What gear to bring for oilfield jobs?

HAND SANITIZER....

 

The large frac and oil service companies should provide you with all the PPE you need, except for maybe ST boots. If you wear prescription glasses be prepared to purchase a pair of ANSI approved glasses with side shields (your employer may or may not reimburse you).
A lunch cooler, water jug, backpack, flashlight, crescent wrench, vise grips and screwdriver with interchangeable bits will all come in handy. Many oil companies and service companies do not allow knives on location so leave the Bowie at home and bring a small pocket knife that doesn't draw attention.

Reading material, smart phones, tablets and DVD players will get you through standby time, but don't expect to get cell service at every lease. "Do Rags" or bandanas are great for making hard hats more comfortable, especially if you're a baldy like me.

 

For me:
6" height, lace up safety toe (required)...I like redwing boots, so that's what I got. I did get an extra wide boot. This is the first pair of safety shoes I've ever worn that were comfortable. If these weren't so nasty looking already, i would wear them even when not working.

Lighting. I have a small handheld flashlight...handy for doing pre/post trips in the dark. A cap light or headband light is almost mandatory for working oil, loading/unloading in the dark. I actually took the strap off of my light and used some really strong 3m tabs from walmart to stick it directly to the rim of my hard hat. It works great there and i just wear the hard hat at night any time i need the light. i don't find it to be all that uncomfortable and I don't have to go hunting for the light this way.

While training, there isn't a lot of room in the truck. So, for now, I have a small cooler bag from wal-mart. It looks like a ladies' large purse, but it's insulated and has side pockets. It easily holds two of the reusable ice packs, 2 32oz powerade zero's and a mountain dew on the inside. I usually slip a couple of chicken fajita wraps in a side pocket. Also in the side pockets, I will have a couple of granola bars (anything for a snack), a phone charger and my small flashlight....My phone usually stays in one of these side pockets as well, but that's optional of course. It's tight, but it all fits.

One thing that almost everyone uses and I have forgotten to mention in pms when some have asked... is a clipboard. I use a plastic clipboard that has storage built into it. You can find several versions at walmart or any office supply store. Some guys use one that looks like a small briefcase with a clipboard style surface on it. I already had mine and it's pretty easy to find a place for it in the truck. I may change once I'm on my own.

I never leave anything in the truck. So when I get to work everyday, I have it down to the point now that I know exactly what I have to bring from my vehicle to the truck. 1. Hardhat, with gloves and safety glasses (all 3 are supplied, no need to buy). 2. Clipboard 3. Cooler bag. If I have those 3 things in hand, I'm ready to go.

Edit: A couple of notes. I use the cheap walmart reading glasses for a lot of things...especially working oil. That was a huge hassle. I found that you can get safety glasses with bifocals built in at Harbor Freight. I'm sure they are available elsewhere, but they have been very handy for me.

Also...crude oil is nasty. I wrap my gloves in a towel, then put the gloves and glasses inside my hardhat to keep up with everything. There is probably a better option for the gloves, but this works for now.

 

I love Carhartt and own a lot of their stuff. But you can get outfitted a lot cheaper by Dickies.
http://www.dickies.com/mens-clothing/mens-flame-resistant.jsp

I live near their Ft Worth outlet so many things here are much cheaper then catalog. We were required to wear coveralls only delivering sand. I only have a couple of pairs of FR jeans. May get more now that I am out of patch and into fuel locally.

 

spare batteries for your hard hat light....

 

oh yeah. i posted this in Hubby's oilfield thread a while back.....Mr Cleans magic eraser gets the crud out of your washer from hauling crude oil...i keep a separate hamper for his FR's.... i know, this is what to bring to work info...but this info is helpful too

 

True that!

 

Immodium AD........don't leave home without it!!!!!

 

When I was training in Dallas to work in the Permian hauling sand for Schneider they provided me with all my PPE; Nomex coveralls, FR rain gear, H2S monitor, respirator, impact gloves, hard hat with face shield, ear plugs and a couple pairs of safety glasses. They offered Georgia steel toe boots for $25, the $25 was deducted out of your first check. They also gave us a big duffle bag to put all our gear in.

However, once out in the field I asked our "safety guy" about some new ear plugs and a new respirator after three months and he just looked at me with a blank stare. I went to the local hardware store and bought a painters style respirator, a big bag of ear plugs and some cool DeWalt safety glasses on my own dollar.

I take better care of my PPE now that I have to buy it myself.

 

Here's my short list, with explanations: YMMV, HTH, yadda yadda...

FR Jeans/Long sleeve buttondowns (the turtleneck FR's just strike me as flimsy, YMMV) unless temps are above 100F, then it's lightweight Bulwark FR coveralls, with shorts and a t shirt under. Carhartt winter jacket for the cooler weather.

2-3 pair safety glasses (dark for days, clear or yellow for nights, and a clear pair for a spare. ALWAYS have a spare, it's freaking humiliating to be told to leave a site because yours fell in a frac tank or you forgot them).

Hard hat (obviously), that isn't too old. Yeah, they expire and your precious sticker collection should go on the shelf, and your head under a new lid. Some places don't allow the brimless ones, I prefer the full brim because it keeps the rain off your neck a bit.

Gloves. I'll get some flack for this, but I intensely dislike the trend toward the metatarsal gloves as I have yet to meet a pair that is anything even remotely resembling water resistant. I've got a pair of Kinco insulated waterproof gloves that were given to me by a codriver, and have stood up to 3 years in this stuff. Warm in winter and keep my hands dry unless I actually submerge them.

Hearing protection. I use the foam earplugs on a cord, and tie the cord to the hardhat. Change frequently, they're cheap. Were I running a sand can, frac pump, or anything louder than a water tanker I'd have proper over the ear hard-cup earmuffs.

Boots. I like my Muck boots, but I'm looking for replacement suggestions as they're starting to wear a bit. Waterproof is the biggest factor aside from the required steel toe, I cannot stand wet feet, and work next to some companies that are extremely sloppy with their water handling.

Rain gear. I don't have any, just haven't gotten around to it. Yeah, I get wet sometimes, but I really don't spend enough time outside the cab of the truck where it's a major concern. It's on the to do list, though.

Lighting. A helmet light is nice, but I'm still searching for just the right one. LED flashlight in a belt holster, but don't get a super-expensive one. I've lost 3 so far. Mostly I've been using a $6 LED lantern style (the kind that uses the huge square battery) that I found at Walmart. Decent light, and I don't care if I run it over. As for batteries, I have a small inverter and AA/AAA battery charger in my briefcase. Buying countless AA batteries got expensive so I went with rechargeables.

Tools. A leatherman, a large (can open to 4") pair of channellocks or similar, a pair of vise grips, and a small adjustable wrench. The channellocks double as a pipe wrench quite nicely unless something is absolutely gorilla'd in.