fuck i wanna be an underwater welder so bad.

frick i wanna be an underwater welder so bad.

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  1. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    I know a guy who does that for a living. Says it's the scariest job he's ever had.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Same here, besides the general danger of that kind of construction work, add the general dangers of diving plus the acute dangers of electricity + water.
      Then add in the time elements of decompression and a 500 mile or longer trip to the nearest hospital, neither of which are uncommon in that line of work.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        >acute dangers of electricity + water
        Unless you're jury rigging something extremely silly like putting a normal welding inverter inside a diving bell, I don't see how this is an acute danger.

        For welding voltages all you need to do is not literally jam the welding electrode and the grounding clamp inside your body and you'll be fine.

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          it doesn't work like that.

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            yes it fricking does, how many times have i fixed new expansive computerised shit
            >don't weld u're gunna fry the cumputerz
            stf imbecile, just makes sure you've got ground ON the thing u're welding not just somwhere and u're golden

            welded outside many times when it started to rain - nothing ever happens, i'd imagine it's the same for diving

            naw if u're an certified power plant weldor that brags about doing great hadron collider (i kid u not) and came to rig an hinge on trailer and sell some 7018 u've stolen it appears u're commpletely justified in clamping wherever - fricker fried electric light cables and then (because that wasn't enough) hydraulic hose

            but even if you would clamp to your toe - nothing ever happens, i have yet to hear about welding casualty lol, if it ain't burn it ain't welding

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              When I was in trade school, a kid was cleaning slag off his piece and had a fresh rod held in his mouth, and when he went to put the rod in the electrode holder how did he do it? Just frickin clamped the stinger on the stub-end while he still had the other end stuck in his mouth. Of fricking course he also had his gloves off and was bracing himself on the welding table with one hand. He went down flailing around like a sack full of fish, got an ambulance ride to the hospital, got defib'd twice, didn't die, also didn't come back to school. So it can happen, it just takes someone even dumber than you appear to be.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                How do people become this fearless to be willing to put an electrode in their mouth. I'm currently in welding school and I won't touch shit unless I have my gloves on and if it has a current I will turn it off anytime I leave my booth. Always taught don't frick with electricity growing up yet there are people who will just eat electrodes and shit. Boggles my mind.

                Pic unrelated.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                If it wasn't clear in my previous post, the electrode wasn't connected to anything and he had it in his mouth because both hands were busy. The stupid part is when he then grabbed the rod with the stinger - while it was still in his mouth.

                why would u hold electrode in ur mouth? there is no point in doing so because u can't see shit when wire is obstructing your weld glass

                nope, u are full of shit bot, never happened, not true, maybe with AC, DC - not possible, it does nothing to human
                [...]
                for anyone unaware - it's an bot that is set up here to say welding's dangerous or sth to that tune - it isn't, most of u though won't be able to do it, most of u are literally too dumb to direct fast moving molten metal real time - same as whamen seem to be all drunk driving from male perspective
                >whatdoya mean - says man - there's space to run dumptruck in circles and u can't back off from there?
                no she can't, she's sorta moronic, and so are you statistically speaking

                Like I thought, you're a fricking moron. 80 volts open circuit at 130 amps through the heart is more than enough to put a human in the hospital, alternating OR direct. If you actually even have a welder to begin with, please set to DC and then put the ground clamp on one hand and use the other to put whatever electrode it uses on your tongue; you'll see what happens.
                >u can't see shit when wire is obstructing your weld glass
                The frick does that even mean? YOU write more similar to a bot than I.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                Source on pic?

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                sauce

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                why would u hold electrode in ur mouth? there is no point in doing so because u can't see shit when wire is obstructing your weld glass

                nope, u are full of shit bot, never happened, not true, maybe with AC, DC - not possible, it does nothing to human

                https://i.imgur.com/qAQHVu3.jpg

                How do people become this fearless to be willing to put an electrode in their mouth. I'm currently in welding school and I won't touch shit unless I have my gloves on and if it has a current I will turn it off anytime I leave my booth. Always taught don't frick with electricity growing up yet there are people who will just eat electrodes and shit. Boggles my mind.

                Pic unrelated.

                for anyone unaware - it's an bot that is set up here to say welding's dangerous or sth to that tune - it isn't, most of u though won't be able to do it, most of u are literally too dumb to direct fast moving molten metal real time - same as whamen seem to be all drunk driving from male perspective
                >whatdoya mean - says man - there's space to run dumptruck in circles and u can't back off from there?
                no she can't, she's sorta moronic, and so are you statistically speaking

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                You're mentally ill. He's clearly talking about stick in which case it makes complete sense as it's DCEP 99% of the time would've fricked him up for life. Not everyone is a bot you schiz

                If it wasn't clear in my previous post, the electrode wasn't connected to anything and he had it in his mouth because both hands were busy. The stupid part is when he then grabbed the rod with the stinger - while it was still in his mouth.
                [...]
                Like I thought, you're a fricking moron. 80 volts open circuit at 130 amps through the heart is more than enough to put a human in the hospital, alternating OR direct. If you actually even have a welder to begin with, please set to DC and then put the ground clamp on one hand and use the other to put whatever electrode it uses on your tongue; you'll see what happens.
                >u can't see shit when wire is obstructing your weld glass
                The frick does that even mean? YOU write more similar to a bot than I.

                It was very clear what you said, I just can't believe someone would be stupid enough to connect a stinger when the electrode is in your mouth lmao.

                I'm also just amazed people put weld consumables anywhere near their face, I always keep that shit away it's covered in flux and slag and shit. It's asking for trouble which clearly happened.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                based celty appreciator

                Was it a clamp stinger btw?

                yes it was, every machine had a cheapshit tweco. a bit ridiculous since the machines were 3-phase 450 amp monsters and the stinger wasn't even rated for 200a, but we never used more than 3/16th electrodes anyways. all the SMAW bays had the same machines, giant old millers that I can't find any information on now; pretty sure the college got them on the dime when a nearby factory shut down.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                >giant old millers that I can't find any information on now

                No joy here?

                https://www.millerwelds.com/support/manuals-and-parts

                All the classic Miller beasts like mine have large cult followings. Weldingweb and the Miller forums will have the info if you encounter one later on. I love my 340 AB/P (scored for 250 bucks because seller thought it was three phase only, but I'd downloaded the service manual and knew better).

                >yes it was, every machine had a cheapshit tweco.

                Sounds about right for cumunity kolleges where money is tight (and welding program profits do not go back into welding program, I worked at one).
                Even cheaper are Radnor which many schools get because Airgas discount pricing but the rubber is some pajeet shit that disintegrates quickly.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                I haven't put much effort into searching because I can't remember any details beyond it being 3 phase, 400~500 amps max output, only having a single analog dial for amperage selection with no digital components anywhere, and it used a tapered connector with no lug or cam for the weld leads. For polarity control you'd swap the leads, and there were 2 extra sockets for AC.
                They were massive machines, easily the size of a refrigerator chopped in half. I looked for a couple minutes on google but over the past few years all the search engines have started dying so all I got was 'best welders 2021' and 'is lincoln better than miller?' bot-generated trash.

                Looking through that Miller support page, they *might* have been Goldstars but they were definitely dedicated SMAW with no TIG features at all. The college was definitely on a very tight budget but some of the used machines they had were wonderful, I do remember all the TIG machines were six syncrowave 350s with water chillers.

                For a rural community college the teachers were also absurdly overqualified - two of the four instructors were nuclear certified and had welded on the main pressure vessel for a nearby plant; one of those two was semi retired but previously worked at Sunstrand and built parts that went up on the Shuttle for servicing the Hubble Space Telescope (he's a long time family friend I first met at church, and the reason I got into welding to begin with), and the other was still actively working as the head SCWI and radiographic inspector for a large boom crane manufacturer. For a 2-year program that only cost $15,000 the value of education I got is insane.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                Tapered is ancient. Likely old white face machines and basically immortal. We used lift arc TIG rigs with smaller transformer machines to train pipe welders and they work a treat.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                meds

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                Was it a clamp stinger btw?

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        I think the danger is less about electricity and more about hydrogen building up in small spaces and exploding above your head.

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          I think its about sharks. They will eat you

          >I heard they start at the sack

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      I never tried it but diving scares the shit out of me. Google Byford Dolphin accident.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        >With the escaping air and pressure, it included bisection of his thoracoabdominal cavity, which resulted in fragmentation of his body, followed by expulsion of all of the internal organs of his chest and abdomen, except the trachea and a section of small intestine, and of the thoracic spine. These were projected some distance, one section being found 10 metres (30 ft) vertically above the exterior pressure door.

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          So it was like that scene in Alien 4, cool.
          Sucks for him, though.

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            >sucks for him
            Literally

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            Actually much more powerful. The force in. Aliens would have been limited to the ships atmospheric pressure vs the vacuum of space. So less than 1atm, probably more like .8.

            But underwater you got like 15 atm at 500 ft. If your stuck on the wrong side of thst pressure gradient all the way up to the surface. You got a really fast trip

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Same here, besides the general danger of that kind of construction work, add the general dangers of diving plus the acute dangers of electricity + water.
      Then add in the time elements of decompression and a 500 mile or longer trip to the nearest hospital, neither of which are uncommon in that line of work.

      dont forget sharks and giant octopus

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Yeah I'm scared of the black carpet on the ocean floor

  2. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Go to young memorial in morgan city Louisiana. It's a part of South Louisiana technical College. They have a commercial diving course. It is 8 months long and costs about 6 grand.

    Pic related is my dive hat.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Did you wear that thing in stores when there was mask mandates?

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        I thought about it but theirs so many divers that live around here it would have been kind of douchy.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        >wearing a diaper

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          >not using the excuse to cover your face and be incognito inside of a store where big brother is recording your every move
          The inconsistency from you morons is baffling.

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            you do know AI doesn't need your face anymore to ID you, right? It just needs your eyes and your gait, and bam, that's it. Go read up on the mass-scale AI that china deploys in their cities.

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              even if true, it would never hold up in court.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      >It is 8 months long and costs about 6 grand.

      Does it actually get you a job or is it more so the college has something cool to sell? 6k sounds reaaally cheap to get into a very well paying field.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        It pretty much guarantees you a job. We've got 5 new hires this month from that school. All the other schools are like 30k and up. I honestly don't know why young memorial is so cheap. They don't advertise at all, I didn't even know they existed when I went to school. I went to school in Jacksonville Florida and that shit cost me 25k. It's fricking 40k now.

        Now for some harsh reality. As a graduate of dive school you have two options. Inland or offshore. If you go inland you will be making about 50k a year. You will be working with alcoholic burn outs that couldn't cut it offshore, but you will dive everyday. If you chose offshore you will not be hired as a diver. You will be hired as a tender. It's an apprenticeship basically. You will make about 60k a year, you won't dive as often because you aren't a diver. You're a tender. If you break out as a diver with a reputable company it will be respected anywhere you go. It's about 3 years to break out.

        Go offshore. It's way better I have worked with the biggest cranes on the planet. 17 thousand tons. You won't see that shit inland.

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          >17 thousand tons
          Holy shit. I didn't know that was a thing.

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            sscv sleipnir

            Google it

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              Who is Elroy Kim?

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              what the frick

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                frick, that's hot

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                Pretty cool, I live next to Huisman industries, they have all kinds of crazy ships in their repair dock.

                https://i.imgur.com/cUzZsxl.png

                Who is Elroy Kim?

                The guy who edited the wiki page, presumably.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                thats amazing.

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              whoa

              It pretty much guarantees you a job. We've got 5 new hires this month from that school. All the other schools are like 30k and up. I honestly don't know why young memorial is so cheap. They don't advertise at all, I didn't even know they existed when I went to school. I went to school in Jacksonville Florida and that shit cost me 25k. It's fricking 40k now.

              Now for some harsh reality. As a graduate of dive school you have two options. Inland or offshore. If you go inland you will be making about 50k a year. You will be working with alcoholic burn outs that couldn't cut it offshore, but you will dive everyday. If you chose offshore you will not be hired as a diver. You will be hired as a tender. It's an apprenticeship basically. You will make about 60k a year, you won't dive as often because you aren't a diver. You're a tender. If you break out as a diver with a reputable company it will be respected anywhere you go. It's about 3 years to break out.

              Go offshore. It's way better I have worked with the biggest cranes on the planet. 17 thousand tons. You won't see that shit inland.

              Nice info.

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          I thought these guys made 6 figures easy?
          Isn't it someone easy to get a job welding in a shop for 50k a year?

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            Eventually you will make good money, but starting out pays 50ish k a year. If you make it into SAT diving you make a grand a day. But that's so far in your future it's not even worth thinking about.

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              >SAT diving

              pls elaborate

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                There is probably a good Wikipedia article. Saturation diving. Basically you live in a decompression chamber for a month or so. It's uncomfortable as shit but 28k a month is hard to turn down. I've done 2 months this year.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                Shit, you're a saturation diver? That's pretty cool. What's it like?

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                It sucks. It pays really well so if they call with a sat job I will say yes, but I'm not chasing it. I did recently do a shallow sat good visibility job. That was nice but usually its deep and in mud and everybody wants everything done faster than humanly possible. I would rather surface dive.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                I guess I meant like, the amount that it sucks and is dangerous is the cool part. You know what I mean? I hope you've saved up a good chunk of change

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                >uncomfortable as shit
                Flat cola is awful.

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              >Eventually you will make good money, but starting out pays 50ish k a year. If you make it into SAT diving you make a grand a day. But that's so far in your future it's not even worth thinking about.

              This is about true for most trades discussed here. People always brag about 120k here and 150k there and while there's definitely the option very few people earn that kind of money from day 1. Probably some kind of survivor bias? People forget they also had some shit years with 42k in the beginning. Some jobs definitely reward the danger more than others and i thought underwater welding was one of them so 50k is a bit disappointing. I looked into offshore work once but the pay was little more than what i would get as a researcher in a state uni position. At least the first years but i wouldn't want to do it for more than 2 years anyway. The only plus would have been that you get x weeks free for x weeks of work and do cool shit like nighttime offshore heli crash training.

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            I went to welding school and that’s an insane amount of money fresh out the gate, at least in my area (Illinois).Not to say you can’t do it but that’s union ironworkers or pipe fitters and you’d most likely be on the road. Even then that’s pretty high for a starting salary.

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            knock off 5-10k and yeah

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          >I honestly don't know why young memorial is so cheap.
          Louisiana Technical College - Young Memorial Campus. It's a state-run vocational tech school.

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          >You will be working with alcoholic burn outs that couldn't cut it offshore, but you will dive everyday.
          Exact opposite of my inland experience but I worked for a reputable company with professional divers. I started as a tender, worked for around 2 years, went to dive school, started getting in to the water more and then started getting paid as a diver.
          I have worked with some people that were warm bodies only but I've also worked with some of the most skilled divers you've ever seen. We stayed pretty busy and I'm proud to have learned and worked with those guys. It's what made me a man.

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          >risking your life for 60k per year

          holy shit are you moronic? our truckers are making 115K

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            >risking your life for 115k per year
            holy shit are you moronic?

            at least offshore welding would fricking challenge me and help me grow the applicable skill sets in a high pressure environment. i'm trying to forge a hammer here, anon. can't fret over every little stomach ulcer.

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              Its really not risky, Im sure there is a higher percentage of truck drivers that die from being fat pieces of shit and crashing and OD'ing than divers die from diving.

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            How do I get these six figure trucking jobs?

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              >How do I get these six figure trucking jobs?
              Own the truck outright and get into some specialty hauling.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                Ownership is highly risky right now and many owner operators are fricked by fuel prices. Also owning is like owning a fishing boat, ya have to "pay the boat" first. Net profit is not guaranteed.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                I think considering the context of this thread I would say its more like a dive boat.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                >dive boat
                anon, that's called a submarine

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                no my friend, its called a DSV, dive support vessel. AKA a dive boat.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                heh I don't think so. When a boat dives, that is called sinking. 😉

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                nope DSV. Dive support Vessel.

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            Driving 6 days a week and freebasing to stay awake and deliver the load on time, yeah.

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            >risking your life for 115K per year

            holy shit are you moronic? facecuck programmers are making 200K

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              >facecuck programmers are making 200K

              Not everyone can code at that level which is why PrepHole is full of starving wannabes.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                PrepHole is not a good indication of the average population, even less PrepHole anyway 200k its not an "unreachable wizard" level, its the starting salary, all you need to do is pass an interview

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                Do you perhaps work for facebook marketing? Ask any engineer who landed that job, that page is a joke.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        it pays so well because it is extremely stupidly dangerous and also requires a combination of two skills most people don't have and won't learn

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        Anon, it pays well because it's a relatively skill-intensive field that's also very dangerous.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      >underwater welding school
      >named “Memorial”

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        LOL. Never thought of that. We just went there last week for a underwater burning test.

  3. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Where does one even start with this? Should I first learn welding or diving?

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Why not learn both at the same time?

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Welding first always so you know what tests you can pass (and may get a nice shipyard gig). There's no good way to learn both at once because divided attention, and you might not have the talent required.

  4. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    My bro works on the rigs and says whilst the money is great deep sea diving is a young mans game
    Most are done by their 40's since the toll on the body is so high.
    The old saying that there few old welders holds doubly true for underwater guys

  5. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    I know someone that did this and one day he came up and had amnesia, doctors don't know wtf is wrong with him or what happened and is getting like dementia n shit.

  6. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    My neighbours did this for many years and have loads of cool diving stories. They gave me a roman slave manila/bronze bracelet. The bloke said to me something I remember very clearly. 'If you meet someone who is in the diving line of work I was in, don't give them the time of day if they're bragging about their job. They're an underwater labourer and that's all. Same shit people do onnland but just underwater.'

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Fair enough to be humble about shit but you gotta admit, it's pretty cool and interesting

  7. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Check out the movie pioneer. It's sweedish or some shit but it's about sat diving welders. It's a real story.

  8. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Industry is bad right now.
    Unless you can put your skills towards sea wind turbines.
    In which case there might actually be decent job prospects.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      >now
      it would take me years to become one so the current state of the industry is irrelevant.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        Uhhh, however slow you think you are at learning, I assure you change in industry is slower.

  9. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    >Ok you can go down
    >Did you close the gate?
    >Yea
    >1 minute later
    >PULL ME UP
    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/diver-luke-seabrook-died-after-nova-scotia-power-dam-gate-left-open-brother-says-1.3172533
    I really, REALLY, don't want to die stuck underwater due to randomly failing devices or negligence.

  10. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    I don't think you do. It's a bunch of yahoos and drug addicts.

  11. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    >he doesn't know about delta P.
    looks like we got a diver #1 lads..

  12. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    So now that you know exactly how to become one, are you going to school?

  13. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Know someone who's a Navy diver presently. Does this type or work, other things naturally.
    Says pay in private sector is 3X his present, but the gear regulations, aren't as stringent as mil. Shocking, right?

    Something to note, if you are in the US...
    On the eastern seaboard in the coming years and decade, with investment and demand for off-shore wind power, this skill which is considered specialized, will be in high demand if it is not already. They haven't ramped up production or plans yet, various barriers from local to fed, but labor requirements are 1 of the many items that have been shown as a concern. To produce the numbers that are expected, quantity of wind turbines out in ocean, there's a decent labor pool requiring the specialized skills, that are not presently filled. This, is one of them. Something think about, mention to those in their early 20's if looking for a potential career path.

    Right now, in the US, they have to bring in a lot of the workers from Europe as the US doesn't have enough labor to cover the build and specialization required. Consider what that costs, to bring that EU labor to the US! Now consider if you had crews there were all US workers, and could undercut that cost by 10% or less, and what you might be banking for take home.

    As said earlier, this is a young mans game, but there is money here, without a doubt.

  14. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    I work offshore and know a diver (ex diver) who works with us. His ears are fricked so can’t dove anymore. The worst story he told me is when he was down there welding and got trapped by a rogue fishing net that some trawler had cut loose. He was working away and this thing slowly enveloped him. They varroa really sharp knife and it got blunter and blunter as he cut away as these huge trawler nets have metal twine in the thread. He eventually made it out but it was touch and go. That’s one of his horror stories about the shit that’s down there. Oil rig’s are inherently dangerous places but diving is another level on top of that, and imo the money although good just doesn’t compensate for the risk involved.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      What if you're also doing it to learn the skills involved. Diving, welding, managing stress when your life is constantly on the line. How much worth does that add.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      bump

      How does one get an offshore job? any offshore job. there a a ton of rigs near me on the west coast.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        >a ton of rigs near me on the west coast.
        did a double take

  15. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    sucks being a stupid Black person, dont it?

  16. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    I work as an underwater welder.
    It fricking sucks, it pays excellent but it's contract work.
    You know what is contract work and takes less time, effort, and money to accomplish? Welding a pipeline, welding pipeline is also significantly less dangerous and pays 75-80 bucks instead of 100 an hour like underwater welding pays.

    But all contract jobs are trash, you have work for 6 months, then have no work until you can find another fricking job.
    Have fun working at Denny's or Target for a couple months to not starve to death if theres no work nearby.

    It's fun, but working as a pipefitter has been more fun, reliable, and I get to see my family and NOT face the chance of getting sucked into a pipe the size of a quarter, or drowning in some random pipe that needs rust removed.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Do you work inland? I work in the gulf of mexico, I average 8 months of work per year and when im not working I live in New Orleans and party untill my company calls me again. I have never had to chase down work in my entire career.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      This
      I've met a few divers working as an equipment operator/ pile driver. I've never met a really successful diver. The first I met had to drive halfway across the country to inspect bridges in Florida. They didn't even give him scuba equipment. , He was using a mask and snorkel. He only made $13/hr while he was trying to live and pay off the loans he needed to pay for his school and expensive equipment with alligators swimming by. Another guy I've worked with was in a similar situation diving with a hard hat from the 30's doing something called pneumo breathing where they just stick a hose in the bottom with no regulator. He's in his 50's and lives with his parents still, works as a scallop fisherman in the non dive time.
      The pile drivers told me that an underwater welding stick electrode is just a 7018 rod dipped in parrafin wax.
      Anyone who gets involved in this should probably have some skills beforehand like a CDL, crane certification because no company is going to want to hire some random moron with no work experience for one of the hardest jobs you can do

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        explain

        It pretty much guarantees you a job. We've got 5 new hires this month from that school. All the other schools are like 30k and up. I honestly don't know why young memorial is so cheap. They don't advertise at all, I didn't even know they existed when I went to school. I went to school in Jacksonville Florida and that shit cost me 25k. It's fricking 40k now.

        Now for some harsh reality. As a graduate of dive school you have two options. Inland or offshore. If you go inland you will be making about 50k a year. You will be working with alcoholic burn outs that couldn't cut it offshore, but you will dive everyday. If you chose offshore you will not be hired as a diver. You will be hired as a tender. It's an apprenticeship basically. You will make about 60k a year, you won't dive as often because you aren't a diver. You're a tender. If you break out as a diver with a reputable company it will be respected anywhere you go. It's about 3 years to break out.

        Go offshore. It's way better I have worked with the biggest cranes on the planet. 17 thousand tons. You won't see that shit inland.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        those divers must of sucked fricking ass. Ive worked inland about 6 or 7 times, and its the shittiest of the shit. All the good divers work offshore. I Wanted to try inland and its fricking trash and so are you if your an inland diver.

  17. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    That's disgusting dude. You have any idea the literal shit you have to deal with as a diver in the trades? Human feces.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      At sea?

      Shipyard welders make nice money but I'm not one so no idea how to get in.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        Guess who gets to fix the leaks in the blackwater tanks

  18. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    >death rate of 15%

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Gonna need a source on this one. The job with the highest death rate according to the BLS is fishermen with 0.12%.

      >uncomfortable as shit
      Flat cola is awful.

      Sounds like a good excuse to not drink corn water. Also, one has to wonder how much of the damage the job does to your body is actually just dogshit self care.

  19. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    It looks cool in normal situations but still... I don't want to weld underwater.

    Reasons are like shown below.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      I expect to be asked to weld near openings/leakages or accidents, which leads my fear to having to deal with situations stated before.
      but if its not and cant have those situations, OP got a cool job then.

  20. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Any delta p stories from any of the pro divers in this thread?

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      remember the crab

  21. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Did this for about 8 years and retired at 27. Go offshore or don’t even bother. Pay attention.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      retired at 27

      >drug the frick up.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        Or didn't pay attention and got fricked up. OP, this isn't for everyone. This is a career where if you frick up even once, even minorly, you could die a horrible, messy death. If that doesn't scare you, more power to you.

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          Lol no, I just bought some land in West Virginia and started a little farm. Cope harder wagie, come buy my cider.

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            What does buying a farm have to do with the dangers of underwater welding?

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              These homosexuals are implying I fricked up and got fired/injured, but I just decided to live the simple life. Underwater welding is dangerous blah blah blah but it’s probably the quickest way up the social ladder besides literally robbing a bank.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                No. I was implying you were a b***h. By the way we got an LSS who actually robbed a bank.

  22. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    There. is. no. such. thing. as. an. underwater. welder.

    Trust me I'm more devastated than you are to learn that. The trade is called "Professional Diving". Plus you probably need to have the health of an astronaut or pilot. Otherwise, what's stopping you.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      also I would add that the pay is way less than what google would have you believe.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        Listen homosexual. If you are gonna be the worlds biggest underwater dick sucking homosexual at least do it correctly. It's called "commercial diving"

        And yes, there is such a thing as being an underwater welder. Jesus Christ just look at OP's pic

        Your right about the money though I make 80ish K a year.

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          There. is. no. such. thing. as. an. underwater. welder.

          Trust me I'm more devastated than you are to learn that. The trade is called "Professional Diving". Plus you probably need to have the health of an astronaut or pilot. Otherwise, what's stopping you.

          >It's called "commercial diving"
          that is correct buy I am drunk shut up

          but do you have any guys that are just "welders" and do nothing else? doubt it.

          I'm a welder (started about 2 years ago so low lever because shit industry here) and I legitimately do not fear a single thing about diving but I don't have the health and determination for it. Even tho I would love to do it, I recognize that it is simply not for everyone, even if you lack basic self-preservation.

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            you must be a colossal pile of shit, we have divers in their 60's still going to bottom on gas everyday.

            Of course we don't have any welders that just weld, Nobody has any welders that just weld, Thats some union shit and we aint got room for that garbage.

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              This is the North Sea in the 80s. When up top I ran the deck for months. Rarely went to land. No wife/kids etc. Making £££. Retiered eaaarly.

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              >you must be a colossal pile of shit
              I'm morbidly obese alcoholic and take meds for anxiety, which reminds me, I read diving can affect the way medication is being absorbed in your brain.

              >Nobody has any welders that just weld
              hence my point

              >Thats some union shit and we aint got room for that
              Welders should weld. Maybe not in diving but in any other trade which requires sound welds. If you want me to run a grinder for 8 hours and then bust out a perfect weld with those same hands, it's simply not happening. Also unions are based. Maybe not in the US, but as a principle they are based.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                yeah it is true about medicine. I new a guy that was taking chantex to quit smoking and he straight flipped the frick out. They had to knock him out with a fire extinguisher and strap him into his rack.

                Unions are fricking gay as frick. The welder only welds , I mean i get it especially the older guys that are really good should not be pushing a broom, but they should be allowed to if they want.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                >I new a guy that was taking chantex to quit smoking and he straight flipped the frick out.
                That's normal with chantix, it's a PrepHole meme for a reason

                >https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2014/08/29/new-murder-trial-for-soldier-who-claims-anti-smoking-drug-made-him-psychotic/

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                ooooooh, you're just a loser. i see i see 🙁

  23. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Delta P aside why is this shit so dangerous anyway it's just some fricking water

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      If you don't your math wrong or your watch stops working or you don't set an alarm right you will either die or spend weeks in a hyperbaric chamber.

      You also need to have a big enough dick to swing around to tell a boss or some bean counter to get fricked, it's not getting done on their schedule, it's getting done on your's so you don't die.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        im a welder thinking of going into this so i can buy a mansion with cash after a few years then go back to welding that wont kill me. how much does offshore pay and how do i get into sat?

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          your gonna make about 50K a year starting out.

          I dont know why everybody assumes we make $150 an hour. I mean actually some guys do in the union, but you could push a broom and make that shit in a union.

  24. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Frick, you should focus on being an underwater not-such-a-homosexual first.

  25. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    I did this for about 3 years in the North Sea (few miles from the furthest scottish island) making circal £200k a year doing basic welds.

    Experienced an earthquake under water. The silt was upto my groin within seconds. Either I sunk or it what ever. Had to wait 40mins for another diver to come help with flotation bags.

    On a fairly calm day i though I could see other divers lights in a small abyss Infront of me (full of old shipwrecks) but a good 900ft down. Only 2 walkers (welders) and 2 safety divers (who were above)

    And then,

    Experienced something pinching my shoulder with enough force to snap my color bone, shatter my scapular and break my humerus head. When i say pinch I mean it felt like a finger and thumb, nothing full of teeth or what ever.

    No idea what it was, nothing on the camera. Quit that week

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      >with enough force
      So these are documented injuries you received or it just felt like it?

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        Those were documented. The feeling was the pinch, short sharp kind of pain. Belted a scream out.

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          Spooky

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            I've heard all kind of stories.

            Guys who've been doing training at the bottom of a Loch saying theyve come across old copper kit with clothing inside.

            One i know is potentially true is a chap said he saw guys swim past with assault rifles. I wouldn't say wholly un-common/lies as we'd be warned when a british sub was passing near.

            Other stories are random divers going past, being pulled by something. Flashing lights, explosion sounds, roaring. Immense animal life. Strange voices over the comms systems in different languages or demonic depth kind of voices. Music.

            A bunch of guys said they started sinking when a random squall of bubbles escaped in the silt line. They weren't sure it would stop.

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              I could read these things for forever
              I would put more stock in posts on PrepHole than any "spooky stories underwater" book anytime

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                There used to be a time where 'Deep logs' were kept with some guys in the comms rooms. In a military fashion they'd record everything above and below surface. In the event of an accident it would be logged.

                I used to do underwater cutting in the Thames. That was great. Old spitfires, boats, once cut open a boat and found hubdreds of £ in coins. We shared it out.

                Came across heaps of knives, guns, old musket barrels, cannons. A old barge full of Red Coat soldiers clothing and Bear skins. Military buttons/medals, ahopping carts, cars. A lot of safes and especially old huge onea.

                Just tonnes of f---ing cool stuff. Random barrels full of concrete (make of that what you will) as well as concrete pads with a ring (big enough for a chain/shackles) to be connected to. Again make of that what you will.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                thats frickin wild

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                >as well as concrete pads with a ring (big enough for a chain/shackles) to be connected to. Again make of that what you will.
                Moorings?

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                That was my assumption but they're almost in the middle of the river. Less it was moorings for the old wooden platforms they used for ice parties.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                >Came across heaps of knives, guns, old musket barrels, cannons. A old barge full of Red Coat soldiers clothing and Bear skins. Military buttons/medals, ahopping carts, cars. A lot of safes and especially old huge onea.

                Sounds cool, historic objects must be an amazing find!

                Some modern stuff can be found too, I worked as an engineer in a machine part manufacturing company and there was a valuable shipment full of parts going to South America. It had 6-8 months worth of parts for some customer project, all very special.

                Well, the ship sunk in the caribbean. They knew where it was but it would have cost more to retrieve the parts than what they cost and since they were made with high accuracy, they were sort of lost anyway because they could have been damaged.

                But some day, when nobody remembers that ship anymore, someone will find a shitload of finely manufactured parts in the depths...

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                >But some day, when nobody remembers that ship anymore, someone will find a shitload of finely manufactured parts in the depths...
                thats a fun daydream

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                >Random barrels full of concrete (make of that what you will)

                Joe Kuklinski, the mob hit man, used to put his victims in 55 gallon drums full of cement.

                Might be some British crook using the same strat.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                Worked as a fabricator/fitter at the local coking plant before it shut down. While I was there ABB came in & took over the maintenance dept, long story short I ended up on 12hr nights all by myself on a 4 on 4 off pattern.
                So I had a huge fitting shop, which was the old pumping house for the Victorian colliery that used to be on the site, all to myself.
                >Just me & the radio
                3am rolls round. Spooked.
                It happened pretty regular for no reason. I'd look up the shop & the crane pendant would be swinging a bit despite nobody touching it for 9 hours.
                Feeling I'm being watched. Standard nightshift stuff really.

                So off I go to the shift managers office to get my head together & shoot the shit.
                Tell him about the bad vibes & that I'm leaning more toward poltergeists than gypsies
                >Got any spooky stories anon?
                He was a shift manager at a coal mine for years.
                >Yea I've got one
                >I go into work one night
                >There's some new equipment being installed so I don't have any lads with me
                >Previous shift manager tells me there's one other guy working this part of the pit during hand over
                >I go do my daily walkabout, check all the chutes & belts & etc.
                >Bump into the other guy on my rounds
                >Have a quick chat with him, how's the cat, United did well & the weekend & all that.
                >Walk on after 10 minutes or so
                >Come across another guy working on something
                >Oh hello, who are you? I thought there was only me & that other fella
                >The other guy laughs.
                >Frick off m8, you know there's only us two down here.

                Perfectly sober & straight type of guy. He had no explanation for it.
                If you talk to any miner, they all tell this story
                >I looked down an abandoned cut on my way past it
                >There's cap lamps moving about at the end of it.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                I had to look up a handful of the terms you used kek.
                gib yob plox
                >>I looked down an abandoned cut on my way past it
                's cap lamps moving about at the end of it.
                fuuuuuuuuuuuuuug thats a goodn

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              Stop, you're making me want to pursue this career even more. You can't just present me with a psychological frontier the likes of which 99% of the population will never experience and act like it's a bad thing.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                It's worth doing. Money isn't where it used to be and ever greater demand is placed on you for the money you do earn. You can go weeks with seeing nothing but your work and blackness. You'll meet some unhinged guys that have experienced some truly dodgy stuff.

                I guarantee you'd have at least 1 experience that will make you question continuing that line of work. Especially if you do salvage and start cutting old ships open.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                >You can go weeks with seeing nothing but your work and blackness. You'll meet some unhinged guys that have experienced some truly dodgy stuff.
                You've already sold me man, you're good, you can stop now.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      90ft"* apologies

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        Jesus thank you. I was very worried for a moment.

        Those were documented. The feeling was the pinch, short sharp kind of pain. Belted a scream out.

        Sounds like a squid wanted to say hello

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      >Once upon a time, before the second world war, there was a big game fishing club in Scarborough. The rules required that the fisherman had to be in a small boat by himself. Usually they sailed out in a bigger one and the individual boats would be set out many miles off shore. Big fish, making their way north from the Mediterranean, were caught and brought to the boat and gaffed by one man. Then he could claim the catch. No more of these tuna were found after the war, but now there is evidence they are coming back.

      I'm in Yorkshire myself, so every 3rd c**t can weld here.
      Would I be right in suggesting you can dose a regular rod with a bit of wax then weld under(a couple of inches) of water just for the craic?
      A mate of a mate settled a bet once by laying a sound weld in the quench tank at work. That was just an ordinary rod & welding machine. I've welded in the pissing rain enough times to know it works under a couple of mm or so at least, so I'm inclined to believe it.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        Yep dip em in wax. I know lots of people use 7018. But when you buy the pre-made rods they use 7014. I've waxed a few thousand pounds of 7018 because that's "what we always do" and it works fine but I convinced one soupervisor to buy 7014 and I prefer it.

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          The irony of using low hydrogen in hydrogen eh.
          A cursory google suggests 7014's are a better fit for sure. I suppose the faster freeze of the weld pool would help mitigate any positional issues too.
          Cheers, great story with the sea monster btw

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Invisible giant crab almost had you for lunch mate

  26. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    frick i want to be a firefighter in a meltpool so bad

  27. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    If you are seriously considering underwater welding as a career, I encourage you to also consider becoming a lineman (high voltage powerlines.) It is similar, risky, hard on the body, travel for work, skilled labor, but based on what I am seeing ITT for pay, more lucrative. At least for IBEW contractors in the US. I am knowledgeable about the whole process if anyone is interested.
    Also, I feel it is likely somewhat less dangerous.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      get the frick outa here with this gay shit, This here is a dive spread

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      I heard a tale some years ago.
      >My mate has a mate works for the national grid
      >Drives his company land rover all over place changing lightning rods on pylons
      >Decent pay, camps beside the pylon usually then claims for a bed & breakfast as well
      >c**ts in the office measure out the old copper every time making sure he isn't stealing any
      >He doesn't
      >He weighs in buckets upon buckets of stainless nuts washers & bolts instead

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        When I started renting a house in the UK, I was shocked (sorry) at how easy it is to steal electricity.
        100% worth it now that electric prices are like £0.30/KWh.

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          What E is .107$/kWh here

          I had to look up a handful of the terms you used kek.
          gib yob plox
          >>I looked down an abandoned cut on my way past it
          's cap lamps moving about at the end of it.
          fuuuuuuuuuuuuuug thats a goodn

          Worked as a fabricator/fitter at the local coking plant before it shut down. While I was there ABB came in & took over the maintenance dept, long story short I ended up on 12hr nights all by myself on a 4 on 4 off pattern.
          So I had a huge fitting shop, which was the old pumping house for the Victorian colliery that used to be on the site, all to myself.
          >Just me & the radio
          3am rolls round. Spooked.
          It happened pretty regular for no reason. I'd look up the shop & the crane pendant would be swinging a bit despite nobody touching it for 9 hours.
          Feeling I'm being watched. Standard nightshift stuff really.

          So off I go to the shift managers office to get my head together & shoot the shit.
          Tell him about the bad vibes & that I'm leaning more toward poltergeists than gypsies
          >Got any spooky stories anon?
          He was a shift manager at a coal mine for years.
          >Yea I've got one
          >I go into work one night
          >There's some new equipment being installed so I don't have any lads with me
          >Previous shift manager tells me there's one other guy working this part of the pit during hand over
          >I go do my daily walkabout, check all the chutes & belts & etc.
          >Bump into the other guy on my rounds
          >Have a quick chat with him, how's the cat, United did well & the weekend & all that.
          >Walk on after 10 minutes or so
          >Come across another guy working on something
          >Oh hello, who are you? I thought there was only me & that other fella
          >The other guy laughs.
          >Frick off m8, you know there's only us two down here.

          Perfectly sober & straight type of guy. He had no explanation for it.
          If you talk to any miner, they all tell this story
          >I looked down an abandoned cut on my way past it
          >There's cap lamps moving about at the end of it.

          Coal mines are hiring like crazy, make it past contractor 36$/h unlimited OT. Camaraderie like you wouldn't believe.

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            >Coal mines are hiring like crazy
            Them days are gone anon
            The mines have gone
            The fab shops are gone
            Machine shops- gone
            Don't need admin & offices anymore
            Equipment manufacturers went elsewhere
            Laundry services - gone
            Training colleges. nope
            Pubs & clubs? Prime building land that
            Football leagues & the grounds they played on? Deano boxes m8
            Are you a Amazon warehouse or call centre type of person anon?
            Don't fancy it?
            We pay extra if you claim disability as an alcoholic

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              Live in a coal mine region and work in the industry. I assure you they are not gone yet, and are presently hiring.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                Is that somewhere in the US? I worked a labor job over the last year and honestly, I liked it a lot more than any retail or desk jockey gig.
                For exactly the reason of that the people actually gave a shit about each other.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Now's the time if you do want to get into big time hv transmission. All the new "renewable sources" that are going in are going to require even bigger transmission lines to get the power from states that can make it to states that need it.
      See the Lava Ridge wind project in Idaho.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      >skilled
      Fricking got me in stitches, linesmen are dumb as bricks, could never do the fitting side of the network. Hell, thye couldn't even do jointing

  28. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    I've worked on a saturation dive boat, those guys were pretty cool. If you're looking for jobs commercial anons Aqueos was the company, they do surface dives, sat dives and they have plenty of tender jobs available. 28 days on 28 days off offshore.

  29. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Gee this all sounds dangerous. Don't die now please.

  30. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    >gives cancer to fish instead of himself
    based

  31. 2 years ago
    francisco zuñiga

    debes ser buzo comercial soldar bajo el agua no es tan complicado e un método de arrastre de echo es mas difícil solar al arco en superficie que bajo el agua onions buzo comercial con experiencia puedo responder preguntas

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Yo what is this shit, I can't read this

      Yo Americanize it for me

      >I hate honky's I hate honky's I hate honky's when they annoy me and they always do,

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      DUDES THIS GUY IS A COMMERCIAL DIVER WELDER

      HE SAYS ITS HARDER TO ARC WELD ON LAND

      cuéntanos algunas historias sobre cosas extrañas que les sucedieron a los soldadores submarinos

  32. 2 years ago
    Anonymous
  33. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Pioneer a new field: underwater plastic welding

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Underwater wood welding.

  34. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    This documentary is pretty good - it's on Netflix I think, or might have been Amazon, can't fricking remember, anyway: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Breath_(2019_film)

  35. 2 years ago
    sauce

    >frick i wanna be an underwater welder so bad.
    >fricking dies
    I hear the chicks are worth it tho

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