Most TBN folks really wont see any difference in Helmets used only occasionally. I gave my American Optical gold lens with the blue filter plate that I used when I welded professionally to a friend who is a professional pipe welder also. He also uses a auto-dark lens but I forgot to ask him what brand he uses. He did agree that the AO gold lens is the best for weld puddle clarity and provides the best level of reduced eye strain available.
Now that I only weld occasionally, the HF works just fine for my uses. The headgear is just as comfortable as any other hood on the market especially when the padded brow pad is used. Over the nearly half century (1967 start) of using welding equipment professionally, I have used just about everything on the market, ie. Jackson, FibreMetal, Hobart (Hobart pipeliner was always my favorite for non-auto-dark hoods). I didn't find $1 of difference in any of the headgear used and most required a front brow pad to make them comfortable to use in 8-10 hour days of welding.
Fortunately I moved into supervision/management before I ever had to weld with the hardhat insert which is impossible to make for a comfortable welding headgear. I do still have one that I used when I taught welding at Long Beach City College in California. It was ok for just standing and watching but not much else. One had to crank down so tight on the headband to keep it from falling sideways when you leaned over that it would give me an instant headache.
When I welded using my Hobart Pipeliner, the first thing all us pipe welders did was cut out the ratchet on the headline, take a hot welding rod and burn a hole on each side(after cutting out all the ratchet part) and insert a piece of surgical tubing that was easily adjusted for comfort and it really stuck to the welding cap so it didn't slide around like the slick plastic headband.
Anyway to sum up my experience, if a person feels that he needs a $350 welding helmet for eye protection and can afford it, then they should just buy it. For me, it really makes no sense to spend that kind of money for a helmet that only gets a few minutes of use in a week or month.
