I use an adjustable Miller Elite helmet. I can turn up or down the darkness to ease following small lines or flat welds. The helmet is a bit more expensive, but I weld a bit more than just the occasional welder.
This right here. I have a Miller Digital Infinity Black Ops. Cost me $385 but every cent is worth in an investment that will save my vision. I also have a Miller half face mask with replaceable cartridges that goes under the helmet.
Miller is one of the most well known and trusted brands in welding equipment and safety apparatus. Along with Hobart. I do a shit ton of SMAW at my work, always things to be assembled, and my bosses are especially fond of the fact that I bring my own rig with me. I started out with a cheap Amico power unit and now I am running a Lincoln Electric with SMAW and TIG. I am much more comfortable with using my own equipment which I am absolutely certain of their operating conditions.
If you are into welding, the safety equipment is something that YOU DO NOT want to thrift on. Your safety is directly in the line of fire. SMAW generates a shit ton of fumes, everything from volatile organic compounds from paint/solvents on the target surface, and much more serious shit from the arc and the flux on the electrodes being vaporized. That shit can and will fuck you up very quickly if you are not wearing a good respirator rated for both particulates and fumes. You cannot be in welding without also doing a fair amount of grinding and cutting. That will fill your face and lungs with rust dust, metal powder, and silicates very fast. I used a Dremel to cut and sand down some protrusions for just a few minutes a long time ago and when I went to blow my nose, the tissue was dark with iron powder. It looked like I just swabbed out a cartridge casing that had been fired with black powder. I never exposed my naked face to that shit again.
I tote along both with extra cartridges safely stored in my duffel bag. They are not cheap but I am relaxing in the fact that I am taking important steps to safeguard my health. There is NO CURE at the moment for interstitial lung diseases, which happen when the individual tiny air sacs and the space between them are clogged with dust or residue. COPD and silicosis being in this category of illnesses. They are not pleasant ways to go, trust me. For the last 15 years of my father's life we cared for him as his tobacco related COPD got worse and worse. It is one of the most horrifying ways to go out there as your lungs literally fill up with undrainable fluid, and a slight cool breeze will trigger an attack that requires hospitalization and steroid injections. Steroids stopped working in the final stretch and he was intubated... Better be safe than sorry. I DO NOT operate any of my equipment without BOTH pieces on my face, fitted in, with fresh batteries and cartridges. No gear, no work is being done. I tell everybody on my crew to remember these fundamentals. Life is not a video game. There are no magical medpacks at certain mileposts. And you do not "respawn". Don't fuck around and DON'T BE CHEAP.
