When handling heavy-duty work like welding, you need a reliable safeguard to accommodate your work and protect you from injury. Pancake welding hood is a reliable welding helmet that has a pancake shape, hence the name.
If you want a strong welding helmet, then it will suit your needs. It’s both reliable and comfortable. The market has several pancake welding helmets available, which makes picking the best one quite overwhelming.
We have gone through the best pancake welding hoods in the market and have come up with a detailed review of the best for your consideration.
Best Pancake Welding Hood
Comparison Chart
Sarge’s Pancake Black Welding Hood Helmet Right Handed Regular Pipeline OSHA Approved (Right Hand, Black)
Sarge’s pancake black welding hood
This welding hood helmet has a stunning black finish with a left-handed side shield. It has a built-in lightweight balsa piece, a side shield, and a phenolic Formica. The welding hood is made to help you perform your welding tasks with ease.
This hood is comfortable to use and ensures your safety. Besides, it weighs only 12.5 ounces and has a 10.5-inch face shield with a 5.8-inch side shield. Sarge’s welding hood is a perfect choice for professional and DIY welders.
The face shield protects your eyes against UV rays the adjustable elastic head strap gives you more convenience for a productive work-flow.
You can substitute the welding hood lens with a standard welding lens for added protection from the bright light.
Each package of the Sarge’s welding hood helmet has an adjustable elastic headband and a piece of sandpaper allowing you to adjust to fit your eyepiece. It can accommodate electronic lenses.
It comes fully assembled. So, you can unpack and start using it to weld.
Pros
- OSHA-approved
- Left-handed cover
- Easy to wear and flexible
- Lightweight and comfortable
- Comes with a necessary care package
Cons
- Requires delicate use
Wendy’s pancake welding hood
This welding hood is strong and comes in a stylish bright red finish and has a right-sided cover.
The helmet has a lightweight balsa eyepiece and a side and a face shield. It can accommodate standard lenses, cheater, and electronic lenses.
Wendy’s welding hood weighs only 13.6 ounces, making it comfortable to wear throughout the day. Its lens holder is 5/8 inch in depth.
Users enjoy an adjustable elastic headband with one piece of sandpaper to help you customize the eyepiece balsa box. This relieves headache, fatigue, and neck strain.
The flip-up style makes the helmet convenient and easy to use when welding or resting.
Pros
- Easily customized to fit and adjustable
- Stylish and thoughtful design
- Made from high-quality material and is lightweight
- Easy and comfortable to wear
- High-performance
Cons
- Need delicate handling to avoid damage
Original pancake welding hood
It’s high quality and stylish helmet that is tested and compliant with all industry standards. It comes with a lens holder and has a 5/8 inch deep-to-fit pocket that accommodates your face.
The helmet has enough space to accommodate your head comfortably and is compatible with universal and auto-darkening lenses in the market.
The original pancake hood allows you to work efficiently, comfortably, productively, and safely. It can be used by both right and left-handed welders.
The classic color makes it stylish. Hand-crafted from pine, balsa, and phenolic wood.
The adjustable balsa eyepiece makes it convenient to use, and you can use the sandpaper to change it to fit your head.
It’s lightweight and offers you the utmost protection from sparks, and harsh light when welding.
Pros
- Lightweight and comfortable to use
- Reliable protection against UV rays and harsh light
- Well-crafted and is high quality
- Compatible with other lenses
Cons
- Requires careful use to prevent damage
- Doesn’t have accepted and approved coverage
Buying Guide: What to Look for in a Pancake Welding Hood
Side Cover and Straps
These are not your typical welding helmets. All pancake welding hoods have side covers on the right or left, depending on which arm you actively use, or left-handed or right-handed.
Pick a helmet with straps going over your head and ensure the straps perfectly fit your head and are adjustable.
If it’s too tight, then you may not work comfortably or weld for hours. Too loose straps may give you problems trying to maintain your helmet in place.
Comfort
Choose a more comfortable hood style. Hood helmets are preferred by people for observing something better than traditional or standard helmets. For instance, they are extremely lightweight and you can wear them while welding for long hours.
The product you buy should weigh a few ounces and fit your head perfectly.
You can opt for a customizable hood helmet or pick an appropriate size and weight that makes you more comfortable.
Balsa Box
A vital feature in pancake welding hood. The wooden structure provides eye protection against light reflections that can compromise your work. Balsa shields your eyes from harsh light coming in any angle besides covering your face from sparks as you weld.
Pick a welding hood with soft balsa that perfectly fits your face. It should be spacious to allow you to wear your sunglasses underneath.
What is the Purpose of Pancake Welding Hood?
Welding hoods are welding helmets or masks that cover your face as you weld. The hood is extremely thin and lightweight. Most welding hoods are designed for use by both left and right handed welders.
This type of hood is used by DIY welders and professional welders. The welding hood is used for pipeline welding works as it has a side shield designed to protect your face from sparks and harmful UV rays.
It’s the best welding helmet when you are working outdoors. It is the balsa box that makes it comfortable for pipeline welders and other DIY welders to work outdoors.
What is the Role of Balsa Box?
Balsa box is just a compact-shaped box that comes with a pancake welding hood. The balsa box surrounds the welding hood to protect your eyes as you weld. The primary use is to stabilize and hold the helmet lens.
Balsa box provides stability between your eyes and the lens, allowing them to remain steady and in contact with each other. Mostly, they are handmade and designed to fit your face and the shape of your eyes.
The balsa box is structured and designed with utmost accuracy to fit your eyes precisely. This ensures the welder is comfortable and works with convenience.
The careful design prevents light from UV rays and arc from affecting your eyes, putting uncomfortable pressure on you as you weld.
The box provides complete sealing, giving welders the ability to avoid all kinds of light that can interfere with their welding work.
It doesn’t allow accidental reflection inside the hood. As a welder, using a good welding hood enables you to avoid glares from sunlight and arc as you work.
The inside is painted black to minimize light reflections, making it a great helmet for pipeline welding projects.
Why Welders Use Pancake Welding Hood?
There are many reasons pipeline welders should use this welding helmet. It offers flexibility as you can use it for both outdoor and indoor projects. The welding hood offers the same protection and efficiency regardless of where it’s used.
The helmets can be used with an auto-darkening lens or attach any lens you desire that fits your project. The helmets are affordable as they retail at low prices. They are the cheapest welding helmets in the industry.
The adjustable headband fixes it securely on your head to ensure you work with ease. Also, the headband allows adequate air into the hood to make you comfortable as you work during hot weather.
It’s easy to customize using sandpaper to suit your preference and to make it more relaxing. The balsa and phenolic Formica models offer a longer lifespan, making them sturdy and durable.
These hoods are made of balsa and phenolic Formica which are both lightweight making the helmet comfortable to wear and portable. You can use it for extended periods.
Pancake Welding Hood Models
There are two main models of these welding helmets for right-handed welders and left-handed welders.
When buying or ordering the welding helmet, ensure you get the right model that will offer you convenience. If you are a right-handed welder, you may choose an appropriate welding hood that will not give you trouble during welding.
A left-handed welder using a right-handed welding hood will struggle to see their work and not have the right protection because the covering is on the wrong side of their face.
Always invest in the right set of safety gears and set of tools. These are highly effective and efficient safety gears for welding outdoors and indoors.
Satisfied users agree that pancake welding hood is reliable, efficient, and offers more protection for welders.
Are Pancake Welding Hoods OSHA-Approved?
Most pancake welding hoods are OSHA approved and some are ANSI approved, but not all. Buy your welding hood from a reputable source like Wendy’s, Sarge’s, and Original, which are the three most reputable sources of these welding hoods.
Are All Welding Helmets the Same?
Welding helmets differ depending on the use and features. The buying guide above helps you know the vital things to consider when picking the right welding helmet.
Never rush the decision and end up with an ill-fitting welding helmet or one that doesn’t offer you much protection from UV rays and glares. As a welder, your project may dictate the right welding helmet to use that suits your work environment and project.
Some welding helmets are lightweight like pancake welding hoods and you can use them for long hours without feeling uncomfortable. Heavier welding helmets are suited for shorter use.
Also, some welding helmets can handle awkward positions effectively while giving you efficient protection.
Always consider the level of protection you need, comfort, and convenience when choosing the right welding helmet. Don’t settle for something that will make you struggle or put you in an awkward position when working on your project.
Final Verdict
Pancake welding hood is an important protective helmet, and any welder can use it. Choose the right welding hood that is comfortable to use regardless of how much time you spend working on your project. Read the buying guide given above to choose the best welding helmet.
Our top choice is Sarge’s one because it’s a high performance, comfortable, easy to wear, and OSHA-approved. Always wear your helmet when welding to protect your eyes from bright light and UV rays.
Feel free to contact us if you need clarification or have a burning (!) question.
