Esab Welding Helmet Reviews 2022 – Top Picks

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You already know about the importance of a quality welding helmet. And ESAB is one of the best choices for professionals. It is one of the oldest brands for helmets, and some of the new collections from the brand are gaining excellent reviews from both customers and professional welders.

There are a lot of different welding helmets available from this high-quality brand. However, if you are looking for the best helmet providing excellent safety and comfort, doing some research is crucial. Here are the best helmets you can purchase from Esab’s collection.

ESAB Welding Helmets Review 2022

1. ESAB Sentinel A50 Welding Helmet

The Sentinel A50 is one of the safest helmets to wear during welding. Keeping you safe from all kinds of hazards, including sparks, radiation, and spatter, this one seems to be one of the favorites for welders, whether they are professionals or beginners.

The easily adjustable headgear makes the helmet very comfortable to wear, and since it only weighs 1.4 pounds, you can have it on for a long period of time while you are working. A grind switch allows you to avoid the trouble of taking the helmet off. The helmet has a viewing area of 100 x 60 mm, which isn’t the best you can find but more than good for the budget of A50.

The auto-darkening lens has a great sensor and high optical class rating. You will get 5 to 13 auto-darkening shade range options with this helmet. Four sensors, 1/1/1/2 optical clarity rating, and many other features make this an excellent choice at an affordable rate.

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2. ESAB Black Savage A40 Welding Helmet

Need a professional quality helmet for welding under $100? Then the Black Savage A40 is an excellent choice for you. With a 7.70 sq. in. viewing area, this welder’s helmet is perfect for smaller projects. Even if you’re working on large areas, just moving your head around will do the job.

The clarity of the shades is good enough for all tasks since the 1/1/1/2 optical class lens provides a clear vision that will be perfect for beginners and professionals. The helmet offers automatic transition between 9 to 13 range. So, if you are a novice welder, you’re going to love this feature.

The Black Savage A40 is solar-powered. It can be either a good thing and a bad thing, depending on your preference. You don’t have to spend on batteries but charging it will take time. It has four sensors and allows you to work from different angles. Switching from light to dark is really fast, and it is an overall great choice for helmets under 100 bucks.

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3. ESAB Sentinel Helmet Shell

After using the A50 for a long time, especially if the helmet is going through rough usage, it is understandable that some of the parts can get damaged. Using a damaged helmet while welding is not a very good idea. That’s why ESAB offers replacement parts that you can buy at a very cheap rate instead of replacing the helmet completely.

The A50 helmet shell is a great replacement for your helmet’s exterior. Usually, the shell is the part that endures the most amount of damage and heat. That’s why it may need replacement over all the inner parts, including the lens.

Not too much to mention about the helmet shell as it is the same as the original helmet in terms of quality. It comes at a cheap rate so that replacing it is not very costly. So, instead of replacing the A50 with another helmet, just replace the shell if it is the only part that’s been damaged!

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4. ESAB Auto-Darkening Filter

The Sentinel A50 has an excellent auto-darkening filter with great vision as it has all the components, including four battery-powered sensors and an excellent auto-darkening feature. It is the most important part of the A50 helmet as your work depends on it. So, if you happen to damage the filter and it doesn’t work anymore, what can you do?

That’s why the manufacturers provide you replacement auto-darkening filter that you can purchase instead of buying another A50. Because we all know that A50 is an excellent helmet for welders and it is also not the cheapest. So, replacing the filter is the best idea.

The filter comes with two lithium batteries, and the signature grind button is attached. It is of the same quality compared to the helmet’s filter. You can easily replace it yourself or take the help of a professional.

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Buying Guide

Comfort

Novice welders are always trying to look for the best lens for their helmets but often forget about the comfort level. If a helmet isn’t comfortable, it will be impossible to wear for a long period and cause belated tasks, headaches, etc.

Comfortable helmets would be lightweight and have a flexible material and adjustable headgear to provide the best comfort. So, make sure to checklist all these factors to make sure the helmet you are getting is going to be comfortable enough.

Lens

There are a few factors that make a welding helmet’s lens great. Firstly, the viewing area is very important to consider. A broad viewing angle allows you to work on big projects without having to move your head and reposition the helmet according to sensors.

Some helmets have as large as 14 sq. in. viewing area. You may get a cheap one with a smaller viewing area, but it will be good enough if it has more sensors.

Having more sensors give you more coverage, and you can work from various different angles. If the lens has four sensors, you will find it more comfortable to work with. You can also work fine with three sensors.

Sturdiness

The shell is the most important exterior since it provides filter safety from heat and any kind of damage. As a result, it should be sturdy. You do not want it to not be flexible as it will slow down your movement. So, a flexible and strong shell is what we are looking for.

Battery-Powered vs. Solar-Powered Filter

The filter or lens can either be powered by lithium batteries or from a solar panel. Most professionals prefer the battery-powered options since it doesn’t take too long to be charged and less of a hassle. On the other hand, even though solar-powered filters are environmental, charging them is a long process, and during cloudy days, you won’t be able to charge your helmet.

Safety

A helmet should meet ANSI standards according to US rule. If you are purchasing from Canada, make sure to check if the gear has been approved by CSA. These are not just any random labels as they make sure that the helmets are safe during hazardous tasks of welding.

Checking the quality of the lens is important, as we mentioned before. The lens should be able to block ultraviolet and other harmful rays that have the potential of causing damage to the eye.

Final Note

Undoubtedly, the Sentinel A50 is the best welding helmet in this list from ESAB. It has all the features to satisfy both professional and novice welders. With a high-quality lens with four sensors, excellent headgear, and shell, high-level performance can be ensured from the A50. It is also highly recommended by all experts for better welding.

The only thing that doesn’t allow a lot of people to buy the A50 is its price. Since its quality is very high, the price is also significant. In that case, you can go for the second helmet on our list, which is the Black Savage A40. Being only under $100, it is one of the cheapest options coming at a great quality.