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.

A WELDING HELMET IS A TOOL OF THE TRADE

There is no question that the primary function of PPE is to protect the wearer. But some PPE, like welding helmets, are looked at in a different light. Most PPE is optional; a worker should wear it, is required to wear it, but doesn’t have to wear it to do their job. Not so with an electric arc welder. A welder must wear a welding helmet in order to weld. It is a “tool of the trade” and is evaluated, used and maintained more like a tool than a protective devise.


While they certainly appreciate the protection a welding helmet affords them, welders primarily look at the extent to which helmets are light enough, functional enough, and wearable enough to allow them to do their jobs without hindering, distracting or fatiguing them.

As any welder will tell you, they only want the best tools, well known brands they have confidence in. They often view the quality of the tools they are provided as the company’s commitment to their productivity and quality of work life.

A welding environment is harsh; it is hard on welders and their equipment so durability and extended service life are more important considerations in selecting a welding helmet than they might be in other types of PPE. In fact, workers are advised to replace protective caps and faceshields as soon as they get scratches or abrasions on them while welding helmets are expected to last a long time, just like other welding tools.

The key to durability and a long service life is the material a welding helmet is made from. Most welding helmets today are thermoplastic. When Fibre-Metal introduced thermoplastic helmets back in the late 1960’s, they worked with General Electric’s Engineering Grade plastics department to develop a material that could withstand a welding environment over an extended period of time. Today, Fibre-Metal by Honeywell TIGERHOOD brand helmets are still made from NORYL, and is still the brand most welders prefer and the brand all others are compared with. Later on, Fibre-Metal introduced AMODEL, another high quality, engineering grade material in their FUTURA brand helmets. Both materials were specifically formulated and selected to produce high quality “tools” to protect welders.

Because a welding environment is so harsh, the weight of tools and equipment is a huge consideration. Welders have to be able to wear their equipment and use their tools all shift long without being unnecessarily fatigued. Most lesser quality welding helmet brands boast of their “extreme lightweight”. But the lightweight is achieved with thin walled ordinary nylon shells that cannot stand up to sparks and spatter over an extended time. Some even place application limitations on their helmets, like “do not use for overhead welding” because they just can’t stand up to it. There is a fine line between “extreme lightweight” and flimsy. The truth of the matter is there is very little difference between the weight of helmets made from a high quality engineering grade material and those made from flimsy nylon. In fact, the FUTURA brand from Fibre-Metal by Honeywell is actually lighter than lesser brands and will outlast them by a margin of 2 to 1 in real welding applications.

Another way in which a welding helmet is evaluated like a tool of the trade is its reliability. How often does it breakdown and need to be repaired during continual use. The most vulnerable part of a welding helmet is the headgear. Many, if not most, brands are plagued by cracking and breaking headbands and stripping ratchet sizing mechanisms. It is not uncommon to see a barrel in the corner of a welding shop where broken headgears are tossed for replacement by a supplier. Again, it is a material and design situation. Fibre-Metal by Honeywell helmet headgears are produced from a specially blended material that does not crack or break in a welding environment. Their unique ratchet mechanism does not strip no matter how hard it is used. A welder does not want his tool to breakdown in the middle of a job. They do not want to have to worry about reliability. That is why they prefer the top quality welding helmet brands.

Functionality is another welder consideration. Is their welding helmet a tool that protects them but allows them to do their job? Is it full enough to cover as much exposed skin area as possible, but shaped properly to allow freedom of movement? Is it designed to fit over protective spectacles and a respirator if necessary? Can air flow freely within the helmet to clear smoke and fumes and is the crown designed to let those things escape? Are their sufficient adjustments to provide just the right fit and feel for the way each welder likes to work? As a tool of the trade, a welding helmet has to aide and enhance productivity not distract from or hinder it.

Before a welder selects any brand of welding helmet, they should try it on their job under their working conditions. As a welding supervisor said “I’d never buy a tool I didn’t try first and a welding helmet is no exception”. Most reliable suppliers will provide samples or loaners and will help with the test and evaluation.

Like most quality tools, a welding helmet should come to you ready to use out of the box. It should be simple to use (adjust friction joint, fit headgear, replace filter plate) and easy to clean and maintain.

A top quality, respected brand of welding helmet will provide a long service life, increase productivity, and improve morale and the quality of work life on a par with any other tool of the trade. So when you think about welding helmets, of course consider how well they protect, but also keep in mind how well they help a welder do his or her job.