Trend Deal/Q4/A Airshield Pro with Clip-On Ear Defenders

I cannot believe that such an expensive product ships with a couple of flimsy plastic tabs that seem impossible to mount on the Ear Defenders without breaking them. After struggling with these tabs for 20 minutes I ended up with bleeding fingers and 2 broken tabs. What I don't get is this: I am sure Trend is well aware of how bad and hard-to-impossible these tabs are to install. Why don't they ship these tabs pre-installed on the Ear Defenders? Do they believe that such poor experience is good for their reputation?

This is the only thing out there that is both a face and head protecter and a air filtration system. It does work but I have some issues with it. First the earphones are not worth it. They fit on the helmet sort of cruddy and I have decided not to use them. The helmet is heavy and takes some getting used to. (like a steel helmet in the Army) The fan seems noisy at first but isn't too bad after you get used to it. It keeps the dust out of your breathing and keeps your glasses clean. It is not really rated for impact like some helmets but seems as strong as most face shields I have used. The charging system is antiquated by todays standards. It keeps changing and does not know when to turn off like everything else these days. You must remember to unplug it when you think it's charged but there is no way of telling when that is. It does beep when it's getting low on power thought. It does what it says but it could use some competition from someone who can cut the weight down and improve the charging system.Getting it rated for impact would be good as well. I suspect that if more units were sold the Chinese would see the dollar signs and do a redesign on this helmet in a second.It's still best thing out there for us wood turners who want dust protection and a measure of safety from flying objects. (I am not Salli by the way.)

I've had the Trend for several weeks now and have used it regularly. I also have the Triton system. My woodshop is a 12X16 uninsulated storage shed. With the Triton, the power pak is worn around the waist, and in my small shop, I kept knocking into things with it. It eventually broke off the belt. I do not have that problem with the Trend, since the power unit is in the helmet. Yet, with the power unit in the helmet, the Trend is a lot noisier than the Triton, though one gets used to it. The Trend is a sleeker design... more modern. Yet, with the Triton I could move the face shield up and away from my face if I needed to scratch my nose. Cannot do this with the Trend. The Trend is more money, and, if it continues to operate well, will be worth it. I have wood allergies, and both helmets do the job in that area.The ear defenders on the Trend are junk. They broke the first time I tried to attach them to the helmet. I have now superglued them in place, but don't have much hope of this lasting.

After years of not having enough tools in the arsenal to mitigate dust in the shop I found this. Open windows, masks, dedicated dust collectors and large fans were not enough. OK, was it worth the cost? In a word, yes. It absolutely blocks out even the finest particles. It is a tad balky. It is, however, comfortable and only slightly heavy but I've learned that a good posture practically eliminates the weight effect. The ear muffs are a huge pain to set up but once done are definitely worth it. The forums bitch and moan about the fragility of the muffs but I called the manufacturers and they assured me that if one of the plastic connectors breaks within 4 yrs they would replace it at no cost. That's enough guarantee for me. The helmet easily accomodates glasses. They do not fog over with the fan on. Fan noise is negligable with ear muffs up and only slightly louder with muffs down. The ear muffs are quite effective. I am not a turner. That is not why I bought this. I got it to keep even the most ambient dust away and it works perfectly for that. I do not wear it non-stop. I use it until I am sure that the fans in my shop have blown all the small particles out and then I remove it. The battery is easy to recharge. That's about it I think. I could go on for much more but the essentials are here to help form an opinion about possible purchase, I think.

It took several uses before I felt comfortable with the unit. But now it works just fine. I use it mostly while at the table saw, and can really tell a difference in how clean the air is! The face shield offers great protection, and doesn't cause my prescription glasses to fog up. The air flowing through has a cooling effect. The noise cancellation is very good. Still takes maybe 15 seconds to get the unit on and adjusted, but well worth using!

It works well and the face shield stays fog free. However you better have a strong neck! As you are working (sanding in my case) and looking down at your workbench the weight on the face shield is very heavy on your neck. I’m no weakling but my neck is ALWAYS fatigued after I use this device. The battery doesn’t hold a charge for very long. Even after charging for three or four charging cycles as noted in the instructions. I can fully charge the battery and put it away for a week and when I use the mask again an hour later it’s dead. Don’t bother with this thing. Get a good respirator and you’ll be much better off and have some extra money in your pocket. It’s going up on eBay next week.

What a wonderfully engineered system up until you try to attach the ear protection. The ear protection connection method is poorly designed, uses a cheap clip you must attach to each ear muff before it can be connected to the mask. This 5 cent piece is very easy to break, I broke both and now I can't use the ear muffs. Without the ear muffs the unit is useless!!!Trend needs to design a method to connect the ear muffs to the mask directly, without the use of clips!!!