by Welding is a common occurrence in almost any workshop.
Whether you are a full-timer or a weekend warrior, you will need a welding helmet to protect you.
Welding without protection inflames the cornea, causing a condition doctors call ‘arc eye’.
Without adequate protection, you risk retina burns.
This can lead to loss of vision.
And, the UV rays emanating from the arc causes a lot of skin problems like discoloration and premature aging.
Luckily, there are many products on the market that will protect you from the above.
However, with so many helmets to choose from, it becomes difficult to judge which one is right for your needs.
That’s where our top picks & buyer’s guide come to your rescue.
Spoiler Alert - Check out my top choice here >>Top Rated Welding Helmets
5 Best Welding Helmets Reviewed
#1. Lincoln Electric VIKING 3350 Welding Helmet
If you are looking for the best welding helmet that appeared on the market, you should definitely try the Lincoln Electric VIKING 3350.
By taking a look at the Lincoln Electric VIKING 3350 you will find out that this helmet is great and among the best that are on offer.
There are so many characteristics that makes this helmet a winner among all the other helmets and one of its top qualities is the view size, which is twice wider than on most other helmets.
Besides the amazing view size, the Lincoln Electric VIKING 3350 possesses the cartridge with 1/1/1/1 optical rating, meaning that it has passed through various tests during which certain qualities such as the extent of distortion, the degree of clarity, uniformity of shade, and consistency of viewing angles were measured and checked.
The best rating is 1, on a scale of 3, and the Lincoln Electric VIKING 3350 got four 1s for all the categories tested.
That way, it has been turned into a welding helmet that will make those working with it both safe and quality workers.
Furthermore, what makes the Viking 3350 great are its lens with very low switching time.
In order to show why the switching time is important, we should say that it represents the time necessary that the lens go from light to dark.
The less time is taken, the better experience and higher eyes protection there is.
This is an excellent characteristic, especially for those people who spend hours welding as the negative effect on their eyes is minimized.
What makes it even better is the fact that it has an internal shade, sensitivity, and delay control.
The light shade state for the Lincoln Electric VIKING 3350 is 3.5, meaning that it is lighter than most other welding helmets.
The helmet has four arc sensors which are used so that the shade does not flicker in the case of any obstructions and there is a chance of attaching a magnifying lens of various magnification levels in order to be able to see fine elements in detail.
If you want to test whether the auto-darkening filter lens is functioning, then you can try with the test mode.
A 3-year warranty is a great plus.
Even though there are so many advantages, there are also some disadvantages that come with this helmet.
One of them is that it is more expensive than other welding helmets, even though its features are in accordance with the price.
However, for a welder who is often working and needs to have a quality helmet, spending that amount of money is not considered wasting.
Another disadvantage is that its weight is 54 ounces, meaning that it is twice heavier than other helmets.
Besides these two weaknesses, all the other characteristics are great and it is definitely the best welding helmet on offer.
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Pros
- Quick switching time
- Great warranty period
- Sensors and auto test button
Cons
- Quite expensive
- Weight
#2. Antra AH6-260-0000 Welding Helmet
So as to be able to find the welding helmet whose characteristics and price would suit you, you should go through many of them offered and compare and contrast them.
For some welders, the Viking 3350 is too expensive to afford, so they decide for a less expensive Antra AH6-260-0000 Welding Helmet.
It would definitely be in accordance with your budget, as it is the best welding helmet for the money.
Still, you cannot expect the same tech specifications as in the Viking 3350, but this economy model has its place among the best.
The first thing that makes it different is view size, which is not as wide as in the Viking 3350.
When we take a look at the optical clarity, while the Viking 3350 has 1/1/1/1, the Antra helmet’s results are 1/2/1/2, showing that clarity and viewing angles are weaker, while sensitivity and delay control are almost the same.
If we compare the light state shade, it is 4 making the Antra helmet darker than the Viking’s.
Both helmets have 4 arc sensors, auto test button to check whether the auto-darkening filter lens is functioning, and grind mode.
The Viking 3350 has higher quality, but the Antra AH6 is 70 percent lighter making the experience more comfortable, as you would not feel it on your head.
The greatest advantage of the Antra AH6-260 is definitely the price.
It is 6 times cheaper than the Viking and for that more affordable price you will get the best auto darkening welding helmets on the market.
The difference in price is due to the fact that Lincoln Electric is a famous brand while Antra is not.
The producer gives just 1-year warranty, which should definitely be longer.
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Pros
- Great price
- Cheaper than other
- Weight
Cons
- Not famous brand
- Short warranty period
#3. Jackson Safety BH3 W70 Auto Darkening Welding Helmet
The third helmet on this list is the Jackson Safety BH3 W70 Auto Darkening Welding Helmet.
One of the great things about the producer of this helmet- Jackson Safety is that they give a five-year warranty which is quite a long period of time.
The warranty time is even longer than the one that Lincoln Electric offers, and Jackson Safety is not such a famous brand.
However, the disadvantage is definitely the price, as the quality requires that the product is more expensive.
This is the right product for you if you appreciate the quality and do not consider it waste of money to pay more for it.
Even though the W70 does not possess many features, those that it has are of a very high quality and one of them is the ADF with Balder Technology which will give you the clearest view.
Furthermore, the W70 reached the greatest results and it possess the 1/1/1/1 cartridge, so the visibility and color recognition are amazing.
Additionally, it has ANSI Z87.1+ standards, where the “+” stands for high quality.
When it comes to some other weaknesses, the sensitivity is not so great as in the AH6-260 and the Viking 3350, there is one range of shade selection and only 2 arc sensor.
Also, it does have delay and sensitivity control and this model does not include a battery.
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Pros
- Great optical clarity
- Weight
- Long warranty period
Cons
- High price
- 2 arc sensors
- Lack of battery
#4. Jackson Safety SmarTIGer W40 Welder’s Helmet
You have a need to buy a welding helmet with great visual quality, but you do not have enough high budget to provide the one that is branded and far too expensive, than this model is definitely for you.
The Jackson Safety W70 model is so good that the producers offered the 5-year warranty, proving the fact that they believe in the quality of this product.
What makes it different from the previously mentioned model of the same producer is that the W40 comes with a 1/1/1/3 cartridge, where “3’ stands for bad angular dependence.
Those who work on a fixed viewing angle would not have trouble working with it.
Furthermore, the disadvantage of this model is that it does not have delay control, whose aim is to define the time it takes for the lens to switch from dark to light.
If this switch from dark to light too happens too early, the brightness can hurt your eyes.
When it comes to sensitivity and shade control, the W40 boasts a sensitivity of 0.15 milliseconds.
Comparing it to other helmets, it can be said that this is a helmet only for people working at a fixed viewing angle and this makes it less of a quality.
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Pros
- Good price for quality
- Long warranty period
Cons
- Lack of grind mode
- Bad rating for angular dependence
- Lack of delay setting
#5. Instapark ADF Series GX-350S Welding Helmet
The first positive thing which attracts attention when this model of welding helmets is in question is the fact that the Instapark ADF Series GX-350S has very affordable price.
It is a budget welding helmet and it has a great price for the quality that it can boast of.
But, if you decide that the Instapark ADF Series GX-350S is the one for you, you should bear in mind the fact that it is low-cost product, so some of the features might be missing or are not so well developed as in those more expensive models.
The first disadvantage is definitely the manual sensitivity and delay selection.
It does not possess the manual sensitivity, which means that the helmet automatically sets the parameters and they might not be appropriate for you.
The good things are that the shade selection is manual and the cartridge’s optical rating is 1/1/1/2.
If we speak more about the qualities and features that the Instapark ADF Series GX-350S possess, we can include a grind mode and a sensitivity of 0.06 milliseconds.
Each product has it weaknesses and that is the case with the Instapark ADF Series GX-350S.
The drawbacks are that the helmet is heavy, there is no battery and has only two arc sensors.
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Pros
- Great price
- Quality optical class
- Warranty period
Cons
- Weight
- 2 arc sensors
- Lack of battery
