8 Things To Consider When Choosing A Welding Helmet – 2024 Guide

Whenever on the market for a new welding helmet, a few things exist that will make the selection process that much easier. Although the process can seem very overwhel

ming, this simple guide will teach you everything you need to know.

So without further ado, let’s start.

1. Make Sure You Can See

It would be ideal to look for a welding helmet that has a larger viewing area as opposed to a narrower. Professional welders look at this the most whenever considering their options.
Not only that, but you have to go for one that has high-class optics. And there are a few reasons why this is the case. For starters, a larger viewing area means you get to see more. High-quality optics, on the other hand, will make sure you do the job with greater visibility, efficiency, and quality.

The technology that some of these helmets utilize will make sure you see everything as if you didn’t have the helmet on. The protection glass can sometimes smear your sight due to poor quality. And that is why you should always go for high-quality optics as opposed to poor quality ones.

2. A Powerful Lens For A Better Job

There are a few things that you need to know about the lens of the helmet. The first one is the fact that it’s completely irrelevant to look at the number of photosensors for auto-darkening. Some of you might think that the more sensors the easier it is to look. But that’s not really true as it all has to do with how powerful the lens is. Truthfully speaking, don’t make the rookie mistake of going for a welding helmet that has more auto-darkening sensors and poor lens quality.

Having a powerful lens will make sure you see the welding art even if it illuminates on 1 amp of power.

3. Comfortability Is Important

No one wants to work with a welding helmet that offers no comfortability. Since you’ll be spending most of the time working under the helmet, why wouldn’t you go for a unit that offers greater comfortability?

This one is very important for professional welders that indeed spend hours in a welding helmet. The perfect product would be one that has multiple adjustable head points on the harness. This will make sure that any size of the head fits the helmet and even offer protection to the neck area.

4. Is the Helmet Versatile?

A lot can be said about helmet versatility when buying a specific product. This might confuse some of you as welding helmet versatility determines how suitable the helmet is for a wide range of different situations.

This item is meant to do one thing and one thing only. But certain items can perform under multiple circumstances. For example, you might need a helmet that offers protection from rain and one that has a front-flip visor. This product offers two types of protection, one against the elements and the other one against grinding.

If this is the sort of versatility you’re looking for, then make sure to specify that whenever on the market. And whenever looking for welding helmets online, make sure to give welding.com.au a visit.

5. Are Switching Speeds Important?

If you’re not a professional welder then chances are you are unfamiliar with the concept of switching speed.

Switching speed is how fast the lens switches shades. It calculates the time between your normal shade to a shade 3 or 4. The calculations are done in milliseconds, with the optimal range usually being up to 3,600. With that said, some poor quality helmets change shades up to 25,000 milliseconds, and those aren’t the types of helmets you should go for.

One more thing to note as switching speeds is an important, or even integral, part of this job. So, in the ideal world, you would want to go for something that offers professional-level switching speeds.

6. What About the Type of Power?

Certain auto-darkening products come with a power source. This can be a battery or it can be solar assist panels. The choice of battery also varies as there non-replaceable batteries and replaceable ones.

All three options have their pros and cons. Replaceable batteries can be lithium or AAA. Lithium batteries are more expensive, offer greater durability, and are overall a better option. AAA batteries don’t cost as much but their lifespan is drastically shorter.

Solar assist panels are self-rechargeable and offer a more cost-effective method of power. But overall, most people go for either AAA or lithium batteries.

7. Weight Is Also Important

How would you make the perfect buy if we didn’t talk about weight? Weight is very important as it can make or break your whole experience.

Make no mistake about it; some welding helmets can be very lightweight while others can be the exact opposite. And the former should be the type to go for every single time.

Lightweight helmets are overall better because they don’t put any sort of strain on your body. The neck area is the usual place that suffers the most whenever wearing a heavy piece.

Overall, always go for the most lightweight option for your budget.

8. Is Style Important?

And now we come to the last thing to consider which is the style of the thing.
When it comes to style, there are two types out there. You have the passive and the auto-darkening. While we did talk about the latter, we didn’t say a word about the former. The passive is the most common type out there. It is also the oldest type and it works pretty straightforward.

This helmet has a darkening lens of a shade mark of 10. It gets easier to see and you can observe darker areas when the helmet is in a down position.

Since you can’t select shades on this helmet, you will need to remove it to see when inspecting the work. This is where most people disagree with this option. This is also the reason why auto-darkening is the best type of welding helmet out there.