[jamiewells]

just wondering what your take is. do you prefer the big or small lens in your hood. i work in a weld shop now and i am in welding school. i go to school monday and wednesdays and have to take my hood(large) back and forth. i want another hood but, i am thinking of getting one with the smaller lens in it. whats your opinion on a smaller lens?

[JAL1639]

I love a bigger hood!! If it does not flip all the way down or if it's not right on, I can still see. A smaller lens, to me, seems like it has to be almost in perfect position to see.
I want a blue lens and they only seem to come in small, so I guess I will get used to that, once I can find one...

[SchoolDaze]

I've used both small and large and most sizes in between. Once I strike the arc, I never notice any difference. When you'er watching the puddle, you are concentrating on such a small area that the brain tends to disregard anything that isn't important. You didn't mention if you were using a fixed shade lens or an auto dark. The price goes up fast as you move into the larger window auto darks. I'd say, get what you can afford.

[rickbreezy]

I agree with this jamie wells guy. It doesnt seem to matter once you get down to it. with the larger sheild, sometimes you can see the arc illuminating the area around the weld, usefull for determining position(maybe putting a 3 inch weld every 6 inches), and going around curves, odd shaped welds and things like that. But again, like jamie said, your concentrating on the puddle right? So how in the fuck are you really going to benifit from having a larger veiw? I like the smaller lens for the common flipfront feature, and if your employers provides cover lenses, there is a pretty standered shape for the flip front, easing the burden on your wallet.

Other than that, I think its pretty much what you like/prefer. For example, I buy most of my sheilds/hardhats/safety glasses with great concern as to how cool they look.

-Rick