Hobart Auto-Darkening Welding Helmet, 770890, Black

This is the clearest view port I ever had in a self darkening helmet.

I enjoy welding as a hobby, have made truck racks, gates, that sorry of thing, and have also taught the Boy Scout welding merit badge to some kids in grandsons troop. For this reason I have acquired several helmets for students and parents who want to observe. Progressed from the Harbor Freight (great value when starting out) up to the Lincoln Viking, which provides the best image of all. But I recently added to the collection with the Hobart auto darkening helmet and am very impressed with the light weight, comfort, and image quality. After reading many reviews, it just struck me as an outstanding value (about 1/3rd the price I paid for the Lincoln). I also liked the two battery in Hobart vs one for Lincoln after having to replace Lincoln battery after a year. The main feature the Lincoln has which Hobart does not is the external grind button. Because I don’t do production welding I find I have not even used the grind button. For me it has been about being able to see the weld better and toward that end got cheater lenses for both helmets. In my experience the image provided by both helmets is excellent, but for the money, the Hobart is the better value and as a bonus does not have the quirk of occasionally pulling your hair out which the Lincoln has. For my purposes, if I had it to do over again, I would get 2 Hobart helmets and have had money left over to squander in some other foolish way.

I bought this Hobart after using one half the price (amazon import) that kept cutting out on me unexpectedly while welding. Yes, i messed with the sensitivity settings to no avail. I also have an Optrel (sp?) ball cap style shield that was great for a while and never really stayed on my head when leaning over. It too began to have issues cutting out on me while welding. I’m 90% Tig – handrails and fireplaces. The Hobart works, it’s lightweight, the lease is just big enough. It comes in a clamshell that is a little bulky yet has proven to be good for storage.

I am a somewhat novice welder, so I wouldn’t know the difference between something spectacular and something so-so. This is the best helmet I have ever owned, but in all fairness, I have used mostly old junk over the decades. It fits well, its not heavy, vision is good, darkens instantly… what else can I say? With what I know about it so far, I would buy another.

I bought this helmet awhile ago and it was kinda worth it because it was my own helmet and not the one at work BUT the amount of times I’ve been flashed from under the visor is unbelievable every time I use it I constantly get flashed and end up with arc eye the next morning it honestly sucks in the end I had to buy a piece of leather just to cover the 3 inch gap where my mouth is to make it stop.

Another thing was the head band its painful to wear it’s either A pulling your hairs out OR it’s dropping off your head there’s no in-between in the end I had to modify it yet again by taping up the back end of it to stop it ripping my hairs out I’ve even gone slightly thin at the back because of this mask strap

Cost-way to expensive for what it is, it’s uncomfortable the only decent thing about it is the auto darkening lense which is the best I’ve ever used but it’s pretty useless if there’s a massive gap between the mouth and the bottom of the mask and the only fix is to modify it. Even with the ajustment my massive nose is just causing way too much of an issue and the cheapo helmets seem to fit even better than this one which is sad to say