Hello Johnathan, welcome to the forum. I have never personally used the particular helmet that you are describing so I really can't comment on it. I would say that when you buy some of the off-brand hoods(the Kobalt probably falls into that category) that you can run into issues finding the cover glass plastics and possibly some of the other things that usually go wrong, such as the head-gear. There might possibly be others on the forum who could comment more directly about this particular hood. As far as making welding a trade or career, it is such a broad area that you can likely end up doing any number of things within it and being completely content and satisfied with your choices and options. At the same time it will provide you with a "living wage" or better in most cases. Try using the search function on the forum here and you will find many threads and conversations from various folks starting out and see a bunch of information that has been provided to them about any number of areas and topics. Try typing in headings in the search area such as "newbie with questions", "welding opportunities", "underwater welding", "looking for a welding job", "welding helper opportunities", "looking to get into the union", "apprenticeship opportunities". These and other similar type headings might provide you with a great deal of information that could possibly answer some of your questions about the welding trades. Keep in mind that welding includes: engineering, inspection, welders, fitters, fabricators, rig welders, pipeliners, maintenance welders, aerospace welders, and a host of other topics. Stay tuned to the forum here and keep your questions coming, there are a tremendous number of individuals with all kinds of valuable information that will respond to you. Best regards, aevald