Auto darkening welding helmet for $35 on Ebay

[Laminarman]

I purchased an auto darkening helmet on Ebay for $35 and it's GREAT. Cheapo but works and quality better than expected. I could kick myself for buying my brother in law a "real one" for $199 last year (not much difference). This is just for your info guys/gals, hope it helps. Last I checked there was more than one helmet for sale. I paid the "buy it now" price as well.

 

[Henro]

Glad you got something that works for you at a bargain price!

Myself, I now have a Jackson NexGen and it is much better than the first auto darkening helmet I bought, in a rush, for my stick welding class last year.

I have both...now...but the NexGen is soooooo much better....of course, it cost seven times what you paid, so I would say you did good... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[PineRidge]

Laminarman at $35.00 you got a bargain. I picked one up at Harbor Freight last year for $60.00 and they really do make stick welding a lot easier. In my case it's a so much easier to strike an arc and get on the right track. Before the auto darkening feature I had a real problem starting a bead where it needed to be.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

I'm a huge fan of the auto darkening helmet I have and it was a lot more than $35 (maybe five times that much).

 

[slowrev]

I got the $60.00 one at Harbour Freight last year too. Just great, easy to just reach up and adjust the knob to see the pool no matter what you are welding. I saw some expensive ones at the AG equipment show in Louisville this spring that had the adjustment on the inside, did not like that idea much....

 

[agood]

Which helmet was it?...I looked on ebay and there are hundreds in that price range...I want to get the one you got to make sure I get a good one....who know how well the others work.
Thanks

 

[Laminarman]

I got the same one as Item# 4311005220. I noticed the price is up to $43 now, but there are a lot on there for sale. I don't think you can go wrong. I'm sure the Miller or Hobart units are better and will last longer, but for what I use it for (MIG welding about 6x a year) I can't see spending that much money. Good luck.

 

[slowrev]

Not so sure about the cheaper Hobart hood. Saw one at TSC for a bit over 100.00 and it was exactly the same as my 60.00 Harbor freight hood with a Hobart sticker. The upperscale Hobarts might be another story though.

 

[Laminarman]

I don't know much about helmets, but I imagine when parts go bad they're hard to replace or find? For $35 I won't complain.

Maybe somebody can tell me why a $200 helmet is better (if it is). I know why I think my NH is better than a Koyker, but not sure about the helmets.

 

[Henro]

<font color="blue"> Maybe somebody can tell me why a $200 helmet is better (if it is). </font>

My Jackson NexGen is better than my other auto-darkening helmet because I can see things better through it.

Also the color is different. The first one is green, the Jackson is gold...I like the gold better. Seems to make viewing the puddle better for my eyes.

The Jackson is just so much nicer for some reason. I think you have to try different helmets and see for yourself. It is the helmet and your head that really tells the tale, not the price paid. THat being said, for some reason I like the more expensive of the two helmets I own...I like it a lot more...but can't defend why really. I just do.