To be clear, you would only dip them to use as a crude cutting rod, not welding. Its an old scrapyard technique for hacking stuff down to scrap size, because the rods are cheap, and so is the gasoline to run a machine compared to acetylene, oxygen, and tips in the hands of a normal scrapyard hand. You can use it to punch holes in stuff for quick fabs that are temporary or can be very crude, and is handy for demoing pipe that's full of rust and crap. Some scrapyards get wierd if you try to bring a torch setup to cut stuff, so an engine drive welder and a handful of rods can hack stuff up to get what you need. Also handy when you run out of oxygen on a Saturday and you gotta hack some bolts off or something.
You can also get a carbon air arc setup and do precision work, bevel plate, remove welds, etc. Don't use a generator style with brushes, but a transformer machine does excellent and can handle the short the process requires. You can ruin an inverter or generator doing it tho, so most people i know just use gouging tips on a torch to do the same.
As far as hoods go, I've used everything from a 400 dollar speedglass to a simple "sugar scoop" fibermetal pipeliner. Welding pipe, I've tended to use fixed shades, either Lincoln supervisiblity then the aulektro lenses, which are literally like going from a black and white tv to a 4k. They are about 30 bucks, but they are made from cobalt glass, so everything is a very clear blue. You can't see the smoke because the higher frequency light goes right through it, and you can even see through the slag to the molten metal underneath. You can also choose to run a autodark lens, but an old school hood. So rather than looking like you were the bottom of a robot/ alien orgy, you can wear a hood that uses cheap cover lenses (which you should change quite frequently), is lightweight and comfortable, and designed to hold up against actual heavy work.
Pancake hoods were designed for pipeline work, but once you start using one it's almost impossible to go back. They are super lightweight (which is the reason that most pros will only use a 2x4 lens), and they have a balsa wood goggle that is sanded to your face so it's super comfortable. Because they are goggles basically, they don't let sparks bounce around your eyes, in fact, they block all light except your weld. Outside on the pipeline, dust is blowing around, the sun's bearing down behind you reflecting in your lens, and you have to look up and down and the hood doesn't drift. The lens is held right by your eyes so you see more and can fit in tight places easily, and just goes right where you are looking. It has a lot less torque on your neck because of how light and how close it is, and since you can't nod it down you have to use proper arc starting of you don't have an auto lens in. With stick that means sticking the rod with your hood up at an angle, pulling your hood down, then wiggling it free using both hands. With tig, you rest your cup in the bevel, pull your hood down, then use you filler rod to drag across the bevel and tungsten like a match. This technique also ensures no tungsten inclusions.
in the end, it's all the same, just different ways to skin a cat. In the long haul its the hours looking through a dark 2 x 4 window and burns on your arms. Looking back, i wish i would have discovered pancake hoods earlier in my career, and understood holding the rod with the off hand was the pro way to start an arc when i was still in welding school.
