What was the most dangerous job you ever had? - Page 5

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - What was the most dangerous job you ever had? (Page 5 of 7)

Posted: 10/21/2011 10:03:14 PM EDT

[#1]

USS G.W. CVN 73. Many ways to get hurt or... on a flight deck.

Posted: 10/21/2011 10:08:06 PM EDT

[#2]

soldier (deployed)

repod cars in the detroit area

served papers in the detroit area

repod mobile homes

armed club security in detroit

lots of fun

Posted: 10/21/2011 10:16:51 PM EDT

[#3]

Quoted:
I worked on the flight deck of a aircraft carrier, even worse at night.

+1

Fighting wildland fires as a member of a hand crew.
Flying Crew Chief on an A-3D Skywarrior.
Loadmaster on a Navy LC-130 operating in Antarctica (open field landings).

Posted: 10/21/2011 10:33:30 PM EDT

[#4]

Every Job I have ever held has been dangerous, even when I was working at and owning my own gun shop.
Three attempted robberies, at least as many numbskulls doing accidental discharges, shoplifters caught and chased, the endless stories from the hangers on,,,

Probably the MOST dangerous job I ever held was being Airborne qualified in the U.S. Army or driving a semi truck over the road or operating a farm tractor alone and on the back forty.

Fact is, my personality craves the excitement, I couldn't do a nine to five safe and secure polish a seat with my ass desk job!

Posted: 10/21/2011 10:40:17 PM EDT

[#5]

Rigger. Up until the accident anyway.

Posted: 10/21/2011 11:01:09 PM EDT

[#6]

Logging in the Sierra Nevada MTNS. BIG trees and some gawd awful STEEP ground.

My family has a logging tradition that goes back over 100 yrs.

I was VERY aware of what was going on around and over my head ALLL the time.

I quit after my first paycheck.

it was a smart move on my part.

Posted: 10/21/2011 11:02:36 PM EDT

[#7]

Still working on oil rigs

Posted: 10/21/2011 11:03:37 PM EDT

[#8]

Marine Corps Explosive Ordnance Disposal.

Posted: 10/21/2011 11:04:13 PM EDT

[#9]

Rodeo cowboy.

I rode bulls for a little over 10 years on the circiut. Like the old saying, "It's not if you get hurt, it's when and how bad''. I've suffered alot of injuries, luckily none life threatening. Kinda hard to swallow when you see the EMTs' giving chest compressions to a rider on the gurney when you are next to ride, but you bear down and give it hell anyways.

Posted: 10/21/2011 11:12:01 PM EDT

[#10]

UC work.

Posted: 10/21/2011 11:17:41 PM EDT

[#11]

I'd say Police officer...

but looking back, it was the plain clothes security I did. Working in the inner city, preventing meth heads from stealing to get their fix armed only with my winning smile. Handcuffs were a policy violation.

Posted: 10/21/2011 11:25:14 PM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
Marine fighter pilot. Never even went to war, but a few of us sat down one night and figured out that about 13% of us got killed in airplanes. Had quite a few close calls, and crashed one F4.

Same here, but the stats match (except for crashing in a F-4). Even did a bit of combat ops, but all mishaps were in training.

Posted: 10/21/2011 11:35:41 PM EDT

[#13]

I interned at a prototype machineshop at Picatinny Arsenal. Not really that dangerous, but I suppose it's possible that my arm could have gotten sucked into a lathe.

Posted: 10/21/2011 11:38:30 PM EDT

[#14]

Cop, Infantryman

Posted: 10/21/2011 11:42:51 PM EDT

[#15]

Marine Corps (combat deployment)

Grain Elevator (stupid, just stupid)

Contractor (Afghanistan)

Innocent Bystander at Gunstock II

Posted: 10/21/2011 11:55:19 PM EDT

[#16]

Safety Inspector

Posted: 10/21/2011 11:58:05 PM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
Driving up and down the roads of a hostile country LOOKING for explosive devices specifically placed to kill us.

A.K.A Route Clearance.

Wow that would suck.....for the pay.......

Posted: 10/22/2011 12:01:38 AM EDT

[#18]

Combat Medic for an infantry company in Afghanistan.

Posted: 10/22/2011 12:05:48 AM EDT

[#19]

Seven years of trolling on arfcom should qualify for something.

Posted: 10/22/2011 12:08:50 AM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:
Bicycle messenger.

Motor scooter courier + day trader.

Posted: 10/22/2011 12:15:33 AM EDT

[#21]

Ranchhand/cowboy. Lots of stuff that can kill you, especially if you were a dumb kid like I was.

Posted: 10/22/2011 12:16:08 AM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:
Seven years of trolling on arfcom should qualify for something.

I hate you.

Posted: 10/22/2011 12:18:40 AM EDT

[#23]

a very short season as a wildland firefighter
loved every moment, tobad i make more money doing something else

Posted: 10/22/2011 12:23:45 AM EDT

[#24]

and I thought working in a highly radioactive area was dangerous...but no one was shooting at me....

Posted: 10/22/2011 12:24:27 AM EDT

[#25]

My job history isn't too exciting. The most dangerous job was working in the outdoor section at Lowe's for a while. They trusted me with the forklift on a regular basis.

During the summer heat stroke was a real possibility when a customer wanted a load of paving stones stacked in the bed of their pickup. On the plus side, it was nice when the store manager came outside and told us to head to the break room for at least 15 minutes to cool off.

I hated being a spotter for one of my coworkers when he was driving the forklift because he'd drive with a load way up in the air. I don't know how he didn't tip the thing.

There was once a gang shooting in front of one of my summer jobs. The 'danger' from that job was the part of town it was in, not the job itself.

Posted: 10/22/2011 12:33:33 AM EDT

[#26]

Quoted:

convenience store clerk

Nothing quite like risking your life day in, day out, for minimum wage.

I find it shocking that they have such an easy time finding people to work there.

Posted: 10/22/2011 1:06:52 AM EDT

[#27]

Driller/blaster at an open pit gold mine. Worst part was the terrible headaches from the nitro in the primer charges.

Posted: 10/22/2011 1:23:49 AM EDT

[#28]

County Jail

fights, shanks,drugs, hooch, piss, shit, hep C, HIV, TB, staph, etc.

oh the joy of dealing with inmates for low pay.

Posted: 10/22/2011 1:23:52 AM EDT

[#29]

corrections

Posted: 10/22/2011 1:25:00 AM EDT

[#30]

Quoted:

Quoted:
convenience store clerk

Nothing quite like risking your life day in, day out, for minimum wage.

I find it shocking that they have such an easy time finding people to work there.

The risk isn't really that high at least in most areas.

Don't over dramatize.

Posted: 10/22/2011 1:52:36 AM EDT

[#31]

Quoted:
Commercial fishing (halibut longline).

Not really all that dangerous but most dangerous I had. If somehow your clothing gets hooked to the line as you're laying it out, you go with it into extremely cold water. That's the best case scenario. At worst you get dragged down and drowned. But the boat's not going fast, that's not likely to happen.

BTDT , spent 12 yrs longlining and crabing in AK.
First Halibut trip up there some skippers 12yr old son got set , don't remember what the out come was , early 80's fishing out of the Rock

Posted: 10/22/2011 2:32:33 AM EDT

[#32]

HUD apartment property manager. Had to convince the police to get in the stack behind me to raid some thugs apartments all the time. (and they had all the weapons). Routinely ran off drug dealers from my street corners. Lots of indirect threats. ie they'd get some kid to come up to me and tell me mc thug was gonna cap a 9 in my ass tomorrow. Yeah, whatever.

Oh yeah, Airborne Infantry, 1/75th

Posted: 10/22/2011 2:38:49 AM EDT

[#33]

Firefighter/haz-waste response team at a semiconductor facility.

Now it's construction with lots of big nasty stuff that can hurt you but at least it's not chemical death.

Posted: 10/22/2011 2:53:29 AM EDT

[#34]

Working the flight deck of an aircraft carrier.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Posted: 10/22/2011 3:17:09 AM EDT

[#35]

Mine.

Beeing a super intendent for working safety in the building industry.

I´m so nice, but everyone want´s to beat me up....

Posted: 10/22/2011 3:19:53 AM EDT

[#36]

Bouncer in Bay Ridge Brooklyn. Once had to disarm a guy packing a small hand saw in his jacket.

Posted: 10/22/2011 3:30:06 AM EDT

[#37]

Quoted:

Mine.

Beeing a super intendent for working safety in the building industry.

I´m so nice, but everyone want´s to beat me up....

My old car understands your concerns.

Posted: 10/22/2011 3:30:12 AM EDT

[#38]

Mesaba Aviation CSA. We did both over wing and under wing work. Dealing with delusional, angry passengers over the Christmas season sucked hard. Had a passenger fling a roller bag at my head once.

Bag throwing incident aside, over wing work wasn't all that dangerous, it just opened you up to abuse for things that weren't your fault. What was legitimately dangerous was working with de-icing towers and Saab 340s.

Saab 340s don't have an APU so they have to be hooked up to a ground power unit (GPU) to start their engines. The plug for the GPU was on the fuselage behind the right engine, which meant that someone, often me, had to walk behind the plane a few feet from an operating turbo prop to disconnect the GPU. I know in reality I wasn't ever that close to the prop arc, but to me it always felt like I was inches away from getting decapitated. It was worse in the winter when the ramp was icy.

The other thing we did that was dangerous was use this archaic device called a de-icing tower. Most airline and airport fbo use deicing trucks which are self propelled and have a cab or bucket or a boom for the operator to spray de-icing/anti-icing fluid onto aircraft in the winter. This is a relatively safe procedure. An older way to de-ice a plane is to use a tower on wheels which the glycol heaters in the base that is pulled by a tug around the plane. This was not a particularly stable arrangement and climbing the ladder to the top of the tower when it was covered in ice was a harrowing proposition. In all likely hood deicing CRJs with that bloody tower in 24knot winds is the single most dangerous thing I've ever done.

A Mesaba Saab 340 for reference.

Compared to a lot of the jobs people have posted, I have to admit, not that dangerous or exciting.

Posted: 10/22/2011 3:37:29 AM EDT

[#39]

Crew Chief

Posted: 10/22/2011 3:39:07 AM EDT

[#40]

Quoted:

My old car understands your concerns.

Well, ok, then.
But I´ve been a door keeper in a hard rock disco for four years too, and that was more funny (but less paid).

Posted: 10/22/2011 3:46:52 AM EDT

[#41]

Jacking off tigers.

ok, that was totally bullshit.

Serving on the world's oldest SSN... hmmm..... maybe, but no.

Working the Kanas wheat harvest in '76. No. Fucken. Clue. Almost flipped and/or rolled an Allis-Chalmers D21 on m'self several times. Almost got ate by hogs

. Almost fell into my own disc-harrow... Summer of my Jr. year ... my parents sent me off when they realized I had found out what girls were good for.

Posted: 10/22/2011 3:50:28 AM EDT

[#42]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Firefighter.

Pussy.

Easiest job in the world. Go to work, eat some lasagna, and go to sleep.

Just kidding. 17 years on the FD... and I'm a fucking wreck. Pretty much nothing works right anymore.

(But... it was a hell of a lot of fun!

)

60 gunner during Operation Desert Storm
Body Guard for FDIC agents repo'ing a farm in rural NH
Firefighter see below
Beaten, Battered and Broken but would do it all again in a heart beat. Back Surgery on Nov 7th.

Posted: 10/22/2011 3:52:01 AM EDT

[#43]

Repossessing cars. My first job out of college.

Posted: 10/22/2011 3:57:22 AM EDT

[#44]

Quoted:
Flight deck of aircraft carrier, tower climber, semi-truck repo.

Funny Story, well funny to my dad and I. We lived at the top of a dead end street
with 4 truckers live on it. My dad was an OTR and local truck driver for 35 years. Late
one night we hear a commotion outside and as per usual my dad was up with a side arm.
There is a Big Rig Wrecker backing down the dead end street. He goes out and I follow armed
with a shot gun. They were there to REPO my dad's best friend's truck. Here is the funny part
we live on a court, their paper work said same name but street and it was for the next town over. Wrong Truck.
Cops were called and cops advised Repo Men that they had better have the right street, right town and
right truck before they hook up next time. Could potentially save their lives.

Posted: 10/22/2011 4:11:36 AM EDT

[#45]

Worked for Page Communications in VietNam 67, 68.

Posted: 10/22/2011 4:12:38 AM EDT

[#46]

Roughneck. Lots of ways to get croaked.

Falling

Squashed

Electrocuted

Fried (steam)

Drown (mudtanks)

Chemical burns (caustic)

Hypothermia (not likely, but had frostbite on all ten fingers)

Exhaustion (lost circulation)

Blown up (boilers, 2000 psi mudlines)

Posted: 10/22/2011 4:14:41 AM EDT

[#47]

HAZMAT Specialist..
Narcotics Taskforce Member
Extradition Agent

Take your pick

Seriously it's a miracle I am alive..

Posted: 10/22/2011 4:16:37 AM EDT

[#48]

In order of worst to bad:

1. Inspecting welds on a live, 1/4 mile long, 725psi superheated steam line. I found the welds to have a 75% rejection rate (lack of fusion, included slag, etc.).

2. Working as a highway route surveyor in heavy woods in snake/wild dog/wild pig country. I had no radio, and this was before the days of cell phones.

3. Inspecting caissons, by being lowered 75-150 feet into a steel casing in the ground which varied in diameter from 30 to 60 inches (for me, MRIs are a piece of cake).

I sleep better, now that I'm old and retired.

Posted: 10/22/2011 4:21:55 AM EDT

[#49]

U.S.C.G. search and rescue crewman/engineer.

Posted: 10/22/2011 4:22:02 AM EDT

[#50]

Soldier.....nearly lost digits, several cases of hot and cold weather injuries and came close to being killed by IED's and gunfire several times.

Edit.....cuz I can't spell

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - What was the most dangerous job you ever had? (Page 5 of 7)

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