I will recomend against using gold lens welding hoods. Here is the reason, the gold coating on the lens is easy to scratch and if you don't know its scratched or can't see the scratch or scratches you will get flashed through these scratches and not even know it until it is too late.
Last year I was welding new floor plates into the beds of Cat rock trucks & end dumps all day with my fancy gold lens welding hood, by bed time it felt like I had ground glass mixed with sand in both of my eyes.
Now before you think I may have gotten back flashed of the surface I was welding I modify all of my welding hoods with a snap on leather throat protector, this cuts down on fumes getting in my hood and my throat getting flash burned. Upon shinning a flashlight through the lens I could see light coming through the scratches.
Now that hood has been refitted with an auto darkening lens.
