Antra AH7-360-0000 Solar Power Auto Darkening Welding Helmet with AntFi X60-3 Wide Shade Range 4/5-9/9-13 with Grinding Feature Extra lens covers Good for Arc Tig Mig Plasma

I am a careful observer, but also a beginning weldor. So I am not an expert. About eight weeks ago I began teaching myself to weld in a school shop, playing for an hour or two several times per week, mostly with a stick welder. I have been using this helmet for about four weeks. Any comparisons I make are to old high school equipment, i.e. fixed-shade Jackson helmets.Although I by no means need or deserve a fancy auto-darkening helmet, my practice (play) is all with scraps that I collect, some of which is old snow chains. It turns out it's hard to weld chain if one can't see until the arc is struck. So I splurged.Amongst inexpensive helmets, I found this one to have several standout features. 1. Its viewable area of nearly 4" by > 2" is unbeaten until one hits about $100. (It is less than the ~ 4" x 4" that seems to be normal for fixed filters, and I was nervous that it would be too slim. But I have yet to find it at all limiting.) 2. The filter's optical ratings (1-1-1-2) are almost as good as it gets. Its only sub-optimal rating is for consistency of shade off-axis, which seemed least critical to me. By doing a very artificial test, I did find that the darkness varies with angle, but in a fairly linear way, and not to a degree I think most users would ever notice during actual use. 3. This unit has four arc sensors, which people seem to agree makes it more reliable.Filter: As indicated by the optics' ratings, image quality is very good. I have not noticed distortion caused by the filter. When it is off (shade 4) I can see pretty well even in the poorly lit shop where I practice. I really like the auto- and adjustable- darkening features and this filter seems to operate perfectly well, so I won't waste words telling about it.As a very small Con, I will say that the controls are not easily adjusted by gloved hands. I set the sensitivity near the middle and have never needed to change it. (Though folks who work outside with low brightness systems may have to.) I set the delay to where I like it and haven't touched it since. (Update: While trying some TIG welding I decided to adjust the sensitivity up, just because I could. However, I accidentally adjusted it DOWN (the controls are plenty simple. I just wasn't thinking and the fault is all down to me. When I went back to stick welding I began to notice that I thought it was taking longer to go dark. Not in a big way. Just maybe enough to maybe have noticed. Or maybe not. I mention it because it occurred to me that if someone were to buy this and then have the almost subconscious feeling that it should go dark faster, I might suggest they turn the sensitivity up a bit and see if that helped.) Darkness hasn't been something I've needed to adjust on the fly. (Though I have fiddled with it some, and I do like that I am able to.)Helmet: I have a fairly large head (not ego, hat size - ~7 1/2"), and I wear glasses. This helmet fits me just fine. It is not the widest on the market, but I have had no problems. The shell feels a bit on the lightweight side, but again, I have had no problem with it, and I expect that if one treats it with reasonable care it should last. The headgear adjusts and fits well, and the brow pad is much nicer than I expected. However, like the helmet, the headgear feels a little weak. Although it is working fine, and I don't think failure is imminent, I do not expect a long service life from the headgear. The good news is that headgear appears fairly standard, and is not expensive. For the price, I think it's alright.Bottom line, I'd call this helmet a good buy. If you are a career welder, working in tough conditions, needing a helmet that withstands (and protects you from) constant abuse, then you are probably not reading this. If you are a hobbyist, or even a serious weldor working in easy conditions, this is a serviceable helmet and a nice filter for a very good price.

I use this model everyday at work. That covers tig, mig, and stick. Very cheap buy for $25. I've bought $225 hoods and I see only one difference. The man on the sticker. Only downfall is the pivot screws. They come loose time to time. This is common in most hoods.Great for school, hobby, or everyday shop use.

Works great!! The price can not be beat! I own a Miller 9002x and it cost $400. This does the same job anyday!

When I purchased the welding equipment originally I opted for a house brand helmet. I am a beginner welder with some experience but not frequently enough to get good at it. I thought that my skills were not as good as I remembered because the consistency of weld quality was poor and was frustrating to me. I perceived that if I could see better when welding that maybe I could up my game. I researched some and went with the Antra brand. Not the most expensive by a long shot, but still highly rated. I thought, for the price why not give it a try and if it didn't prove to be what it said, I could return it. Well, I am extremely happy with the improvement in my weld quality. As the story goes, its like night and day. The clear view of the work when actually welding is remarkable. Maybe by spending a lot more you can get even better viewing quality, but for me this equipment is great in that arena.As some have said the material is light weight and for everyday welding possibly a heavier more robust unit would be worth extra money, but for the hobbyist I don't think this is a factor. The hood adjustment is great, feels solid on your head, doesn't fall down. Another thought on the "robustness" issue. When holding in your hand the unit could be judged as flimsy, lightweight, etc., but I beleive this design depends on being on your head to achieve full design strength, in other words when all the parts work together it is plenty rigid in my opinion.

I'm new to welding, I received a harbor freight 90amp welder for fathers day so I can fix my trailer to fit in my garage. I started out with some goggles and it was hard to weld and I burnt my face, like a sun burn from the heat. So I bought this helmet as well. I borrowed my friends helmet first which is a $35 unit from here. it wasn't bad however I like on this unit that It has 5-9 setting for grinding where the others don't have that feature. I was able to use it right out of the box as well. One thing I read after may reviews was the knobs on the sides of the units tend to go out or don't stay in place for the shading. that is another reason why I bought this one, so I don't have to deal with that issue. So I can use the same helmet for grinding and welding and protecting my face. I'm just getting started in welding and have used it all weekend so far and I'm glad I bought it. I had my friend come over and compare his $300 helmet and really the only difference he saw was this was plastic, his was fibreglass and his opened up more. but the auto darkening was faster on mine.

I work as a frame tech in a body shop welding on panels and decided to try this welding helmet for under fifty bucks.I used it today for the first time and this shield is as good as the more expensive ones...Works great and its fully adjustable....Been using this for sometime now and this Helmet is great ..You can spend a lot more money to get the same results with this one...The head strap is kinda flimsy but it will last if you take care of it...Would buy again if needed..

Helmet came exactly as i ordered . I like the sitting part it have 2 different range that go from 5-9 setting and 9-13 . I can set it to # 5 or 6 to use with the plasma cutter where i can see the cutting mark or line. I use the # 9 or 10 when using the welding machine. The sensitivity and delay control sitting work great. Auto darkening work perfect you can set it the way you like it . It solar charge and operate off 2 battery that can be replace.