Re: Underwater welding??
Commercial diving is completely unlike regular SCUBA. I do both. Commercial work is dark and cold, and frequently you do everything by feel in zero vis. There's not all that much welding done underwater. It's usually not cost effective. You get a better job welding top side and then assembling the parts underwater with bolts. You'll go to school to become a comercial diver, not a welder. That means you'll learn rigging, runing a deco chamber, ROV work, inspections and all the rest, not just underwater cutting and welding.
The big paying jobs don't last long. It's a young bucks job. The business chews people up and spits them out. You won't find many old commercial divers on those big money jobs still diving. It's very hard on the body. Many gravitate later to management, dock, pier and bridge inspections, harbor work, sewer and treatment plant inspections and so on, where the pay is less, but the works easier on the body.
If you really want to see what it's like, go put on your wet suit, black out your mask, and the go try to assemble something in 50 deg temps underwater for a couple of hours.
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