SAVE PHACEAuto Darkening Welding Helmet Chameleon Gen-X Series - Welder Hood with 2nd Largest Viewing Mask for SMAC/MIG/TIG/SPOT - 2 ARC Sensors Solar Powered and Grind Mode

Well worth the money auto dark is quick, I haven't been flashed yet. Construction is light, maybe a bit flimsy, but the helmet is really comforting. The head band side knobs loosen up pretty quickly but simply turning both forward tightens easily so the helmet doesn't move out of position when wearing. I paid 69.00 for it and it's a bargain. It's a plain unpainted helmet but it does the job. If you want fancy paint jobs, and useless features this model is not for you. I use this 2-3 days. 4,-6,hours weekly and its held up nicely.

It’s okay for an auto dimming helmet, but it doesn’t feel very robust. The hardware is flimsy but seems sufficient given the light weight of the helmet. If you are looking for low cost welding protection, you could do worse.

(this is mostly just my overall opinion)It isn't a bad welding helmet (at least for a first-time buyer such as myself). It serves its purpose; it protects you, it looks cool, and you can customize it with whatever paint-job/design that you want. Very comfortable, easily adjustable, quick and easy lens change-out, and its ANSI approved as well.My only complaint was that it was slightly misleading as the box it came in said "shade 3/10"i thought it meant it would self-regulate between shades 3-10. Needless to say, I was wrong. The auto-shading lense is either at 3 or 10. There is no in-between. If that's what you want you would need to buy the more expensive, variable shading version of this helmet. Its damn near the same thing except (and I'm going off of it's own product description) you cant customize its look. The more expensive version goes from (i think) shade 9-13.I only went with this one (rather than the variable shade helmet) because i could customize it, i rarely need anything higher than shade 10, and changing lenses (i bought a shade 5 lense as well) is very quick and easy. I'm generally happy with buying this helmet, but there are better helmets out there if you're willing to pay extra.(I'm also aware of the fact that I tend to ramble on, just trying to give you guys as much help as I can)

This hood is by far the best bang for your buck out there. I’ve got an Esab Sentinel A50 hood and this one is just as comfortable as the $340 Esab. I love using this as a grinding hood by switching out the auto darkening lens for a fixed 3 shade or clear lens. You can change lens in about 45 seconds. Great hood!

I wish that the change was a little bit faster than it is. The change in darkening on the helmet is barely noticable unless you are doing a lot of spot welding relatively quickly. Its almost like it gets confused after 3 or 4 spot welds. Its is a great helmet for general use. Very light and plenty of adjustments.

This helmet is great in my opinion I used to have the Snap-on branded one but age did it in and I bought this one the only down side is not having the headgear the Snap-on one did I had to change the headgear to a Lincoln Viking 3 point head gear for it to fit with my hat on comfortably and not fall off other wise amazing helmet!

Very cool looking helmet that works wellA bit small on the viewing area but not bad for TIG weldingHave not tried with my MIG but assume it will be good with the side coverageFit is much better than my Harbor Freight $50 helmet - actually very comfortableI utilized small ORings and that seems to have resolved the side tension adjusters from loosening and allowing the helmet to flop down.I had considered the Gen Y with more adjustability but I really like the simplicity of this helmet and would not likely use all the adjustments of the Gen Y

I like the full face protection but can still see a wide angle of view