for cutting.

And TIG I love my Jackson hood with a gold shade, I run a 10 for most stuff but have a 12 I swap in for higher amp stuff.

The gold shade does not put a green tint on everything, its nice and easy to see all the detail.

At work I use a speed glass 9k series hood set to 12 and I play with the sensitivity to avoid flashing. Lucky for me I am MIG welding with 300amps at 30volts.

I have had my miller auto tint flash me while TIG welding so I only use it if I have to.

My miller flashed me once or twice while doing SS, didn't have the sensitivity on high and I also put in a new lens because the last one was dirty. No problems since then, but then again haven't done any SS. I keep my shade as light as possible.

$30 Jackson helmet has got me through every welding challenge I have ever faced. I melted the top corner doing an overhead fillet weld on aluminum and the ridge by the shade is eroding from spatter hitting it but it is always reliable. Never understood the need or want for an auto darkening helmet.

Well this hood isnt just the adf. It also came with #10 lense that does not auto darken so i can go back and forth if i want to. Tried it out last night breifly for a couple of minutes and im happy with it so far. When i get home from work tomorrow i will take a picture of the hood along with the other two lenses for you guys to see.

Don't forget the spiffy little bag they give you.

Yes i must not forget the spiffy bag along with the two sleaves for the extra lenses. Though i must say the bag looks like a cheaper version of the bags icon helmets come with . Though it protects it nonetheless. I did notice that the hood tells you to store it where it can get light all the time but hows that suposed to do anything if you keep it in the bag?

As promised here is a picture with what came with my new hood. used it this past weekend and must say i like it alot.

Where are you guys buying them?

Probably the Snap-On truck.

jjrock5 said:

Probably the Snap-On truck.

Click to expand...

Absolutely correct or if not off the truck go to there website... you just wont get cut deals online like you will on the truck

I'm not a mechanic and have no clue how to find a snap on vendor. Oh well guess I'll search for a different style.

Go to Snap-on: Hand Tools, Power Tools, Tool Boxes, Automotive Diagnostics and Shop Equipment or search for extreme face protector. Then there is no need to find a Snap-on dealer