Any welder should know that in regards to importance, right up there with the actual welder itself is the welding helmet. Just like you wouldn’t go into a buffet restaurant without your appetite, you wouldn’t dream of sparking that torch without something to protect your face and eyes. A welding helmet isn’t only for your safety, although that fact should be a no brainier, it also allows you to perform your job to the best of your ability. Instead of having to squint against the bright light and shirk away from the intense heat, and need we even mention sparks, with a quality helmet you will be more precise and able to prolong how much you work. Okay, this is most likely nothing new, or what you could have assumed whether you are a pro welder at this point or just starting out.
Today there are a wider array of welding helmets that you can choose from than in the past, and depending on your specific trade and level of experience, what suits your needs may be different from that of another. However, there are a few aspects and features that are across the board, well, just better. As technology in every field has progressed, the same is true in terms of welding; you don’t have to use the antiquated and outdated models that were the norm even a few years or decades ago. Case in point; if you are still without an auto-darkening lens you are missing out. With helmets of the past that didn’t have this feature, every time you lit up that arc and then turned it off you were forced to flip up that lens so that you could see properly. This is more than merely a nuisance, as it can make you a bit less steady and in fact impede your work quality. With an auto-darkening lens you can keep your helmet always in the same position and then keep both hands on that welder for maximum control.
These work because the lens will automatically (hence the name) recognize the difference between when you are actively welding and not and then adjust the variants of shades accordingly. So you will then be able to have visibility with a light shade, optimally about a level 3, to see clearly as you examine your work and then have your eyes protected when the arc is lit with a darker shade of say up to 12. But you may be saying, “I know it’s better but that means these helmets are going to be costing me an arm and a leg!” This is a valid point, and especially in the current state of our economy, but never fear because with further advancement does come a certain degree of price depression because more and more of these helmets are being noted as a necessity rather than a luxury.