DON'T BUY PPE BASED ON GRAPHICS

I recently saw a comment from a welding supply distributor that said "as welders are trending younger and younger as the Baby Boomers retire, graphics are becoming a more important factor in their welding helmet buying decision". If that is true, there are going to be a lot of disappointed young welders suffering from "buyers remorse".

These are the highest quality and two of the top selling welding helmet models on the market:

The helmet on the left is the TIGERHOOD Classic from the Fibre-Metal brand by Honeywell. It was the original thermoplastic welding helmet, and is probably still the best selling passive lens welding helmet on the market and its best selling color is probably still gray. The helmet on the right is the Fibre-Metal by Honeywell FUTURA style thermoplastic welding helmet.

The welding helmets below are also FUTURA's

But with full graphic overlays applied. In our post of a few weeks ago, we talked about a welding helmet being a "tool of the trade for welders. Do graphics make them any better tools? Do they protect a welder any better, make him more productive or more comfortable? No, not at all. They may play to a welder wanting to portray a certain image, and it has been said that welders tend to take a little better care of a full graphics helmet, but that is about it and there is usually a pretty significant up charge for the graphics.

If you are a welding helmet buying decision maker, and you are considering full graphics helmets for your welders or if you are a self employed individual welder, or someone who just welds occasionally, be very careful not to be lulled into  a "buy the graphics" and not the helmet mistake. In the examples illustrated above, the full graphic styles are top quality Fibre-Metal brand helmets with graphics applied. The helmet will provide the same degree of performance as the standard helmet. But that is not always the case. Some suppliers use second grade helmets, or helmets with visual defects, or cheap imports in their graphic helmets.  So make sure you know what you are buying. Ask to see the helmet that is being covered with graphics in its natural state. Ask if it is the same grade and quality as their non-graphic helmets.

Several of the welding helmets with the best looking graphics are inferior grade welding helmets underneath. That is especially true with ADF helmets. Never buy a welding helmet just because you or your welders simply like the way it looks. And that holds true no matter what age your welders may happen to be. Do your due diligence; select the brand and model that is best suited to your working conditions as detailed in our "Welding Helmets are a Tool of the Trade" post and then, and only then, select a full graphic style from that manufacturer.

If you buy on looks, and you find that the helmet does not hold up under your working conditions and/or your welders find them so uncomfortable they can't work in them, then that helmet won't look so good after all.