I watched this video, and they showed welding with 7018 rods that were wet (I believe left out in the rain for a while).
The “trick” where they stubbed the welding rod until steam stopped coming out it seems like it would be the easiest (10:13 mark), plus it would heat the rods up nice:
The “trick” where they stubbed the welding rod until steam stopped coming out it seems like it would be the easiest (10:13 mark), plus it would heat the rods up nice: