Well I find it difficult to share your enthusiasm - this same helmet was sold a year or two back on UK Ebay (for half that price )& I thought it was dreadful - 1st complaint is where the front protector lens clips in the fit is so poor smoke gets up behind it & coats the inside & the actual filter requiring constant cleaning & the filter color is not great either - depending a bit on what material your welding - also the filter has limited arc sensors so in some positions it does'nt react at all ! - as an emergency backup helmet - or a spare kept for people wanting to watch how to weld it's kinda OK - but there are much better ones around - I'm lucky I know locally one of the bigger Ebay sellers of helmets & can go & look at them when new purchases come in - they had this helmet come in & sold a few cheap for evaluation but never got any more - I often trial a helmet for them as I weld more than they do ( though in fairness the seller does some welding & trials them all himself before selling any ) - the newer generation import helmets are improving greatly as China will correct any defect their made aware of if possible - if your looking at import helmets ( & all the re-branded names you know ) try looking for the actual filter designation - the shell's are not much to choose between - ( just avoid ones with badly fitted front covers ) H8- 718G is a current filter that has 4 arc sensors & easy to change battery - I'm using one as it's got the clips built in to hold a cheater lens ( many import helmets now do ) & keep it just for occasional Tig stuff - so far it's been pretty good - certainly no complaints at the asking price.
ak; i'll stick to my old school fibre-metal flip front w/cheater. even though my employer supplies all tools and equipment i prefer my "lucky" shield. i'm the last holdout on the ad frontier among the 15 or so welders here. i had a helper and he was always fooling around with his. if it wasn't the batteries it was the lens giving him problems. this old dog don't want to learn any new tricks.
The auto dark debate will no doubt rage on I'm sure - I grew up with a "regular" helmet as if auto dark existed back then I'm guessing only Nasa had them ! - Speedglas arrived here somewhere in the late 80's with a basic model & despite some doubts I bought one when they were still a novelty in the early 90's - I looked after it as I'd payed for it & it's still working today - but I rarely use it outside & only in fair weather - if I'm welding outside it's usually stick on something big with a regular helmet - if it's daylight then you can see well enough to get a good start & I never had a complaint about the odd arc strike on a dozer blade / trackhoe bucket / rock barge / sheet piles etc ! so regular is fine - I'd still be pissed if it blew off the back of the power truck or whatever - but it's not hundreds to replace - jobs in the shop are a different matter - if I got a length of mirror polished SS for a handrail I'll use the autodark every time - just does'nt make sense not to - both styles have their place & I hate change - but I think for welds that need to be precise the autodark is best - I'd never Tig without one now - I never had reliability issues & the batteries last long enough not to be that big a deal - though obviously you need a spare - maybe one day you'll succumb to this "new fangled " stuff ! - bottom line - if you can start the puddle & see it well enough to control & achieve a good weld stay with what your comfortable with - & the optic quality of regular style helmets is usually better than the autodark - exception maybe that new Jackson / Balder that Jody & Lanse are using - that looks real good - interesting to see if they ever make it to the UK & what price they'll be.
If you weld a lot of overhead stick you will find that right below the lens is a perfect shelf to catch spatter and I have had students burn through in less than a week of welding. For the hobby welder these helmets work great and you cannot beat the price. There is a reason you will see highly paid pipe welders still using old school fibre-metal passive lens helmets......they work and they last.
I only tend to TIG weld relatively small and fiddly stuff and finally settled on a Speedglas 100V. Good clarity lense, but more important for me was the fact that you could get decent optic quality magnifying glasses for them that click into them. They are not that expensive too compared to the earlier, very cool but very pricey, 900x series.
I have always worn glasses , but age is now slowly starting to get to me, so getting a little magnification going helps a lot to see what you're doing instead of going 'by touch'
I foud that a lot of the cheaper helmets lack this option or the magnifying lenses they offer are pretty bad optically so they actualy make things worse!
Jackson Shadow with a #10 green glass lens for practically all of my welding. Jackson Nexgen auto darkening for precision work, especially when I want an accurate start on my bead. The Nexgen also accepts a cheater, and I sometimes need a little extra help. Jackson helmets seem to fit my head better. I bought my Shadow sometime back in the eighties so they hold up well.
I know a lot of people like a gold lens but I have never cared for them. It is probably just me but I cannot see the edges of the puddle as clearly with gold. That, and they are made out of plastic and are very easy to scratch. I may just be old school, I am definitely old
My gold lense is glass. Got it from Phillips safety. Bit pricey but it's a great lense. Still use my Miller performance hood for tig and occasionally the ESAB Globe-arc hood but that one I use mainly for cuttng/grinding now.
Just got me a shade 11 gold 4.5 x 5.25 seems like the perfect shade. $10
I've heard one of you guys talk about silver lenses?? how do the compare to gold??
thanks, John
Just a couple welders and a couple of big hammers and torches.
Men in dirty jeans built this country, while men in clean suits have destroyed it.
Trump/Carson 2016-2024
I started with an old passive flip front lense and I saved my pennies and bought a cheap metal man welding helmet from Tractor Supply. The helmet lasted me for about 8 years and then the sensors burnt up in it and I burnt my eye pretty bad. I replaced it with a Miller digital pro hobby helmet and I love it. Both of these helmets are great for beginners and light duty welders but if I was to go back and buy a helmet again I would probably go with the Miller digital Elite helmet which my wife bought and loves. It is a very nice helmet and I personally love the X mode that Miller digital Elite offers. Like I said I had the cheap metal man helmet and loved it and it served me well for a number of years.
It's always best to build your own, especially when it comes to hitches!!!
Matt
, but age is now slowly starting to get to me, so getting a little magnification going helps a lot to see what you're doing instead of going 'by touch' 
