Hi, I’m Hernan Donahue, founder of ProWeldingHelmets.com.
Since launching this website, my goal has been simple: help welders choose safer, more reliable equipment through honest reviews, hands-on testing, and practical advice. Everything my team and I publish is based on real workshop experience, not marketing claims.
Naturally, as the website has grown, so have the questions. Readers often ask how Pro Welding Helmets is funded, whether manufacturers influence our reviews, and if affiliate links affect the products we recommend.
Those are important questions, and you deserve CLEAR answers. Rather than hiding behind a generic legal disclaimer, I created this page to explain exactly how this website operates, how affiliate links work, and why they never influence our testing, recommendations, or editorial decisions. My reputation has been built on honesty, and I intend to keep it that way.
How Pro Welding Helmets Makes Money
Many people assume that running a review website is as simple as receiving a few free products, writing an opinion, and publishing it online. I can assure you that’s far from reality.
Every review you read on this website represents hours, and often days, of work behind the scenes. My team and I spend countless hours testing welding helmets, comparing them side by side, documenting our findings, photographing products, checking specifications, updating older reviews, and verifying that our recommendations still hold up as new models enter the market. What you see in the final article is only a small part of the work that goes into producing it.
Outside the workshop, there are plenty of expenses that most readers never see. We purchase welding helmets, replacement cover lenses, batteries, filler metals, shielding gas, steel, aluminum, grinding discs, measuring tools, photography equipment, software, website hosting, and countless workshop consumables.
Testing equipment wears out, cameras need upgrading, and maintaining both our workshop and this website requires a continuous investment of time and money.
To help cover those costs, ProWeldingHelmets.com participates in affiliate marketing programs. If you click one of our affiliate links and make a qualifying purchase, we may earn a small commission from the retailer.
The important thing to understand is that you never pay anything extra. The price of the product remains exactly the same whether you purchase through our link or go directly to the retailer. The commission simply comes from the retailer’s marketing budget, not from your wallet.
Why I Chose Affiliate Marketing
When I started ProWeldingHelmets, I had several ways to support the website. I could have covered every page with advertisements, accepted paid reviews from manufacturers, locked my guides behind a subscription, or relied on affiliate commissions.
After giving it a lot of thought, affiliate marketing was the approach that best aligned with the kind of website I wanted to build.
Personally, I’ve never enjoyed reading websites overloaded with pop-up ads, autoplay videos, and banners that interrupt every paragraph. They slow down the page, distract from the content, and make it difficult to focus on the information you’re actually looking for. I didn’t want Pro Welding Helmets to become one of those websites.
Instead, I wanted to create a clean, easy-to-read resource where welders could find honest advice without constantly being interrupted by advertising. Affiliate commissions make that POSSIBLE. They allow us to keep our content free for everyone while avoiding many of the aggressive advertising practices that have become common across the internet.
Why My Recommendations Can’t Be Bought
Over the years, I’ve had readers ask me whether affiliate commissions influence my recommendations.
I understand why they ask. There are plenty of review websites that seem to recommend every product they write about. If everything gets five stars, it doesn’t take long to wonder whether anyone actually tested it.
I never wanted ProWeldingHelmets.com to become one of those websites.
When I started this site, I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t recommend a welding helmet just because it paid a better commission. If I ever reached that point, there’d be no reason for anyone to trust what I write.
My reputation has taken decades to build. Losing that trust over a few dollars simply isn’t worth it.
If you’ve read enough of my reviews, you’ve probably noticed that I don’t hesitate to point out FLAWS. Some helmets have excellent optics but disappointing headgear. Others are comfortable to wear but struggle with low-amp TIG welding. No helmet is perfect, and pretending otherwise wouldn’t help anyone.
Every recommendation I make has to earn its place. If I wouldn’t wear the helmet in my own workshop or recommend it to someone working beside me, you won’t find me recommending it here.
That’s the standard I’ve always followed and listed out in the resource page.
How I Test Products Before Recommending Them
I don’t believe a welding helmet can be judged by reading a specification sheet.
Manufacturers can tell you the viewing area, switching speed, and optical rating. Those numbers are useful, but they don’t tell you what it’s actually like to wear the helmet for eight hours or whether the sensors will keep up during low-amp TIG welding.
That’s where real testing comes in.
When a new helmet arrives at the workshop, we don’t rush to publish a review. My team and I spend time using it during actual fabrication work. We compare it with helmets we’ve already evaluated, make notes, discuss what we notice, and sometimes go back and repeat certain tests just to make sure our observations are consistent.
I’ve learned that some of the most important things about a helmet don’t reveal themselves during the first hour. You start noticing them after wearing it all day. Maybe the headgear slowly loosens. Maybe the balance starts putting pressure on your neck. Maybe the optics aren’t quite as clear as they seemed at first.
Those are the kinds of details I care about because they’re the things that matter once the excitement of buying a new helmet wears off.
Sometimes My Recommended Products Don’t Earn Me Money At All
One thing a lot of readers don’t realize is that some of the products I recommend don’t earn me a single cent.
There are manufacturers that don’t have affiliate programs. Some retailers don’t pay commissions. Some products simply aren’t available through any of the stores I work with.
If it’s a great welding helmet, I’ll recommend it anyway.
I don’t sit down and ask myself, “Which helmet makes me the most money?” I ask myself, “Which helmet would I buy if I were spending my own money today?”
That’s the question that matters.
Sometimes the answer is a premium helmet. Sometimes it’s a budget model that performs far better than anyone expects. Either way, the recommendation is based on performance, not profit.
That’s how I’ve approached every review since the day I launched Pro Welding Helmets, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
Amazon Associates Disclosure
ProWeldingHelmets.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide websites like mine with a way to earn commissions by linking to Amazon.com and its affiliated websites.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I know you’ve probably seen that statement on hundreds of websites, but I don’t want to leave it at that because it doesn’t really tell you much.
What it actually means is this. If you click one of my Amazon links and decide to buy something, Amazon may pay us a small commission. You don’t pay anything extra.
The price is exactly the same whether you use my link or visit Amazon directly. That commission simply helps support the work my team and I do here, from buying helmets for comparison testing to keeping this website running.
Other Affiliate Programs We’re In
Amazon isn’t the only retailer we work with.
Depending on the product, you may also find links to other online retailers or affiliate partners like Andeli that sell welding helmets, replacement lenses, safety equipment, or related tools.
I don’t choose a retailer because it pays the highest commission.
In many cases, I link to multiple stores simply because one might have better pricing, faster shipping, or availability in your region. Sometimes a helmet isn’t even available on Amazon, so linking elsewhere is simply the best way to help readers find it.
No matter where the link takes you, the recommendation was made long before I decided which retailer to link to. The product earns the recommendation first. The affiliate link comes afterward.
Sponsored Content Policy
People occasionally ask whether companies can pay to have their products featured on ProWeldingHelmets. The answer is simple: No company can buy a recommendation.
If a manufacturer wants to advertise on the website in the future, that’s completely separate from my editorial content. Advertising is advertising. Reviews are reviews. And I don’t mix the two.
If I ever publish sponsored content, it will be clearly labeled so you’ll never have to guess whether you’re reading an advertisement or my own opinion.
More importantly, sponsored content will never influence my buying guides, product rankings, comparison articles, or hands-on reviews. Those remain completely independent.
That’s how I believe it should be.
FTC Disclosure
To comply with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines, I want to make it clear that some of the links throughout Pro Welding Helmets are affiliate links.
If you purchase a product through one of those links, I may receive a commission from the retailer. That relationship never changes the price you pay, nor does it influence the products I recommend.
I disclose affiliate relationships because it’s the right thing to do, not simply because regulations require it. I’ve always believed readers deserve to know exactly how a website operates. Read the full Terms and Conditions to learn more.
Transparency builds trust. And trust is something I never want to take for granted.
My Promise to Every Reader
If you’ve read this far, thank you.
I know affiliate disclosure pages aren’t exactly exciting reading, but I also believe they’re important. The internet is full of review websites that exist solely to make sales. That was never my vision for Pro Welding Helmets.
I built this website because I genuinely enjoy welding, testing equipment, and sharing what I’ve learned over the last two decades. Every review, buying guide, and educational article is written with one goal in mind: helping fellow welders make better decisions.
Will I earn a commission if you buy a helmet through one of my links? Sometimes, yes.
Will that ever change my opinion of a product? Never.
If a helmet earns my recommendation, it’s because my team and I believe it performed well during our testing and we’d be comfortable using it ourselves. If it doesn’t, no commission is worth pretending otherwise. It’s built on TRUST.
So whether you buy one of my recommended helmets, choose a different model, or simply visit the site to learn something new, I appreciate you being here. I hope the information I share helps you become a safer, more informed welder. Not only that, but your information when visiting this site is fully protected with us. (see: privacy policy)
Thanks for reading, and thanks for supporting ProWeldingHelmets.com. You may contact me here.
– Hernan Donahue
Founder, ProWeldingHelmets.com