22-year-old Knox Carmichael left high school, got his GED, learned to weld, bought a $10K camper on Facebook Marketplace, and hit the road. He’s welded garbage trucks in Denver, aluminum Navy ships in Wisconsin, and now lives in his camper in Florida doing aerospace steel welding (UT/X-ray). He travels with his fiancée, plans to start Weld Fab Auto, and shares hard-won lessons on recruiters, test jitters, and why gatekeeping hurts the trade.

“Confidence is 90 % of welding.” – Knox