ESAB0700000480 Black Savage A40 Welding Helmet

I think this is probably the best hood I’ve ever owned. I bought this hood to replace my Lincoln Viking 3350 that died after several years. Went to purchase a new one and saw they are now over 400 bucks. Found this A40 for less than 150. I’ve always been a bleed Lincoln red guy, but heard good stuff about esab and decided to give it a try. The clarity is crazy good. I feel like I’m welding in HD. The weight is a pound so it’s easy on the noggin. Grind mode is easy one button on the exterior which I can manipulate with cloves. The lens is smaller than the Viking but it really didn’t bother me at all.The only thing I do not like about this hood is the shade settings knob is on the exterior upper left. This is fine for most applications, but if you’re in a tight area it’s possible to dim or darken all the way. It seems they have fixed this issue on the A41. To most folks this will never be a problem though.If you’re on the fence about this hood just do it. Don’t let its low price scare you off. I’d honestly take this one over any of my old big brand hoods.

Received it quick and undamaged

The ESAB Savage is an excellent choice welding helmet. Grind setting is very helpful. The best thing for me is the clarity through the lens while welding. Better part is that it’s half the price of most other helmets that work this good. Great for all types of welders!!

Trouble with double vision using a cheater.

Love the true color view. I'm a new welding student, been burning rods for all of five weeks now. The school supplied us with the ESAB A30 helmets, which were great until I actually struck an arc. Couldn't see behind the arc, could barely see the puddle, and trying to hit my seams was a matter of pure luck. Any shade darker than 10 was unusable. After a week, I could see a bit better, maybe a half inch around the arc. Just barely enough to stay on path. The green tint didn't help, as it prevented me from seeing my bead clearly, even with my face less than six inches from the plate. After much reading and talking to my instructors, I settled on the A40 as a decent upgrade that wouldn't have my wallet screaming for mercy. The very first arc I struck after flipping it down was night and day. Seeing my bead is no longer an issue, I can see the entire plate. I can see my puddles form and cool. I can see my actual arc under the light to adjust its length. The color is amazing. It'll sound like hyperbole, but by the end of my first day under this hood, my bead quality had improved 100%. My control is better, my rhythm is improving now that I can actually watch the bead form, hard spatter is becoming a thing of the past. I can work with the shade set to 12, and my eyes are thanking me. Guess you can say I'm a fan...

Let me first begin by making it clear I am a novice when it comes to welding. I wanted to learn how to weld so that I could make repairs and build non-structural items out of steel around my property. I initially purchased a budget welding helmet from Harbor Freight thinking that would be sufficient for what I intended to do. However, I was absolutely incorrect. At first I thought that my attempts to learn to weld were way over my head. Trying to lay a weld bead with the welding helmet I had was impossible as I could not see anything beyond the tip of the arc. Seeing the weld puddle was impossible as it was too dark, forget seeing the seam I was trying to weld.Before completely giving up on learning to weld, I read the reviews on the ESAB welding helmet on the web, as well as the Amazon reviews. I purchased the ESAB helmet figuring that if I could not see the puddle or what I was trying to weld that at best I would only be out less than $200. After receiving the helmet and reading the instructions regarding the tint settings, I went into my shop to try to run some practice beads on some scrap steel I had. Instantly I was able to see the puddle as well as the seam I was trying to weld. I am still learning, but this helmet made all the difference and relieved my initial discouragement in trying to learn how to weld. I am ecstatic that I purchased this welding helmet and did not give up on my intentions to learn how to weld.

Works great.

Not what I was expected