[mr48chev]

^^^^^^ He knows. A plain helmet with a big screen with the right shade of lens might be a lot more comfortable to start with.

I've got a really high quality auto darken helmet that sells for over 300 that I use that I really like but I have it adjusted to a lighter shade as Mongo can fly suggested. I think I have about 5 helmets out in the garage including that one. One old small lens welding helmet that I bought way back in the 80's, a large lens maybe a HF auto dark and a Coastal farm and ranch auto dark. I don't like the Coastal one at all.

Weld lots of scrap pieces together and maybe make some things like a plant stand for your wife or mom. One of the first things kids in the local high school ag shop welding class made were plant stands and I have one out front that I bought from a friend's son about 35 years ago. She had too many sons in welding class that year and the other one Talked her into buying his first.

My son learned on my big old Forney stick welder with his buddy teaching him after work. The buddy is a pipe line welder in Alaska now and my son has evolved into a good welder who has since taught some of his workers to weld.

That old Forney welder is one of the most forgiving pieces of equipment you will find as it just doesn't act up on you. I've got a mig and a tig now too but that one still gets used for the heavy duty stuff.

Keep welding on scrap pieces or little projects until you get comfortable enough and your welds hold together well enough along with looking good enough that you are comfortable welding on the truck.

For years all I had was a little cheapie 110 welder with one heat range that took special self starting rods. (Monkey Wards unit) I'd stick pieces together with it exactly how I wanted them and then carry them to my buddy to have him weld them. It cost me a lot of Budweiser for the welding but he did a great job. If you can tack things together it usually isn't hard to find someone who can weld it .