Most pipe welders have these hoods. There are situations where it is difficult without one. The variable sensitivity and ambient light controls are very nice to compensate for the poor lighting on construction projects. On jobs where a stray arc strike can cost you the job, they can help. But I still prefer my Fibremetal pipeliner hood with a plain #10 gold lens and the 175 cheater. It provides much better protection when welding overhead than the Speedglass hood. The electronic hoods shut down when all the fire is inside the pipe on a root pass and may cycle on and off several times on just one rod. Progress, but at a high price for what you get. Still for work on trucks they may save you a lot of frustration. cool