@terryc522

Great video, excellent information.

My disclaimer: I’m only here because my son is taking welding and manufacturing at school and I’m learning, so I can figure out what he’s talking about. 

I’ve got 30 years in paramedic services and can briefly relate to respiratory protection in welding (I worked SARS, Ebola and Covid, where the city had active outbreaks)

We don’t do P100 we wore N95’s and still do. Make sure you don and doff properly AND get fit tested. Better if it’s quantitative (actual particle count) NOT qualitative (can you taste the spray?). If you don’t; you might be fooling yourself that you’re getting protection, that you’re really not.  Big hint with masks. Don’t pinch the nose, press down both sides at the same time. “Pinching” creates a void at the bridge of your nose and compromises the filtering capacity.

If you do respirators, same thing. Make sure you get fit tested and don /doff properly 

You’re going to be uncomfortable with both, so you might as well be protected too. 

PAPR’s. I have it for a specialized team I’m on. They are the best, when it’s hot outside, it’s much easier to breath then a disposable mask and compared to a respirator, you won’t get heat rashes (rubber on the face).

Over my career, I’ve probably picked up more people with respiratory issues than cardiac. 

Despite what Hollywood portrays; respiratory and cardiac are the bread and butter of paramedic services (with overdoses really creeping up in numbers). 

Short version; it’s your life. Take care of it. If you’re going to be uncomfortable, might as well be protected too. PAPR’s are expensive, but it’s a short term cost; because, if you make it to retirement and can’t breathe and paying out the wahzoo for meds. You made a bad financial decision

@adrian.956

Got a 3M respirator with some p100 filters awhile ago after watching one of your videos about them. It’s great to not blow out black boogers after welding all day.

@tedbastwock3810

Excellent topic. It absolutely seems one could DIY something similar for much less cost. One trick is getting the appropriate filters and securing them in a manner that doesn't allow particulate around them. Even if it aint perfect, still seems better than nothing. 

I appreciate your commitment to your audience, Greg. Thanks for another great video.

@DIGGER19860

i have the same lincoln papr. its far cheaper than a fume extractor.  the filters are not cheap. but if you get a 5 pack you save a little. my friends give me crap for buying it but they didnt have asthma as a little kid having to go to the er all the time ect. i grew out of it but i do not want to go through that when im older. my gpa basically died from drowning from fluid in his lungs. it was terrible. its a good investment people.

@TwiztidPain

Very useful, welders need to know when to use a PARP vs resporators.

@nightheron714

Important information on a vital safety tool. Thank you.

@VINNIV47

I thought about going into welding at 15 years old but when the teacher told me that a welding career can be 20 years due to lung damage I went a different direction.  I started welding as a hobby at about 65 and bought a less expensive PAPR off Amazon. It's not super comfort but ... no smell of fumes. Far better than just a filtered respirator. A PAPR is well worth it considering the dangers of any welding fumes to the lungs. Another issue I was concerned about, especially back then, was attitudes toward trying to be healthy being "sissy" and so on. Thanks for the video!

@simonni4483

Excellent video Greg. The workplace safety regulating body here in Australia has reduced the weld fume exposure limits for welders and metal workers to 1mg per cubic meter per eight hour workday, effectively mandating the use of PAPR and fume extraction devices in the workplace. My workplace has provided me with a Speedglas G-501 so I can keep my personal Adflo at home now.

@nickdecker2350

Great video!! There needs to be more information available about these and health in general for welders - this is a great addition!!
Maybe you could do some other videos on welding health risks. Like the radiation on exposed skin with some graphs and references to a study or two. Same with risk of shock from sweat and damp environments, and bad ground placement

@randyjackson4282

You are spot on i have lost a lot of friends in the welding trade 100% of them lung cancer most of them died in there early 60 s some late 50 s

@_droid

I'm convinced they jack up the price simply because they can. It's mostly big business buying these for OSHA compliance and they have no choice but to pay whatever the asking price is. Sure, a lot of it is the certifications and risk but not all of it. This is an area that could stand more regulation. Required safety equi

@scoundrel1680

I have a massive noggin and face, I have never gotten a half mask respirator to properly seal no matter what I try, so I just stopped trying. But this video has convinced me to take my respiratory health more seriously, I'm dropping $1,700 that I didn't expect to right now because I want to increase my chances of living to see my grandkids (if I'm lucky enough to have some).

@biryaniofbodyhair

I just bought my first papr lid 2 weeks ago after many years of threatening to buy one, safe to say it's been one if the best things I've ever done for myself! I actually can't get over how much better I feel, its night and day.... for anyone interested i bought a brand called SWP Stealth xg, on the cheap side but modelled after 3m, work had no intention of buying any kind of extraction and I couldn't possibly afford the 2 or so grand for a 3m unit, I'm pleasantly surprised at how well it works

@benjamin2339

I'm a welder at an aluminum anodizing plant and we use the  3m adflo the new and the old style for our 12 hour shifts its amazing considering we weld through all kinds of corrosive chemicals but we dont do any grinding so most people take out there grind shield but for me my lungs feel heavy so i must have more sensitive lungs so i promptly put the shield back but if the battery is newer it will last a whole 12 hours without needing to be charged  the adflo has a flow meter and ramps up if the filters start getting plugged to help compensate for the restricted air flow. the newest style has air vents in the helmet and blows down from by your forehead and you can adjust the vents to keep from drying out your eyes which is pretty nice.

@theseldomseenkid6251

I wish the price of PAPR's was lower for quality units so everyone could easily afford one. Emphysema (COPD) is a horrible way to die.

@zyx495

I knew I wanted to do some work with stainless, but with a beard a traditional respirator wasn't an option, so I picked up a used 3M. I love it. Cost is the only downside whatsoever. Everything you said was true, but for me the best parts are the compatibility with a beard, the built in face shield, and the airflow helping to knock sweat down in the heat (if you store it in the ac, you get a minute or two of air conditioning when you first take it outside 😂)

@casey3235

i been thinking of doing a 5yr review video on the speedglas 9100mp i use at work. its turned out to be tuff as nails for even daily use.
the helmet,  adf ,, head gear , hinging components,  are all original to when it was new.
the adflo motor ,belt , breathing tube are also originals. the adflo battery did need replaced after a few years as theyr only good for about 500 charges.
so in the 5yr span its basically only needed a adflo battery. 
filters and adf protection plate will need replaced fairly often as theyre considered consumables

@michaelbigelow367

Great video! Very important! 100% I love my 3m!

@googlegok9637

100%agree with you.  I use the a60air , but I can see the smart about the build-in grind shield in your viking.  When you do fitting  . The A60 you can only see though the LCD , and flipping up (not very easy) circumvent the purpose since you then will inhale the welding fumes still in the air. The a60 is also lower in price , so I guess you get what you pay for.

@laiky71

I weld for a hobby. Sometimes grinding and MIG, FC, Stick in the garage and i see what comes out of my nose at the end of the day. sometimes SS or aluminum TIG in the house and i don't see anything. In either case i keep thinking about these units. They just make sense. Now if only they became more affordable.