Welding helmets and welding blankets

Basically the same here. Some model Miller helmet and a harbor freight firecatcher.
 
I just got a 3M Speedglas 100v. I like it alot so far. I'd say it's a hair lighter than the miller helmets and I prefer the headgear on the speedglas over the miller helmets. The only downside is you'll probably have to order replacement lenses offline.
 
Got a Miller you can try before buying if you want.
 
Not sure which model it is.
I would go to Roberts oxygen instead of airgas. I got hooked up with them by and old friend years ago and they are a lot more small guy friendly than airgas in my experience. They are down the road that runs beside northern tool.
 
I have a miller elite also with HF blankets and have no issues. I do like the speedglas helmets because they seem to fit a little tighter all around the face and head to make things easier in tight places.
 
It really personal preference on the helmets. Each manufacturer has its own color, and are all slightly different.

I found my eyes like a blue green color lens much better than orange or yellow green. I found this by trying many different brand lenses in my Jackson fixed shade helmet.

The only auto dark helmet I have found with similar color is my Jackson w70 bh3. It is very blue compared to others.

Lincoln/viking are very nice for the money and are a deep green.

Miller are a more yellow green, similar in color to 3m speedglass.

I have a jackson, 3m speedglas, Lincoln viking, and a miller's auto dark, and a Jackson fixed shade with a gold coated #11 green lens.

The 3m headgear is the best, and has side windows that are great for confined space work. I'm not a huge fan of the color, and these are expensive.

The miller/Hobart is a good helmet but not great.

The Lincoln is better than miller in my opinion as the color and clarity of the lense seem better. Headgear is about the same.

The Jackson autodark ha the best lens by far, but is pretty expensive, but the Headgear sucks badly.

If I were buying again right now, I'd buy Lincoln viking, or Jackson.

There are cheaper Jackson auto darkening helmets with smaller lens sizes, just make sure you get one with the balder technology to get the super clear lens.

With all that said, nothing offers the clarity of a fixed shade glass lens.
 
tknopp said:
I got a fancy Hobart. Its nice but to be honest I dont think its any better than the 49 dollar ones Harbor freight sells.
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Interesting. There was a huge difference between my Harbor Freight one and my Miller one. I never use the HF one anymore.
 
We had to literally bury the fiberglass harbor freight blanket in the ground and pull it out several times and then leave it out in the weather for a few weeks for some itch relief... Still kinda itchy but it works well as long as you ain't touching it.

Auto darkening helmet for sure. (Don't think they even make them any other way now???) Even the harbor freight version works well. I like the solar power best (as opposed to battery power) for it works every time with a touch of a button. 2 years now with both from HF myself but I'm a leisure welder only, not a daily welder.
 
Jeep_parts said:
@ecoast
how often do you weld? is it worth $140? what's the con's of it?
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I used to weld every day, burn through 50# of 7018 and 6011 on a daily basis and used a $20 helmet and a nice quality gold (sometimes red) lense.

I don't think frequency of use is that important rather than comfort and ease of use and how well it helps you do your work.

I had auto darkening helmets, some cheap, some $$$$... I always found myself using the $20 helmet 95% of the time with the other 5% being because of a broken lense or something stupid and not because of the auto darkening feature.
 
Just picked up a Miller Classic at a local welding supplier. After looking at northern tool last night I decided to go else where.
I wanted to try on the helmets at Northern but they either have them in a sealed plastic or zip tied to the display rack.
Maybe this Miller will do its job and last awhile.

**Thanks to everyone that posted on this thread***
Ill be using the miller helmet today and let everyone know my thoughts on it soon
 
My old Miller's been doin' work for about 8 years now, and I still love it. I wouldn't mind a new one. Bigger window, better optics, etc. But for the use its given me, I can't complain. It's light and comfortable, rarely flashes me, and works when I need it.

BTW, that's not dust. It's smoke from welding with dual-shield wire. Fun stuff.
 

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Little late but i own three helmets and wore out or broke a few others, none auto. I am another gold covered lens user. It never has dead batteries or malfunctions. My favorite is a cheap Jackson with a small lense and a flip cover to use for grinding. I almost never use a clear shield and my head and neck are much better protected. I don't like the really large view lenses. The electronic ones leave me filling more fatigued at the end of the day. Some reason my eyes don't like the way they switch. I tend to use one shade on all processes, however on critical GTAW and stainless I go to a specifc shade.
 
General welding and protection i use old leather swatches from a furniture manufacturer. They never leave particles behind and don't matt up with shaving and debris. Very flexible,fold up and no itchy man made fibers and such.
 
Mac5005 said:
The only auto dark helmet I have found with similar color is my Jackson w70 bh3. It is very blue compared to others.
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X100. I never liked auto darkening helmets because they were not real clear compared to the fix shade helmets. One day I was at the welding supply store and the guy behind the counter was talking about that helmet so I put it on. Instantly fell in love with the balder series. I bought the smarTIGer and love it. I plan on buying another one just for GTAW that will stay clean and clear so I wont have to replace shields every time I go from overhead mig to tig.
 
I as of late purchased a Lincoln Viking 3350; it's twice what you paid for the Kobalt, however it's awesome and the view is brilliant through it. It likewise won't trigger on daylight, so it very well may be utilized external successfully.
 
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