The clarity is hard to believe as well. With just the helmet in it's normal state, you can see things very clearly and the light green shade is almost not noticeable at all. The colors of your world are still very clear and distinguishable and I can read everything on my control panel (if I was able to read it in the first place).
I only got "flashed" once using this and I'd say it was more because I set the shade level to it's lowest and watched the puddle as I went along but instead I was really watching the arc since it was VERY visible. Just had a spot and I adjusted back to reality in a few minutes.
Keeping this hood on it's neutral setting has not let me down with the auto adjusting shades and the colors are still fairly clear and the surrounding object detail is very definable.
I'm not a welder, just a backyard n00b with a fair amount of practice time, one complete project, and another on it's way. I have the Harbor Freight red racer and the Tractor Supply Metal Man camo hoods and they do not hold a candle in comparison to this hood. Those others are good for stick or a for higher Amps at consistent rates i.e. no pulsing.
When it comes to TIG, these hoods would just not do unless again you're running higher Amps at a consistent rate with no pulsing of the pedal, or just light enough to not make a difference. Even then, the Optrel e684 hands down beats them in every aspect.
I also picked up the leather welding cap from Optrel for this hood. It's an odd two piece thing and it was advertised in a way to let you think it's a bib AND a cap but it's either a bib OR a cap. You can use the bib and not the extension piece, or you can use the bib part on the top of the hood and add the extension which velcros to the bib. I really do like this setup for the cap because it blocks out all the ambient light that effortlessly tries to get around my face and reflect on the inside of the lens. The only complaint, which isn't a valid complaint at all is that it adds some extra warmth in the hood since it's leather but it's as thin as you could get for leather and still be safe for overhead welding. The reason why it's a minor issue for me is because I'm welding in 100 to 110 degree heat in my garage so any extra heat sucks. It's still not a true issue for me because I'd rather clarity and just wet myself down and if it was winter, I'd be thankful.
Well I lied, I will complain about the $60 I spent on the leather cap/bib since it's a bit pricey and about 1/6 the price of the hood itself BUT still totally worth it.
If I had to re-think and/or downsize my TIG equipment, the Optrel is one thing I would not be willing to give up. I don't think I would have progressed as reasonably as I have without it either.
Amazon has the Optrel e684 for over $460. I bought mine for $335 at:
http://www.weldingsuppliesfromioc.com/o ... ing-helmet
There's plenty of other places to buy, but if you did have to invest in something, I'd say this hood would be more worth while to invest in than all those fancy dials and settings on any machine out there because you can't make awesome welds without seeing what you're doing! Still, buy a good machine if you can
I've got some more welding this week so I'll see if I can swap to my other hoods and get some camera shots behind the Optrel but no promises unless there's some major desire.
