The welding hood, behind the mask?

Some have asked about the welding hood, so a little information.

Welding hood are primary used for protection from burning metals, slag or anything at a very hot temperature that will cause injury to your eyes, face and head area.
The welding hood, can be made out of a fiberest material, plastic, or just about anything that would shield your face. I’ve even saw someone just holding his hand in front of his eyes while welding.

Hoods usually have a rounded contour to it, purpose is to deflect flying hot objects away. But some hoods have a flat side to it, as you can see in the picture.
Now, let’s look at that hood with the left side flat, yeah, me too, when I first seen it, it looked stupid. Until you realize why it is flat on one side.

The flat left side is, because most people are right handed, and if you lay your head down, most people lay their heads on the right side, when looking upwards.

So, why flat on the left side of the hood, well, if you are a welder, then you would know by experience, welding in an enclosed confine working space, welding overhead, molten metal, sparks, slag and other hot objects, fall on your head, face, body and into your ears.

Even with a welding hood, somehow, the sparks, and hot objects seem to get in your ear, which is facing upward. Yes, you can have some ear protection, ear plugs, of some sort of protection, a flash cloth hood, or a space helmet.

But, in the field, the welder has to find, and have what works best for the situation, as to the task in hand.

Simple answer, Pipe welders use the flat sided welding hood, it doesn’t take up a lot of room space to place your head under the pipe welding overhead.

The flat side give less size to the hood, and the flat side fits next to your ear, protection from sparks and hot debris.

So, there you go, who is behind the mask? That depends on what type of welding the person is doing.

Thank you for your interest in welding.