In Praise Of PPE

[lxskllr]

While working on clearing vines, I marveled at how nice it was to wear chaps, gloves, and my forestry helmet. My legs didn't get shredded with briars, stickers didn't rip my ears, and no branch that tried to smack my face succeeded. I could also intentionally take a hit on my head cutting small branches, and it was no big deal. It's like going into battle fully armored  :^D



If there was zero chance of me dropping wood on my head, or sticking a saw where it didn't belong, the gear would still be well worth wearing in the woods. It just makes life so much nicer. Highly recommended!

[sawguy21]

I like your attitude, the job is so much easier when properly equipped. Of course, I had to learn that lesson the hard way. :

[outinthewood]

It's a legal requirement to wear PPE whilst "working" here and indeed in most if not all Europe as in Canada ? I do remember the old style trousers feeling like you had gone to work with two quilts wrapped around your legs but todays gear is so comfy I don't understand anyone not bothering with even the basic stuff ! I have seen comments about PPE means you are not working safely in the first place and if you know what you are doing then you don't need it ....must be great to be such an expert ? In almost 30 yrs of cutting I've never cut a pair of trousers but have been glad of the protection when I've thrown a chain or had a chain break and as well pointed out the protection against thorns etc is worth every penny !! However each to his own 

[HolmenTree]

 Commercial or professional chainsaw endusers must wear PPE here in Canada. Fines of up $5000 are known to be handed out on second warnings.
To make free health care work in Canada and Europe laws like this must be in place.

[Allar]

I've been looking for chainsaw pants for a while now. Was going to get Husqvarna but found people saying that they don't breath well, making you sweat. 
I've thought about chaps, but don't think they'll be as comfortable as pants.

So now i have my eyes on Oregon yukon strets with straps.

[lxskllr]

I have the regular cheap Husqvarna apron chaps, and I'm very happy with them. When these are done, I'll get the same thing again(same with the Husqvarna forestry helmet). I thought about getting another pair for work, but I think I'll just keep the ones I have in the truck. They won't take much room laying flat, and I'll have them everywhere I might need them.

[John Mc]

I have the regular cheap Husqvarna apron chaps, and I'm very happy with them. When these are done, I'll get the same thing again(same with the Husqvarna forestry helmet). I thought about getting another pair for work, but I think I'll just keep the ones I have in the truck. They won't take much room laying flat, and I'll have them everywhere I might need them.

For some reason, I thought you had gone with the full-wrap chaps, not the apron style.

[thecfarm]

Any PPE is a good idea.

[Pulphook]

Not that long ago we had no PPE in active mil training. Around ordinance or on the range never even thought about hearing or eye protection. Brass would just bounce all over the place. My hearing is shot in large groups.

Chainsaw programs for landowners and pros (CLP, GOL ) demo-ed the need, not an option, for full PPE.

Even on a routine trail clearing my PPE is always on:
Full wrap Labonville chaps
Complete helmet system
Protective toe boots
Kevlar gloves ( too many small cuts )

And, brain in situational awareness.

[HolmenTree]

I sure wish I had hearing protection when I was a kid on the farm running those old John Deere 2 cylinder tractors.
Later in life I had hearing tests done by the company I worked for and the doctor said I only had hearing loss in my left ear. He asked me if I operated open cab tractors on the farm, I said yes and he said the damage was done while looking  over my right shoulder looking back at the equipment. 

Goose and duck hunting as a kid with the 12 gauge didn't help either.

[lxskllr]

I've come to be a lot more careful regarding my ears. They're in surprisingly good shape for my age and the stuff I've put them through. I can hear high pitched sounds better than my peers. I've spent most of my life listening to loud music, and working construction sites. It's time to take better care of them, and they may still be kicking when I die.

[Pulphook]

Whaaaaaaattttt? ;D

[HolmenTree]

I got a hearing aid for my left ear and I can say I'll never get used to it and its maintenance. 

[realzed]

I'm told I have severe losses in both ears due I suspect, from working in loud old airplanes for years and otherwise general misuse in noisy work environs over time..
I tried a couple of the newest and greatest versions of aids a couple of months ago at an audiology clinic workshop and was amazed at what I should be able to but couldn't hear, without them on..
The cost was close to $7000 for both and that made me sit back and evaluate it a bit further though I must admit!
My younger son has a congenital hearing disability so I'm unfortunately well versed in hearing, aids, and most all of the issues related to both.
Certainly too bad - that such devices are getting so much more adaptable and usable now than ever before - yet so far out of reach even often for those unlike myself, who often can't afford to take advantage of the newest advances in technology to better their lives - mainly due to exorbitant costs.
As for me - I figure I could put 7 grand towards a better vehicle in my waning years and get more usefulness out of it unfortunately, than hearing better.. and it does provide me with more leeway - when it comes to following the wife's 'commands' if you get my drift ;D! 

[Hooterspfld]

So I was cleaning up a wind blown 60' pine today. Put on my Stihl chain saw chaps.... I think you can see where this is going. They were a Christmas gift from my mother in law this year. Guess I'm going to have to give her a big hug next time I see her!

 

[thecfarm]

they worked!!!

[Drew62]

I seem to have read on another thread that cut-resistant gear doesnt work with electric saws ???

[lxskllr]

I seem to have read on another thread that cut-resistant gear doesnt work with electric saws ???

Here's a video I posted elsewhere...
Electric Chainsaw vs Chaps - YouTube

[Drew62]

Reassuring to see that vid!Where do these stories come from : Not that I got one,but I suppose this applies to corded saws too

[Rebarb]

Nothing pisses me off more than getting limb whipped to the face.
I've always wore PPE but safety glasses instead of helmet.

I cut year around and thinking the helmet would get hot.

[lxskllr]

I cut year around and thinking the helmet would get hot.

It does. It gets me pretty hot in cool weather, and that's about the only time I cut. I wear a hardhat for work, and there's nothing like the joy of being rained on by sweat in the summer. It condenses in the lid, and falls back down  :^S

[Ianab]

I seem to have read on another thread that cut-resistant gear doesnt work with electric saws ???

Electric motor needs more to stall them out as they make more torque as the speed slows down, where as a gas saw makes less, and so stalls out quicker. 
But once you get enough nylon wrapped around the drive sprocket, it's still going to stop.
The chaps etc aren't so much "cut resistant", as the saw still cuts into them. But in doing so it drags out clumps of super stringy nylon that binds up the drive sprocket almost instantly. As long as that happens before the chain gets through the layers into the soft meaty bits underneath, then the chaps have done their job. 

[John Mc]

Electric motor needs more to stall them out as they make more torque as the speed slows down, where as a gas saw makes less, and so stalls out quicker. But once you get enough nylon wrapped around the drive sprocket, it's still going to stop.

Torque also drops off dramatically as a gas engine slows down. Also when the gas engine stalls, it's dead. Nothing more to worry about. Not so with the electric motor: it still keeps trying to turn as long as you pull the trigger. So it's possible the electric motor could start moving again if the material shifts a bit. (unless they've added some sort of sensor to it to kick it off.)

[HolmenTree]

I had a employee once who did a helmet test. He was feeding the chipper on a hot sunny day when he tried to work without his helmet to cool down. After 5 minutes with the sun shining on his bare head he put his helmet back on.
He was wearing ear plugs as I warned him ear muffs are way too hot.
Always wear flip up screens on my helmets too.

[lxskllr]

If I'm not on a construction site, my standard hot weather hat's a boonie hat. It holds in heat, but blocks the sun, and it helps that it's absorbent. With a hardhat, the moisture has nowhere to go but back down over your head. I do have a vented hardhat, but I'm not sure it helps much. It might make things better in Tuscon, but not here in humid MD.

[John Mc]

If I'm cutting anywhere with overhead hazards, I'm wearing my helmet. I've seen too many times what a head injury can do to people. I'm not taking the chance of my wife and kids having to deal with something like that. (And that is despite an old college wrestling injury that messes up my neck when I wear the helmet for too long.)

If it's too hot out, the ear muffs come off and I wear ear plugs instead. If it's still to hot, I work shorter days or find something else to do that day. If I know a heat wave is coming, I'll often haul out into the open (ideally still in a shady area - this far north, I can still often manage to find shade in a clearing in summertime). Then I'll cut firewood to stove length with just safety glasses and ear plugs on my head.

[Old Greenhorn]

Always wear flip up screens on my helmets too.

Me too. It is the only piece of my safety gear I had had to replace do to a hard hit (at least in recent memory). I was limbing a downed tree and when I cut off a limb, it released a small spring pole I did not see which came up and cracked me in the face mask hard enough to kink and crack the screen mesh, bend the frame, and knock the helmet off my head. After the stars stopped circling, I straightened it out best I could and finished the day out, but ordered a replacement that night. Even with the screen in place I had a small bruise over my cheekbone. It's a good lesson for those folks who say they only wear a helmet if there are overhead hazards.

[HolmenTree]

When we were logging with saws the company got a new woman safety officer.  She was bound and determined to make all the fallers wear safety glasses under our helmet screens.
Well she was in for a rude awakening when she met up with a logging camp full of angry loggers who didn't want to wear fogged up safety glasses while dropping trees .
Matter of fact I never saw a faller in any of our camps who wore prescription glasses.  Only on skidder operators.

[lxskllr]

When we were logging with saws the company got a new woman safety officer.  She was bound and determined to make all the fallers wear safety glasses under our helmet screens.
Well she was in for a rude awakening when she met up with a logging camp full of angry loggers who didn't want to wear fogged up safety glasses while dropping trees .
Matter of fact I never saw a faller in any of our camps who wore prescription glasses.  Only on skidder operators.

The face shield was the main reason I got a helmet. I wear glasses, and they're bad enough without having goggles on over them. I already have a hardhat and earplugs otherwise, though the muffs are kinda nice in the winter. Still hot, but it's convenient just flipping them up.

[Allar]

Always wear flip up screens on my helmets too.

Me too. It is the only piece of my safety gear I had had to replace do to a hard hit (at least in recent memory). I was limbing a downed tree and when I cut off a limb, it released a small spring pole I did not see which came up and cracked me in the face mask hard enough to kink and crack the screen mesh, bend the frame, and knock the helmet off my head. After the stars stopped circling, I straightened it out best I could and finished the day out, but ordered a replacement that night. Even with the screen in place I had a small bruise over my cheekbone. It's a good lesson for those folks who say they only wear a helmet if there are overhead hazards.

I had a similar situation. 
I felled a tree without cleaning the brush first. So while limbing i accidently cut the hazel tree(REALLY SPRINGY) that was under the tree that i felled.
and POW, it hit me right in the eye and knocked my husky helmet off my head. 
Luckly the helmet was fine after straightening out the visor but i went home with a black eye....

[John Mc]

Even with the screen in place I had a small bruise over my cheekbone. It's a good lesson for those folks who say they only wear a helmet if there are overhead hazards.

In my case, the ongoing medical issues with my neck injury mean minimizing the time I wear anything on my head much heavier than a baseball cap.

Since I limb the trees in the woods (where there are overhead hazards), I've got my helmet with face shield on anyway. When I bring the logs out to a landing for cutting to sawlog or firewood length, in addition to no overhead hazards, there are no spring poles or brush to deal with, so the face shield is not really getting me anything: at that point, if anything is coming at me it's sawdust or a kickback. The safety glasses (and closing my mouth) take care of the sawdust. If kickback were an issue, the helmet is not all that effective: the chain will peel it right off my head (not that the plastic brim is doing much even if the helmet stayed on).

[Mountain_d]

I've been looking for chainsaw pants for a while now. Was going to get Husqvarna but found people saying that they don't breath well, making you sweat.
I've thought about chaps, but don't think they'll be as comfortable as pants.

So now i have my eyes on Oregon yukon strets with straps.

Yes, I prefer the all cotton chainsaw pants. I think mine are made by "Big Bill". They have the protection on the calf area also, which is required up this way. I have a few pair of the nylon style and find they do not breath very well. 
Mountain.