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welding helmets

ryoken

ryoken

Puppy Fabricator
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ok, bought my Millermatic 180.. now I'm shopping for a decent helmet... heck, mine isn't even auto-darken...

instead of buying a $59 harbor freight, I want to invest in a decent helmet... trying to see if I can pick up a $300, 400 piece for $200 or less... lots of deals out there...

my first instinct is a Speedglass.... I'd love the 9002x with side windows, but I'll settle for a nonsided one..

A few Miller elites kicking around under 200 too.. I'd consider the performance series for 100 to $125 or so too..

the last ones I'm looking at are the Jackson Next Gens..

What I'm mostly interested in here is brand faves... of those 3 companies, do any of you fulltime welders, *cough, Rene, Kert cough* prefer one brand over the other?
 
You wont be sorry with the Speedglas Paul... good call on the HF!
weldhelmet.jpg

Im not a fulltimer though.
 
cool, thanks, thats what I was hoping to hear...... :D

definitely seems to be more of them popping up at good deals then the Millers and Jacksons...

I'm sure all 3 are quality, but I've been leaning towards the Speedglas's... I always try to support 3M stuff, as my Dad worked there for 40 yrs...

one thing I learned in my research which I had NO idea of and thought was very interesting is the use of magnifying lenses? thought that sounded like it may be very helpful laying some nice bead in some circumstances... I'll have to pick up a couple different ones and try it out....
 
I love my Miller "JOKER" auto dark model helmet, very light and flexable. Full controls.
 
funny thing is, more of the joker ones seem to show up used than any other model... guess they sold more of them than others...

I'm patient, the right deal will come along...
 
The name brand helmets (I really like the speedglas) are way nice and are worth the money but I think it's good to have a cheapy HF kicking around for those jobs you know the helmet is going to get thrashed, or those jobs you know something is going to get thrown. Don't be afraid of the HF junk here, I have one that's seen the wall more than once and it still works just fine plus I'm not afraid of someone else using it.
 
bigblock72 said:
The name brand helmets (I really like the speedglas) are way nice and are worth the money but I think it's good to have a cheapy HF kicking around for those jobs you know the helmet is going to get thrashed, or those jobs you know something is going to get thrown. Don't be afraid of the HF junk here, I have one that's seen the wall more than once and it still works just fine plus I'm not afraid of someone else using it.
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Agreed, especialy for a back up if your battery goes out. I HATE using flip hoods.
 
We had speedglass helmets at college. I hated them. Corse they were prolly the cheapest auto darkeners you could get.

I have a Hobart and I love it. Headgear is decent overall helmet is light.
1648515_lg.jpg
 
I weld everyday. I am a fabricator and build off-road rigs for a living. I used to have a Speedglas 9002. Switched to a Miller Elite about a year ago and couldn't be happier. Nothing against Speedglas, I just prefer the Miller.

FWIW, I think that the Jackson Nexgens are excellent helmets as well. I bought my Miller on Ebay for around $235 with free shipping. Came with five inner and out lenses and a helmet bag. Can't beat the price IMO for what you get. Mine is the Auto-on helmet, but not the digital.
 
yeah, I think I'm gonna go the way of the reg elite.. it has a huge window, etc.. plus I just bought a Miller machine, so it's more convenient for parts... The Speedglass I really want, is bucks new... and after watching the "used" market, I think just dropping another $50 on new is the way I'm going...

I was gonna get a black one for about $225 on evilbay, but I said screw it, I'll go for something with some personality for like $250.... so I'm eyeballing the inferno...


MIL222669.jpg




but in all actuality, it got bumped down the priority list one... gonna wait about a month... the HF will have to do for a bit.. I decided to buy a plasma cutter first... pretty sure I'm going with the Parker...
 
Nice Helmet, seems to be the helmet of choice where I work.

Personally I use a large window Fibremetal, and always have. No batteries to worry about, not spendy to fix or replace, and I don't even have to treat it nice.

I'm old skool...

I only wear a helmet when I'm welding, I never wear one when fitting or grinding.

Rene
 
I love my speedglas even though i haven't used it yet. You just can't complain about anything that is FREE. :D
 
I looked hard at the speedglas's.. shopped em on the bay for about 6 weeks... 9002x's.. The problem was I couldn't get a really good deal on a used one.. even some of the ratty-er ones where over 200, I decided a new elite for 250 was a better deal... the flexview setup for the speedglas's looks pretty badarse, but they are nearly $500...

the elite works awesome, couldn't be more pleased with it....
 
We used to have Speedglas at work in our tool crib until 6 of them turned up missing one day. Then we got the el cheepo HF flip up. Needless to say I bought my own helmet.

Bruiser
 
I weld for a livin and never really cared for the auto lenses. Those speedglass helmets seem kinda chinsy for the money.

I got me a plain ole Jackson helmet w/ a shade 10 gold lens. Don't have to worry bout your filter being blocked and gettin flashed. The window is bigger on my Jackson. Plus it's cheap!
 
ryoken said:
I looked hard at the speedglas's.. shopped em on the bay for about 6 weeks... 9002x's.. The problem was I couldn't get a really good deal on a used one.. even some of the ratty-er ones where over 200, I decided a new elite for 250 was a better deal... the flexview setup for the speedglas's looks pretty badarse, but they are nearly $500...

the elite works awesome, couldn't be more pleased with it....
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It sounds like we did the same research as I also ended up with the exact same helmet. It is one of those things that now that I have it, I wonder how I got along without it and why I waited so long to get it.
 
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