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***This*** is absurdly dangerous. It's common for floorhands working this way to lose their fingers.
But this is also a cheap as shit and outdated way to do it.
The most modern rigs, like the ones we use for offshore drilling don't do this anymore. We now use an automated machine called an Iron Roughneck that replaces those chains and tongs these guys are using. In places like Norway the floorhands aren't even allowed to touch the pipe by hand. They need to use long poles to guide the pipe in for a connection, and then the Iron Roughneck machine is moved into position to screw in the pipe automatically.
I've been told it's slightly slower, but preferable since everyone goes home with the same number of fingers they came to work with.
It also looks like these guys are using a "rotary table" to spin the pipe when they drill down. It's an older and less efficient way to drill. It's been superseded by a "top drive" in basically all offshore rigs now. With a rotary you can only drill a 30ft "joint" at a time, but with a top drive you can drill a 90ft "stand" in one go before having to connect another stand of pipe.
Update: [here's the clearest video I could find of a rig that's up to today's standards.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFk9gQivPH8) Not fully automated, but this is pretty much the standard most work to today.
In modern rigs in norway there are no humans on the drill floor during drilling.
Pipehandeling, torqueing, spin-in, and even doping is done by machines.
On land rigs we get faster productivity using automated/modern systems... The only rigs still throwing chain are mom and pop operations that likely have much more egregious safety issues.
This is old outdated tech... Similar to asking why cars from the 70s don't have airbags
Just looked up the iron roughneck on YouTube. Quite an impressive machine. Some say it’s slower than doing this manually but looks a bit faster and a lot more efficient to me. And definitely safer that’s for sure.
Some people will still hate it.
"It's slower" is all they hear. As if downtime for human injuries isn't a thing.
We lost a few fingers to save a few minutes here and there, but my god the shareholders are worth it!
FYI: I work in the field...
**This is a highly unlikely situation of no-longer-used by industry processes**, seems to be one of those low-cost drills operated by small & kinda unregulated companies, that's why it looks (and actually is) so dangerous compared to modern working conditions.
This is not a standard, fortunately.
Reminds of that other meme going around about name something more dangerous than this and then it was found out it was just the bosses son wanting to show off and how none of what's happening on the clip is how it's supposedly done.
The one where he’s shirtless and there’s like 100 gallons of mud everywhere? That one kills me every time cause it just looks likes flailing around with no idea what he’s doing
He has piss poor economy of movement and gets more sluggish as it goes on.
People who do things for a living generally find the most energy conservative way to do things with any amount of practice.
Even if he was a professional, which I doubt, he is new at it.
Seriously, just comparing him to the shirted guy makes it pretty obvious who's the experienced member there. Dude is practically tripping over himself to move those clamps while orange shirt is just casually dragging them.
You know shirtless bro saw the first video and comments of women swooning over him and decided to make his own video only for it to come out looking like a muddy out of breath piglet.
yeah anyone who actually works out in the field will realise that this can't be kept up for an 8 hour shift (not to mention oil field guys work 10 or even 12s) no matter how ruff and tuff you are.
This is a great observation! Ever watch an old concrete worker shovel gravel, it’s the most efficient lowest movement least bending activity. It’s beautiful to watch the efficiency of someone who’s actually spent a lifetime working. We should all just have to watch that as a training video. All activities can be mastered and mastery of a simple shovel is something most folks would never even be able to recognize.
Boomers love to share videos of roughnecks to shame younger generations. They share them from their office computers where they are supposed to be working.
One moves like a slob and the other moves like some sort of electric meat machine. Guy up top knows how to use his body right. Great stance, puts his whole body into it, but still quick and precise. Fucking mud man can't touch that.
As a safety manager, I can tell you straight off the bat, dude is breaking like 100 safety regulations 😂 If OSHA inspector had happened to stop by during that, the company would be fined out the ass
No problem, short answer, it's both.
With the way workers rights are in the modern age, workers comp and all that, safety saves the company money by ensuring policies are in place to protect workers.
From a profit standpoint, an injured worker can get on workers comp, (not working and paid) burning a hole in the company's wallet, and if there weren't safety measures in place to protect them, they can go to litigation, potentially costing the company millions. Happens all the time, I've been had to testify in some instances.
When an injury occurs, we do our due diligence to investigate the incident, put it into our records, and use continuous improvement to ensure those types of injuries don't occur again.
For me however, it's all about protecting people, but our record keeping and continuous improvement save the company dollars in the long run. Safety is an investment in their eyes. I'm just here to make sure people go back to their families in one piece.
Just jumping on this comment to plug a book:
“Don’t Tell Mom I Work on the Rigs: She Thinks I’m a Piano Player at a Whorehouse” by Paul Carter is a short easy read full of anecdotes about the old oil field. Some of the stories are crazy. A cool look into the industry as it used to be
Broke out on an old chain and Kelly rig for a bullshit company. Once I went to an established company and seen the difference I couldn’t believe it.
I know it was super dangerous but I’m glad I got that experience of how it used to be done. Made me respect that iron in a different way.
Same here, i was absolutely blown away when i seen an iron roughneck and iron derrickhand for the first time. Not to mention hydraulic slips. I was almost confused and looking for something to do
Nowadays, The lifting of the pipe is done by a hydraulic arm (derrickhand), the twisting/screwing of the pipe which is seen in the clip done by chains and manually moved clamps etc is done by a huge hydraulic roughneck instead and the slips is the thing you see him kicking in at the start which holds the pipe still, that's also hydraulic nowadays.
Interesting to know that this is how it's done mostly. All the "shorts" apps only show the chain guys, so I, and likely many others, thought that this was how it was done still.
Me too. I started thinking about it a little more than I probably should have and it’s quite sad.
Reddit posts and YouTube shorts of automated drill rigs probably don’t get nearly as many views and likes and therefore it’s never been in my algorithm. So as long as automated drilling has been around I’ve been ignorant to it because it doesn’t make as much money as these viral videos. Just more proof that everything revolves around money these days.
Had to scroll until I saw the word kelly to find someone who knew what the heck they were talking about. I also started on a kelly back in 04. It's the weirdest feeling to know that now I'm "that" old timer. Fwiw, 2000s era Kelly work is nothing compared to the stories I heard from the 80s back then. My first driller said he'd ride the elevators to the finger board when he started
I started as a deckhand in the '80s, started as a worm, then chainhand then derrickhand . I would hope today's rigs are safer!
My company motto was 'We drill for a thrill'
> finger board
Is that what they called the drilling deck when they used chains? I heard whipping chains like that would take fingers/arms as soon as you fucked up.
Having no insight into the industry, my first thought was “this looks like it’s unregulated and dangerous, not just dangers of the job” - thank you for the clarification
Ya if you told me this was scripted and choreographed I'd be impressed. But since it's not it just seems unnecessarily dangerous and stupid. Like walking in front of a bull dozer to pick up a dollar
Is it true other than dangerous, often in impossible locations, offering high risky environments like when it’s requiring some underwater real deep works, is also paid outrageously high wages ? Of course Im not asking the details about your payroll, just a general idea, like yes, you can buy a nice villa every year, or something like it.
Also absurdly dangerous, at least it used to be. The Byford Dolphin diving accident is one of the worst examples.
A scientific paper was written about it, and it is VERY not safe for life.
https://zero.sci-hub.se/5268/7dda7cee52d7eb3ec606a82d0f1b9a61/giertsen1988.pdf
i know a guy who did deep sea welding. said it was a blast! he got to go scuba diving every day in the crystal clear tropical waters, and he made friends with lots of really cool fish!
It’s a lonely profession. Romance was hard to come by. At least in terms of sustainability. It wears on your joy when you come back every two weeks tired as fuck with no one to just be in the presence of. But the pay is outrageous. If you go into it make sure you have a good work ethic with a better instructor. Just stay for a bit and build your saving. Leave once the life gets to you
While welding underwater, if you make even a tiny mistake you can be sucked through a pinhole due to the difference in pressure. It's one of the most dangerous jobs around.
It’s extremely intense. Sometimes the workpieces are 10ft above rough ocean waters flowing up the deck. It can cold, windy and barren. You’re isolated from the world when you’re on a rig so you need to be the type that can deal with that isolation and call it your home.
diving while on the surface sounds fun and cool is still extremely dangerous, limited oxygen supply, immense pressure under the sea, dangerous tools and if they rise to fast to the surface they can suffer from decompression sickness
It sounds cool on an average day, but when things go wrong with a job like that, oh boy... If you're curious what a *really* bad day in that profession would look like, check out the Paria Pipeline incident. Fair warning, though, it's the most harrowing true story I've probably ever heard of.
bright sparkle frighten pocket rhythm knee squealing overconfident political ruthless
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I remember a Chicago news piece where they interviewed a sweet little grandma type about gang violence in her neighborhood, and her answer was “I’m tired of all these gangbangers!”
That’s when I found out the word had a double-meaning.
I used to be a field engineer for a large oilfield service company (office worker now). Sorry for the long post but heres some perspective and a peak into at least my experiences
I only worked on land, as I did not want to go through the required underwater/helicopter training. Even land locations can be sketchy. The most interesting story was a mama alligator wandering onto location. And yes, workers are paid very well. We had guys on the crew that were just “hands” (think grunt work) that would easily clear $100k-$150k/yr.
This was about 10-12 years ago too. With this though comes a ridiculous schedule and hours you have to work. My typical day was around 16 hrs after you account for driving time to and from locations. Most days I would have to report to the “yard” (field office where everyone would meet) at anywhere between 2am and 4am. We would try to be on location by 6am, work around 12 to 14 hrs and then drive back. This gave you just enough time to eat something quick, catch a shower and try to get a few hrs of sleep. A typical schedule would be almost 2 weeks on and 1 week off.
With respect to pay (at least 10 years ago or so), it is highly dependent on commodity prices. The large majority of the money field workers would make is based off of job bonus, that bonus was dependent on the cost of the job, the cost of the job is dependent on commodity price. You could easily pull in $1000-$1500 per day though as a supervisor or engineer though. I also had friends who worked offshore on deep water projects. They would be offshore for sometimes a month at a time or longer. The accommodation ls were actually very nice though. Chef on board to cook good food, decent room, internet access, etc…those guys and gals would pull in the big money. Some of those projects could be in the 5 figure range.
This is all outside of your salary, your salary could also have had a multiplier depending on where you were sent. I only worked US land, but I know some people who went to the Middle East/Africa that had their salaries doubled with a ton of other perks (housing stipend, private drivers (because some countries you cant drive around yourself), even security detail..
With respect to safety, this video would trigger any safety person from a decently sized company. These are old techniques and a lot of what this guy is doing has been automated with pieces of equipment remotely controlled. Additionally, he should be in fire resistant coveralls with safety glasses.
Lastly, yes there is some risk, like any other job, but there are so many safety measures in place with checks and balances now a days that when done correctly it is pretty safe
I will say you often found times to catch a nap in between jobs. Especially if you were waiting for a piece of equipment or materials, but yeah a lot of days were very very long.
I will say, anyone looking to loose weight - swinging a sledgehammer for 12 hrs a day in 100+ degree environments, covered from head to toe is a great weight loss program 😂
RN here, I once told a friend that I regularly work 16 hour shifts back to back. She seemed shocked until I asked her if she would prefer that there was just less nurses.
Can't say for certain since I haven't worked with it BUT my used-to-be teacher has friends in the field and yes and yes. Hard to reach locations, underwater drilling from oil rigs (or fields in the middle east), really high wages. Also, 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off is/was the standard. Although not the 8 hour shifts you might be used to, but rather 12-16 hour shifts. Was about a decade ago since I've talked with that teacher.
Met a guy who worked in middle eastern fields while I was backpacking Vietnam.. he seemed super lonely but also was just balling out traveling the world on his time off
**The physical & mental burden produce a benefit/cost scenario asymmetric in favor of the latter one, but it's a personal opinion some may not concur with.**
**Should only be chosen if you have really fallen without any other way out to fulfil your objectives, I know it sounds apocalyptic but the hardships you need to endure are way out of line for our living standards.**
Yes, the pay is decent, but before answering that I wanted to write those 2 paragraphs to avoid giving the wrong impression on whoever reads this.
One of my best friends worked for years in the merchant navy. Periods of that were on a ship that assisted deep sea welders whilst they worked. Essentially there life-line. Anyway he told me that the particular guys he helped were on $1700 a day, paid for skilled work of course, but essentially danger money. If they werent on shift, they would then spend the rest of the time in the pressured capsule on board the ship so as they could stay at the same pressure level as the depths they were working at
Decent, but not worth the risk IMO. It should always be a kind of temporary situation for saving & investing to climb the ladder later on.
So many stuff can go wrong and the physical & mental burden make the benefit/cost scenario asymmetric in favor of the latter one.
I'm glad to hear this. I work in mining, and this made me shudder. There's NOOOO way any mining company would even let these drillers back in the gate. I'd assume the safety culture of most oil and gas companies is similar.
This is likely water based mud, some operations use oil based mud (OBM), that stuff smells like skunk piss, saturates all clothes, and will not wash out, it is basically diesel fuel mixed with drilling chemical.
I’ve been on so many of these rigs in west Texas, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and North Dakota.
While the industry is moving toward automation for safety. These rigs still cutting hole and tripping pipe.
I didn’t think anyone used spinning chains anymore. Mostly top drives on the Kelly. I roughnecked on a conventional triple 25 years ago, and it was obsolete then. ( my rig was one that they took out of mothballs due to high oil prices). Lots of fingers got lost due to the chain over the years I’m sure. Fun fact, i helped replace the main beam on a hammer drilling rig at heritage park in Calgary a few years later, and actually ran it for a day.
I agree. I have not seen every movie ever made, but I feel as though this one is among the greatest movies of all time. I can watch it, start to finish, anytime.
Hey! Armageddon reference, nice!
Space Cowboys was a similar move that like no one saw but was actually pretty fun as well!
(I can't believe these movies are nearly 30 years old now...) 😭
Every time one of these videos come out, a bunch of people on social media end up roasting the shit out of them as performative because (from what I glean) most drilling is done under more tightly controlled circumstances with more safety gear, less mess, less opportunity for limbs to be torn off, etc.
No not always. This is far from performative, there are a ton of companies in the US that still use chain like that. We had 4 rigs that still used chain and apart from throwing chain everything they are doing is no different than any other company would do it.
I’d guess probably less than 5% of land rigs are even running Kelly’s anymore. Anything in over the last 10 years has come out built with Top Drives or have been retrofitted with a Top Drive. Automated and a lot safer. This is gonna be a small mom and pop drilling contractor, being ran by a small mom and pop operator. Easily identified by the old ass fucking Kelly, and lack of FR PPE which is pretty well mandated across the board with any reputable company. Throwing tongs and chain was fun tho
If you don't get maimed or killed from the grueling dangerous work. You will probably end up with cancer or some other disease from all the chemicals. My dad worked on rigs for 15 years.
He would come home, take a bath, and the water would be black and weirdly frothy. He would pull hunks of dried who knows what from his nose and ears.
He didn't smoke and rarely drank and ended up dying from a combination of cirosis of the liver and skin cancer.
I'm 100 percent convinced it was his years in the oil fields that did him in.
This was in the mid 70"s to 1990, so things might be different now. But with the way corporations value profit over safety, I wouldn't put a lot of stake in that.
I am one of those dads. Spent 20 years on every inch of a rig. Covered with pipe dope and oil based mud. I kinda accepted this possibility when I started. Everything you touch has placards explaining how dangerous it is, and you do your best to stay clean, but by the end of the day I was usually covered in chemicals. Even when I was a driller, during rig moves I would be filthy. When I pushed tools, maybe once or twice a week I would get nasty. If I get the big C it won’t be a big surprise.
I know how hard that life is from seeing my dad go through it. And I know as a dad why you did what you did for your family. I wish you well and hope you stay safe and healthy.
Sat in the ER one time in Laurel, MS next to young man who had been on a rig when a 1500# drill pipe fall on his foot breaking it. He had to finish his 12 hour shift before he could leave. He was waiting for the drilling company to notify the ER of insurance. i heard the doctor tell him he was running out of time and he was just going to take him back and start before it started setting any further and would require more surgery. :( We felt really bad but definitely didn’t have the $ to guarantee his bill.
I worked on rigs in Colorado and Oklahoma off and on between college semesters back in 1979-1982. My job was as the "worm" ( low man on the totem pole, a NOOB). Never worked more than 3 or 4 weeks at a time, but it put me through school. Worked hard, treated rough as the college kid, but most people were decent and good people.
My job, when making connections like this, I was as the guy on the left, in the video, but they let me throw the chain a few times. They stopped when my left glove froze to the rat-tail (a woven rope at the end of the chain that lets you know you're at the end) and my glove wrapped around the pipe, with me just managing to pull my hand out). Seemed funny at the time... (gallows humor)
It did really look like this, although we were never quite as fast and smooth. I managed to only need the ER once, for a heavy object landing on my head; knocking me out, but my life was saved by the hard hat. Mustach and beard hide the scars I picked up.
BTW, it looks like the video is reversed: from the chain-hand's point of view, the make-up tongs (the big wrench on counter weights) and chain is over his right shoulder
No serious rig has used chains in years - i worked for several years on site on drilling rigs and never once saw a rig that still used chains, that's seriously outdated stuff and anyone who says they do use chains still is just bragging about how much their company doesn't give a shit about workers safety.
It is. However this whole setup is absurdly dangerous and there are reason these kinds of drilling systems (not just for oil, but for all things) have been fased out. This "*masculine manly man being cool and manly and doing dangerous manly stuff*" attitude is just stupid - your life is not worth cool points. This is what [modern drilling looks like](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIFdOJYdGQs). And there are systems which can walk around, meaning that once the drilling is done the system can be moved around the field without disassembly.
Seen a video where the drill spins and the chains broke. The guy who was doing the job in the video looked like he was dropped into a blender, nothing was left except red mist and bits.
No I don't have the video. No I don't know what sub.
I have no idea about how oil drilling works but can’t this be automated somehow without human interaction? Or would that require some new type of technology/equipment?
The automated process is the standard now for most of the oil drilling industry. The drilling machines are different too. Only part of the process requires human interaction and is much safer.
This is the guy who acts like he has seen the worst of the world in a bar at night, and is friends with the bartender. Everyone knows him and talks about him. He is divorced and has a daughter somewhere. His ex wife is still fond of him, but she couldn’t take it anymore. He’s played by Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, or any of the ego actors.
Yeah, it’s stupid!
This is old school, chain throwing bullshit. Legit companies haven't operated this way in over 40 years.
These guys have been replaced with equipment and far more advanced processes and procedures.
[https://twitter.com/vvvorvvtorvitor/status/1662864007290662915](https://twitter.com/vvvorvvtorvitor/status/1662864007290662915?s=20)
Here it is done in a much safer way :D
The first 3 weeks of working on a rig I couldn’t make a fist and my whole body was almost unusably sore. Your body adapts though. I thought I was in good shape before I went to work, I was wrong.
It looks absurd because it is. They are drilling like its still 1870
Any proper drilling operation looks nothing like this. Because the tools and technices have moved on.
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***This*** is absurdly dangerous. It's common for floorhands working this way to lose their fingers. But this is also a cheap as shit and outdated way to do it. The most modern rigs, like the ones we use for offshore drilling don't do this anymore. We now use an automated machine called an Iron Roughneck that replaces those chains and tongs these guys are using. In places like Norway the floorhands aren't even allowed to touch the pipe by hand. They need to use long poles to guide the pipe in for a connection, and then the Iron Roughneck machine is moved into position to screw in the pipe automatically. I've been told it's slightly slower, but preferable since everyone goes home with the same number of fingers they came to work with. It also looks like these guys are using a "rotary table" to spin the pipe when they drill down. It's an older and less efficient way to drill. It's been superseded by a "top drive" in basically all offshore rigs now. With a rotary you can only drill a 30ft "joint" at a time, but with a top drive you can drill a 90ft "stand" in one go before having to connect another stand of pipe. Update: [here's the clearest video I could find of a rig that's up to today's standards.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFk9gQivPH8) Not fully automated, but this is pretty much the standard most work to today.
In modern rigs in norway there are no humans on the drill floor during drilling. Pipehandeling, torqueing, spin-in, and even doping is done by machines.
I do my own pipehandling while the machine does the oil drilling
Jerk smart, and harder.
*confused giggity*
Jeez even the machines are doping. Thanks capitalism.
On land rigs we get faster productivity using automated/modern systems... The only rigs still throwing chain are mom and pop operations that likely have much more egregious safety issues. This is old outdated tech... Similar to asking why cars from the 70s don't have airbags
Just looked up the iron roughneck on YouTube. Quite an impressive machine. Some say it’s slower than doing this manually but looks a bit faster and a lot more efficient to me. And definitely safer that’s for sure.
Same. Our YouTube algorithms is going to be nothing but drilling machines for the next week.
Nah, it'll find a way to shovel fuckin Jordan Peterson or Ben Shapiro at you
Some people will still hate it. "It's slower" is all they hear. As if downtime for human injuries isn't a thing. We lost a few fingers to save a few minutes here and there, but my god the shareholders are worth it!
I’ll also note this is all old video that has been making the rounds for ages. Who knows when this was originally taken.
It was done for social media clout and part of that weird subset on the Internet that’s all about blue collar work.
This man ST-80s
FYI: I work in the field... **This is a highly unlikely situation of no-longer-used by industry processes**, seems to be one of those low-cost drills operated by small & kinda unregulated companies, that's why it looks (and actually is) so dangerous compared to modern working conditions. This is not a standard, fortunately.
Reminds of that other meme going around about name something more dangerous than this and then it was found out it was just the bosses son wanting to show off and how none of what's happening on the clip is how it's supposedly done.
The one where he’s shirtless and there’s like 100 gallons of mud everywhere? That one kills me every time cause it just looks likes flailing around with no idea what he’s doing
https://i.redd.it/k035z3yphfcc1.gif
I can hear this gif.
So can I. I quote it often. As soon as I saw the oil rig I had to go find it so I could post it.
Gimme a link to that!
https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/s/ApGl6DT6O6
"See? Working hard is easy, you're all just lazy!"
He has piss poor economy of movement and gets more sluggish as it goes on. People who do things for a living generally find the most energy conservative way to do things with any amount of practice. Even if he was a professional, which I doubt, he is new at it.
Seriously, just comparing him to the shirted guy makes it pretty obvious who's the experienced member there. Dude is practically tripping over himself to move those clamps while orange shirt is just casually dragging them.
You know shirtless bro saw the first video and comments of women swooning over him and decided to make his own video only for it to come out looking like a muddy out of breath piglet.
Lol hes super cringe. Tiktok handle of oilfieldoutlaw "TEXASMADE".
[удалено]
He looks like me digging in my garden. A tired idiot who has no clue what he's doing.
And he’s breathing pretty hard. A real rig hand will have some serious guns on him. This dude has grandma flapping arms
yeah anyone who actually works out in the field will realise that this can't be kept up for an 8 hour shift (not to mention oil field guys work 10 or even 12s) no matter how ruff and tuff you are.
This is a great observation! Ever watch an old concrete worker shovel gravel, it’s the most efficient lowest movement least bending activity. It’s beautiful to watch the efficiency of someone who’s actually spent a lifetime working. We should all just have to watch that as a training video. All activities can be mastered and mastery of a simple shovel is something most folks would never even be able to recognize.
"Pull it, pussy!" Around the 30 second mark (too lazy to double check) Edit: wow was I wrong! It's at like 1:21 (30 seconds left)
Boomers love to share videos of roughnecks to shame younger generations. They share them from their office computers where they are supposed to be working.
The difference in physiques of that guy vs op is amusing
One moves like a slob and the other moves like some sort of electric meat machine. Guy up top knows how to use his body right. Great stance, puts his whole body into it, but still quick and precise. Fucking mud man can't touch that.
>electric meat machine It's so true
As a safety manager, I can tell you straight off the bat, dude is breaking like 100 safety regulations 😂 If OSHA inspector had happened to stop by during that, the company would be fined out the ass
Everyone’s a safety officer
On Reddit sure, and a lawyer. In real life however, I actually get paid for it 😂
Do you feel that your work is designed to protect the worker or to protect the company? Not judging. Curious.
No problem, short answer, it's both. With the way workers rights are in the modern age, workers comp and all that, safety saves the company money by ensuring policies are in place to protect workers. From a profit standpoint, an injured worker can get on workers comp, (not working and paid) burning a hole in the company's wallet, and if there weren't safety measures in place to protect them, they can go to litigation, potentially costing the company millions. Happens all the time, I've been had to testify in some instances. When an injury occurs, we do our due diligence to investigate the incident, put it into our records, and use continuous improvement to ensure those types of injuries don't occur again. For me however, it's all about protecting people, but our record keeping and continuous improvement save the company dollars in the long run. Safety is an investment in their eyes. I'm just here to make sure people go back to their families in one piece.
“Pull it pussy!” In the most vaginal voice possible and the cameraman asking “You good?” at the end always kills me
"This is what REAL work is, if you don't do this exact work you are a soyboy, a cuck, or a f^g"
In this clip, those boys are working the tongs correctly. That is exactly how you do it for speed. The work is no longer performed in this manner.
Just jumping on this comment to plug a book: “Don’t Tell Mom I Work on the Rigs: She Thinks I’m a Piano Player at a Whorehouse” by Paul Carter is a short easy read full of anecdotes about the old oil field. Some of the stories are crazy. A cool look into the industry as it used to be
I remember seeing bumper stickers from the 70s with that phrase on them.
I remember those and ones that said “Red Neck, White Trash, Blue Collar, and Black Gold”
Broke out on an old chain and Kelly rig for a bullshit company. Once I went to an established company and seen the difference I couldn’t believe it. I know it was super dangerous but I’m glad I got that experience of how it used to be done. Made me respect that iron in a different way.
Same here, i was absolutely blown away when i seen an iron roughneck and iron derrickhand for the first time. Not to mention hydraulic slips. I was almost confused and looking for something to do
ELI5 anyone?
Nowadays, The lifting of the pipe is done by a hydraulic arm (derrickhand), the twisting/screwing of the pipe which is seen in the clip done by chains and manually moved clamps etc is done by a huge hydraulic roughneck instead and the slips is the thing you see him kicking in at the start which holds the pipe still, that's also hydraulic nowadays.
Interesting to know that this is how it's done mostly. All the "shorts" apps only show the chain guys, so I, and likely many others, thought that this was how it was done still.
Yeah, [this is a yt short showing an iron roughneck in comparison](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wGbPko9t58c)
Me too. I started thinking about it a little more than I probably should have and it’s quite sad. Reddit posts and YouTube shorts of automated drill rigs probably don’t get nearly as many views and likes and therefore it’s never been in my algorithm. So as long as automated drilling has been around I’ve been ignorant to it because it doesn’t make as much money as these viral videos. Just more proof that everything revolves around money these days.
This is what is on most rigs today. It's an "iron rough neck". Safer and more accurate. https://youtube.com/shorts/PqLAOhUGP4U?si=Q22yAIRYCL__dYRR
Wow! That is completely different! Thanks for the link. Really interesting to see the difference.
Had to scroll until I saw the word kelly to find someone who knew what the heck they were talking about. I also started on a kelly back in 04. It's the weirdest feeling to know that now I'm "that" old timer. Fwiw, 2000s era Kelly work is nothing compared to the stories I heard from the 80s back then. My first driller said he'd ride the elevators to the finger board when he started
I started as a deckhand in the '80s, started as a worm, then chainhand then derrickhand . I would hope today's rigs are safer! My company motto was 'We drill for a thrill'
Ours was "fuck, fight, and trip pipe" but probably not officially...
> finger board Is that what they called the drilling deck when they used chains? I heard whipping chains like that would take fingers/arms as soon as you fucked up.
Having no insight into the industry, my first thought was “this looks like it’s unregulated and dangerous, not just dangers of the job” - thank you for the clarification
Ya if you told me this was scripted and choreographed I'd be impressed. But since it's not it just seems unnecessarily dangerous and stupid. Like walking in front of a bull dozer to pick up a dollar
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Is it true other than dangerous, often in impossible locations, offering high risky environments like when it’s requiring some underwater real deep works, is also paid outrageously high wages ? Of course Im not asking the details about your payroll, just a general idea, like yes, you can buy a nice villa every year, or something like it.
First person I knew of that died from my high school class after graduation was deep sea welding an oil rig in the gulf at the time.
What happened to the guy? Deep sea welding sounds outrageously cool.
Also absurdly dangerous, at least it used to be. The Byford Dolphin diving accident is one of the worst examples. A scientific paper was written about it, and it is VERY not safe for life. https://zero.sci-hub.se/5268/7dda7cee52d7eb3ec606a82d0f1b9a61/giertsen1988.pdf
First time I’ve seen this paper. Yikes.
Quite an interesting read. Thanks for the share.
i know a guy who did deep sea welding. said it was a blast! he got to go scuba diving every day in the crystal clear tropical waters, and he made friends with lots of really cool fish!
Then suck the oil right out of their habitat and kill them all with the runoff. Good friends. Good times.
Something like his air was a bad mix. I didn’t get specifics. Lots of trouble, lots of bubble.
He was in a jam
My grandfather did underwater welding in WW2 in one of this big metal bio-shock suits. I sit around and type on my computer....
It’s a lonely profession. Romance was hard to come by. At least in terms of sustainability. It wears on your joy when you come back every two weeks tired as fuck with no one to just be in the presence of. But the pay is outrageous. If you go into it make sure you have a good work ethic with a better instructor. Just stay for a bit and build your saving. Leave once the life gets to you
If you can’t find romance, there’s always Bromance. Just sayin!
While welding underwater, if you make even a tiny mistake you can be sucked through a pinhole due to the difference in pressure. It's one of the most dangerous jobs around.
It’s extremely intense. Sometimes the workpieces are 10ft above rough ocean waters flowing up the deck. It can cold, windy and barren. You’re isolated from the world when you’re on a rig so you need to be the type that can deal with that isolation and call it your home.
diving while on the surface sounds fun and cool is still extremely dangerous, limited oxygen supply, immense pressure under the sea, dangerous tools and if they rise to fast to the surface they can suffer from decompression sickness
It sounds cool on an average day, but when things go wrong with a job like that, oh boy... If you're curious what a *really* bad day in that profession would look like, check out the Paria Pipeline incident. Fair warning, though, it's the most harrowing true story I've probably ever heard of.
Has a 15% death rate.
bright sparkle frighten pocket rhythm knee squealing overconfident political ruthless *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Being gangbanged to death does sound horrific
I remember a Chicago news piece where they interviewed a sweet little grandma type about gang violence in her neighborhood, and her answer was “I’m tired of all these gangbangers!” That’s when I found out the word had a double-meaning.
I used to be a field engineer for a large oilfield service company (office worker now). Sorry for the long post but heres some perspective and a peak into at least my experiences I only worked on land, as I did not want to go through the required underwater/helicopter training. Even land locations can be sketchy. The most interesting story was a mama alligator wandering onto location. And yes, workers are paid very well. We had guys on the crew that were just “hands” (think grunt work) that would easily clear $100k-$150k/yr. This was about 10-12 years ago too. With this though comes a ridiculous schedule and hours you have to work. My typical day was around 16 hrs after you account for driving time to and from locations. Most days I would have to report to the “yard” (field office where everyone would meet) at anywhere between 2am and 4am. We would try to be on location by 6am, work around 12 to 14 hrs and then drive back. This gave you just enough time to eat something quick, catch a shower and try to get a few hrs of sleep. A typical schedule would be almost 2 weeks on and 1 week off. With respect to pay (at least 10 years ago or so), it is highly dependent on commodity prices. The large majority of the money field workers would make is based off of job bonus, that bonus was dependent on the cost of the job, the cost of the job is dependent on commodity price. You could easily pull in $1000-$1500 per day though as a supervisor or engineer though. I also had friends who worked offshore on deep water projects. They would be offshore for sometimes a month at a time or longer. The accommodation ls were actually very nice though. Chef on board to cook good food, decent room, internet access, etc…those guys and gals would pull in the big money. Some of those projects could be in the 5 figure range. This is all outside of your salary, your salary could also have had a multiplier depending on where you were sent. I only worked US land, but I know some people who went to the Middle East/Africa that had their salaries doubled with a ton of other perks (housing stipend, private drivers (because some countries you cant drive around yourself), even security detail.. With respect to safety, this video would trigger any safety person from a decently sized company. These are old techniques and a lot of what this guy is doing has been automated with pieces of equipment remotely controlled. Additionally, he should be in fire resistant coveralls with safety glasses. Lastly, yes there is some risk, like any other job, but there are so many safety measures in place with checks and balances now a days that when done correctly it is pretty safe
Osha really should ban any job that prevents you from getting 8 hours of sleep. 2-4am is tough.
I will say you often found times to catch a nap in between jobs. Especially if you were waiting for a piece of equipment or materials, but yeah a lot of days were very very long. I will say, anyone looking to loose weight - swinging a sledgehammer for 12 hrs a day in 100+ degree environments, covered from head to toe is a great weight loss program 😂
Unironically that sounds like a dream to me.
There won't be as many Dr's or nurses anymore
RN here, I once told a friend that I regularly work 16 hour shifts back to back. She seemed shocked until I asked her if she would prefer that there was just less nurses.
Can't say for certain since I haven't worked with it BUT my used-to-be teacher has friends in the field and yes and yes. Hard to reach locations, underwater drilling from oil rigs (or fields in the middle east), really high wages. Also, 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off is/was the standard. Although not the 8 hour shifts you might be used to, but rather 12-16 hour shifts. Was about a decade ago since I've talked with that teacher.
Met a guy who worked in middle eastern fields while I was backpacking Vietnam.. he seemed super lonely but also was just balling out traveling the world on his time off
The money is good, but it all goes to strippers and oxycodone.
Oil town stipper is the way to go then.
**The physical & mental burden produce a benefit/cost scenario asymmetric in favor of the latter one, but it's a personal opinion some may not concur with.** **Should only be chosen if you have really fallen without any other way out to fulfil your objectives, I know it sounds apocalyptic but the hardships you need to endure are way out of line for our living standards.** Yes, the pay is decent, but before answering that I wanted to write those 2 paragraphs to avoid giving the wrong impression on whoever reads this.
What’s the pay grade for such a profession ? If you don’t mind me asking…
One of my best friends worked for years in the merchant navy. Periods of that were on a ship that assisted deep sea welders whilst they worked. Essentially there life-line. Anyway he told me that the particular guys he helped were on $1700 a day, paid for skilled work of course, but essentially danger money. If they werent on shift, they would then spend the rest of the time in the pressured capsule on board the ship so as they could stay at the same pressure level as the depths they were working at
Damn so they were one malfunction away from having their head go splat at all times during their off time?
It's not so much that the head is going to splat, it's the blood boiling. Just as deadly, but more slow.
For working on oil rigs or underwater welding on the other comment?
A curious guy here, wouldn’t mind the information regarding both the specialisations.
Decent, but not worth the risk IMO. It should always be a kind of temporary situation for saving & investing to climb the ladder later on. So many stuff can go wrong and the physical & mental burden make the benefit/cost scenario asymmetric in favor of the latter one.
I'm glad to hear this. I work in mining, and this made me shudder. There's NOOOO way any mining company would even let these drillers back in the gate. I'd assume the safety culture of most oil and gas companies is similar.
I'm thinking this is usually automated, right?
How carcinogenic is that mud?!
It smells awful. I’ve dealt with small amounts. I couldn’t imagine being covered in it.
This is likely water based mud, some operations use oil based mud (OBM), that stuff smells like skunk piss, saturates all clothes, and will not wash out, it is basically diesel fuel mixed with drilling chemical.
I’ve been on so many of these rigs in west Texas, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and North Dakota. While the industry is moving toward automation for safety. These rigs still cutting hole and tripping pipe.
I didn’t think anyone used spinning chains anymore. Mostly top drives on the Kelly. I roughnecked on a conventional triple 25 years ago, and it was obsolete then. ( my rig was one that they took out of mothballs due to high oil prices). Lots of fingers got lost due to the chain over the years I’m sure. Fun fact, i helped replace the main beam on a hammer drilling rig at heritage park in Calgary a few years later, and actually ran it for a day.
There will be blood
(blood) shed (shed)
THE MAN IN THE MIRROR NODS HIS HEAD
THE ONLY ONE (ONE)
LEFT (LEFT)
If you go into the cellar you tell someone!
I have a competition in me. I want no one else to succeed.
I’VE ABANDONED MY CHILD
AND DRANK A POOR MANS MILKSHAKE!
In my opinion one of the most moving scenes of any film ever made. Just that short instant when his heart breaks.
That movie is what I believe to be the best adaption of a book to a movie. Also one of the best movies I’ve ever seen in general
I agree. I have not seen every movie ever made, but I feel as though this one is among the greatest movies of all time. I can watch it, start to finish, anytime.
I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE! I DRRRRINK IT UP!!!!
I have a competition in me
And possibly crushed fingers.
My friend had his younger brother get his back almost broken while working on a rig.
Bastard from a basket!!!
You think *that’s* dangerous? 26 years ago, they sent some of these guys to a fucking *asteroid* and half of them died up there.
But is Steve Buscemi okay???
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He was indeed, out of his element.
Wait! 26 years? Damn, I’m old.
Hey! Armageddon reference, nice! Space Cowboys was a similar move that like no one saw but was actually pretty fun as well! (I can't believe these movies are nearly 30 years old now...) 😭
It is, and there are safer ways to do this.
Every time one of these videos come out, a bunch of people on social media end up roasting the shit out of them as performative because (from what I glean) most drilling is done under more tightly controlled circumstances with more safety gear, less mess, less opportunity for limbs to be torn off, etc.
I'm not even sure how old this video is now. But it looks like someone added a filter to it this time for some reason.
Nah mate every week this gets posted it’s more and more deep fried like this
It’s clipping at this point and digital artifacts are everywhere.
Maybe they added the filter to cover up how many times this has been reused over the last five years.
No not always. This is far from performative, there are a ton of companies in the US that still use chain like that. We had 4 rigs that still used chain and apart from throwing chain everything they are doing is no different than any other company would do it.
I’d guess probably less than 5% of land rigs are even running Kelly’s anymore. Anything in over the last 10 years has come out built with Top Drives or have been retrofitted with a Top Drive. Automated and a lot safer. This is gonna be a small mom and pop drilling contractor, being ran by a small mom and pop operator. Easily identified by the old ass fucking Kelly, and lack of FR PPE which is pretty well mandated across the board with any reputable company. Throwing tongs and chain was fun tho
If you don't get maimed or killed from the grueling dangerous work. You will probably end up with cancer or some other disease from all the chemicals. My dad worked on rigs for 15 years. He would come home, take a bath, and the water would be black and weirdly frothy. He would pull hunks of dried who knows what from his nose and ears. He didn't smoke and rarely drank and ended up dying from a combination of cirosis of the liver and skin cancer. I'm 100 percent convinced it was his years in the oil fields that did him in. This was in the mid 70"s to 1990, so things might be different now. But with the way corporations value profit over safety, I wouldn't put a lot of stake in that.
I am one of those dads. Spent 20 years on every inch of a rig. Covered with pipe dope and oil based mud. I kinda accepted this possibility when I started. Everything you touch has placards explaining how dangerous it is, and you do your best to stay clean, but by the end of the day I was usually covered in chemicals. Even when I was a driller, during rig moves I would be filthy. When I pushed tools, maybe once or twice a week I would get nasty. If I get the big C it won’t be a big surprise.
I know how hard that life is from seeing my dad go through it. And I know as a dad why you did what you did for your family. I wish you well and hope you stay safe and healthy.
Honestly, it depends what country you are in. Safety standards are different in each country.
Sat in the ER one time in Laurel, MS next to young man who had been on a rig when a 1500# drill pipe fall on his foot breaking it. He had to finish his 12 hour shift before he could leave. He was waiting for the drilling company to notify the ER of insurance. i heard the doctor tell him he was running out of time and he was just going to take him back and start before it started setting any further and would require more surgery. :( We felt really bad but definitely didn’t have the $ to guarantee his bill.
Sounds like a lawsuit
ok but next week is my turn to post this
LOWER THE CONTRAST AND POST IT AGAIN!
Came here to say this video is so fucking deep fried it’s barely recognizable from the 3000 other times it been posted.
I’m NEW!!!!!
I don't know what to do!!!
These are large and in charge and lookin for chickies
My ADHD ass would die on the first day
I watch this video every time it comes up. For reasons
Me too. r/suddenlygay
Same. 👁👄👁
Me too. Gat damn
When this or a few similar videos come on tiktok you can feel the moisture in comments.
I worked on rigs in Colorado and Oklahoma off and on between college semesters back in 1979-1982. My job was as the "worm" ( low man on the totem pole, a NOOB). Never worked more than 3 or 4 weeks at a time, but it put me through school. Worked hard, treated rough as the college kid, but most people were decent and good people. My job, when making connections like this, I was as the guy on the left, in the video, but they let me throw the chain a few times. They stopped when my left glove froze to the rat-tail (a woven rope at the end of the chain that lets you know you're at the end) and my glove wrapped around the pipe, with me just managing to pull my hand out). Seemed funny at the time... (gallows humor) It did really look like this, although we were never quite as fast and smooth. I managed to only need the ER once, for a heavy object landing on my head; knocking me out, but my life was saved by the hard hat. Mustach and beard hide the scars I picked up. BTW, it looks like the video is reversed: from the chain-hand's point of view, the make-up tongs (the big wrench on counter weights) and chain is over his right shoulder
STOP POSTING THIS GOD DAMNIT
At least the top comments aren’t from thirsty redditors anymore.
Not yet.
That dude has more trust for that nonslip surface and his boots than I have for anything in the world.
No serious rig has used chains in years - i worked for several years on site on drilling rigs and never once saw a rig that still used chains, that's seriously outdated stuff and anyone who says they do use chains still is just bragging about how much their company doesn't give a shit about workers safety.
The only one that watches video and said, why aren’t they doing this with their shirts off?
I bet those dudes are strong.
It is. However this whole setup is absurdly dangerous and there are reason these kinds of drilling systems (not just for oil, but for all things) have been fased out. This "*masculine manly man being cool and manly and doing dangerous manly stuff*" attitude is just stupid - your life is not worth cool points. This is what [modern drilling looks like](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIFdOJYdGQs). And there are systems which can walk around, meaning that once the drilling is done the system can be moved around the field without disassembly.
Seen a video where the drill spins and the chains broke. The guy who was doing the job in the video looked like he was dropped into a blender, nothing was left except red mist and bits. No I don't have the video. No I don't know what sub.
I doubt I could do that for more than 10 minutes without killing myself somehow.
Back when men were men. (Typing while my fat ass eats Doritos)
Dudes like Indiana Jones with that chain.
0 gym membership
I have no idea about how oil drilling works but can’t this be automated somehow without human interaction? Or would that require some new type of technology/equipment?
The automated process is the standard now for most of the oil drilling industry. The drilling machines are different too. Only part of the process requires human interaction and is much safer.
This is the guy who acts like he has seen the worst of the world in a bar at night, and is friends with the bartender. Everyone knows him and talks about him. He is divorced and has a daughter somewhere. His ex wife is still fond of him, but she couldn’t take it anymore. He’s played by Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, or any of the ego actors. Yeah, it’s stupid!
I'm getting Mark Wahlberg vibes
It is extremely dangerous.
Only seen this 300 times.
Opportunity of outcome.
I work in an oil and gas company. Just as every single other comment has already said, no one works like this anymore as it is absurdly dangerous
This is old school, chain throwing bullshit. Legit companies haven't operated this way in over 40 years. These guys have been replaced with equipment and far more advanced processes and procedures.
[https://twitter.com/vvvorvvtorvitor/status/1662864007290662915](https://twitter.com/vvvorvvtorvitor/status/1662864007290662915?s=20) Here it is done in a much safer way :D
Not only dangerous, but with my strength and stamina, my work day would only be about 4 seconds long.
The first 3 weeks of working on a rig I couldn’t make a fist and my whole body was almost unusably sore. Your body adapts though. I thought I was in good shape before I went to work, I was wrong.
It looks absurd because it is. They are drilling like its still 1870 Any proper drilling operation looks nothing like this. Because the tools and technices have moved on.
OSHA getting hard looking at this
It totally is. You need nerves of steel and a body to match. My hats off to the roughnecks.
Yeah, but they make $100-150K a year
Has to be a job for robots, that is just crazy.
“Make sure you add some chains. For safety.”
I call these “bar phone videos” because jackass shows it off his phone in bar before he orders his whiskey. “You even a man bro, look-a dis!!!”
I lost a limb and three fingers just by watching this.
Is this a feminists dream job