<VV> Welding Helmet, Harbor frieght

[Spence Shepard]

During previous discussions about the merits of cheap welding helmets from
Harbor Freight I expressed my scepticism about trusting the safety of my eyes
to one of their products. Being a fairly typical (frugal) Corvair owner I
recently gave in to the temptation of a $49.95 auto darkening helmet (Western
Safety item # 46092). I must admit that after using it for a couple of days I
am impressed with several features of the helmet. The auto-darking seems to
work well and it is more convenient than my multi hundred dollar Jackson
helmet. It is solar powered so you don't have a battery or an on/off switch.
You can even change the darkness with an external knob while you are welding.
The only complaint I have is that it is flimsy and doesn't stand up well to
banging your head on the underside of a car while welding exhaust pipes. It
does seem to be ideally suited to bench welding or welding patch panels on
bodywork. The sale ended this week but, like all Harbor Freight products, it
should be on "sale" again soon at 50% of the "normal" price.

Spence Shepard