I was reading this topic... and I was a welder professionally for about 10yrs and have continued welding as a hobiest for about 20 more. So I had to make an account and post! Medically... I can't really speak on this. I'm not a doctor. But anecdotaly, I can tell you all about it. A welding arc is brighter than the sun. When welding, if you're not waring long sleves and long pants you will get a sunburn. Notice how all the people above that aren't waring protection are also dark completected? They likely dont need sunscreen at the beach either. If you don't ware a mask, you will likewise get a sunburn on your eyes. It's often misleading, because a common amature trick is to open your eyes, make sure you have the gun in the correct spot, and then close your eyes and start welding. Your eyes were protected by your eyelids! Or so it seems. I've done this, stupidly. Everything seems fine for a few hours until your entire face is starts hurting. You have a face wide sunburn, and your eyes still get burned through your eyelids. It hurts like crazy and bright lights become unbarable. The damage is not temporary. Sure, the pain goes away after a day or two. But eventually this all adds up. When i worked in the industry there were a lot of legally blind welders. They could still see enough to weld, but their day/night vision was shot and they couldn't drive anymore. Lastly, a welding mask should protect you from a flashbang's flash (but obviously not the sound) Welding is really really really bright. There's no way a flashbang is brighter. That said... it would make no sense. You can't see out of a welding mask. Even my fancy auto darkening mask... the view power is only about 5" wide. You can't see anything that's not a few inches in front of you and its still dark. I'll leave it up to the developer to decide how realistic to make the game. But I really dont think you should be able to run around in a welding mask without crashing into stuff.
