Helmet When Cutting?

[GaTrapper]

Hey Y'all,

I already have eye and ear protection so I don't really need a chainsaw specific helmet with all the bells and whistles attached.

Do any of y'all wear a helmet when cutting? If so, what one?

[thecfarm]

I just wear a hard hat I get from Labonville.

[John Mc]

I always wear a helmet when cutting in the woods. I've seen too many people messed up from head injuries (not necessarily from working in the woods). One smal businessman I know is till involved with the business after his head injury, but all his regular customers have learned that if you want something done, you talk to one of his other employees, because if he doesn't get on it as soon as you speak to him, there's a better than 50% chance he'll never remember to do it. The more severe cases are folks who end up with a permanent personality change or have difficulty carrying on a conversation.

I do sometimes take the helmet off and wear ear plugs and safety glasses when I'm working out in the open where there are no overhead hazards.

You want a helmet with a 6 point suspension (usually 3 straps running across your head and attached to the brim of the helmet. The cheaper 4-point suspension helmets are less comfortable (IMO) and generally won't absorb a hit as well as the six-point.

I wear the Husqvarna Pro Forest helmet. Usually around $50+/-. you can find them with either snap-type size adjustment or the ratchet. The ratchet is convenient if different people will be wearing it or if you frequently take on/off a liner or hat under your helmet.  I use the snap type, and it's worked fine for me. I got it because it was locally available, had a good reputation, and I liked the fit.

I'm coming up on needing to replace my helmet. I'd be happy with the same thing, but will look around and see what else is out there before I buy.

There are lots of other good brands out there, including some styles more suited for tree climbing work.

[Ozarker]

What John Mc said. Debris to the eyes, hearing, and impact protection are all germane, but then there's protection from a kickback and taking a bar to the face/head. I know of one young man who had that happen recently, while bucking firewood. He's doing well, with no loss of teeth, nor damage to the eye. Has one helluva' scar as a reminder though. Protection isn't a substitute for paying attention to the myriad things going on when working the timber, though. At best, it's a little insurance for those times when the attention wanders, or circumstances beyond our control prevail.

So, yes, I wear a helmet all the time. I'd much prefer the good ol' days when I never gave a thought to any of it, and somehow survived unscathed. Something about getting older that causes us to slow down and take a look at things that we never before thought important, or thought about at all. C'est la vie!

[DonnerParty]

For years I only wore earmuffs and safety glasses. I know a couple of older pros who worked for years without any PPE who eventually had minor accidents. Now I wear a helmet whenever I'm falling, limbing and bucking. Cheap and easy protection and, though I've never had an accident, they call them "accidents" for a reason.

I have the Husqvarna Pro Forest system, as well. Pretty similar to the Stihl system, but a bit cheaper. Works great and is pretty comfortable.

I have separate eye/ear protection that I wear when running my chainsaw mill, and just swap the helmet out for those pieces sometimes.

[John Mc]

A good description, Ozarker.

I should clarify that the only reason I remove my helmet when working out in the open is because I have an old neck injury (wrestling in college) that really gets aggravated from wearing the helmet. A couple of full days of wearing it can often mean a couple of trips to the chiropractor, or bugging my physical therapist wife to "fix me". If I can get a little break here and there, I can avoid that. Maybe it's not smart to take it off at all, but I take steps to minimize the risk: only out in the open, never when I'm tired/thirsty/hungry (all of which affect judgement, reaction time, and coordination). If for some reason I'm presented with a difficult or unusual cut, that cut gets put off, or the helmet goes back on.

I know in some areas of the country, heat is a real factor. Maybe that would affect some of my decisions on wearing PPE (or in what type of PPE I buy). Dehydration and heat exhaustion/heat stroke can be just as much danger as falling objects. Fortunately, that's not much of an issue here in Vermont (we tend to gripe when things get much above 85˚F, and that's not all that often), so I generally don't have to make that call. Since I'm not doing this for a living, I have the option of saying "it's too DanG hot. I'm going to do something else today."

[John Mc]

I'm still curious if Husqvarna's new Technical Forest Helmet (or whatever they are calling it) is significantly "better" than their Pro Forest helmet - at least in ways that matter to me - to justify my paying more than double for it. They say it's better ventilated and lighter weight. I've yet to see one in real life.

[beenthere]

I was glad I was wearing a helmet when a stray limb came from "seemingly nowhere" and hit me on the head... only about 2-3" diam and a few feet long... but it drove the helmet down around my ears. Without the helmet, likely would not have moved after that moment.
Happened after felling a good size oak tree, and the dust had settled and I walked up to stand on the stump to decide my next move.  Slam !! down it came prolly a minute or two after the tree fell.
The second thing I put on after the chaps, whenever going to saw wood.

[ZeroJunk]

I had a limb knock me down the other day. Just had a cap on. Didn't fall that far, maybe 10 feet. But, still had enough impact to make my head hurt for a couple of days.

[jdonovan]

recently added a elvex helmet to my truck, and I'm using bug-eyes for eye pro.

Find the bug eyes are much better at keeping junk out of the eyes, and with just the ears on the helmet, it has less tendency to move around on my head.

[John Mc]

I was driving my tractor in the woods this summer and had a limb fall, bounce off the roll bar and brush my shoulder. I was driving down the middle of a trail, no logging or felling activities going on, did not bump and trees, not a particularly windy - just a random time for a dead limb to drop. It hadn't even occurred to me to put a helmet on. This was not much different than going for a walk.  It did convince me to add limb riders and FOPS to my tractor (something I've been debating for the whole 15 years I've owned it).  I still haven't gotten to the point where I'll wear it when I'm just out for a walk - I have to draw the line somewhere.

[John Mc]

recently added a elvex helmet to my truck, and I'm using bug-eyes for eye pro.

Find the bug eyes are much better at keeping junk out of the eyes, and with just the ears on the helmet, it has less tendency to move around on my head.

Where did you get the bug-eyes? I've tried using plastic safety glasses after a few wood chips got around the screen and into me eyes, but I have problems with them fogging up at times.

[jdonovan]

http://www.baileysonline.com/Safety-First-Aid/Safety-Glasses/Goggles/Bugz-Eye-Mesh-Goggles-each.axd

[pwheel]

You could do with a full-brim aluminum hard hat (old school) to go with your eye & ear protection. I have a Stihl Forester helmet on all the time when I'm working in the woods. The wire mesh face shield keeps a lot of crap out of my face, including when wading through brush & briar.

[jwilly3879]

The hard hat also helps when working in the open. It's much better to have the bar hit the hat rather than your head in case of an unexpected kickback.

[RIDE-RED 350r]

I wear my forestry hardhat (hardhat with muffs and face screen) when in the woods felling. 95% of the time I still have safety glasses under the face screen.

When blocking my logs out in the open, I wear earplugs and safety glasses.

Also wear my chaps for both, pretty much any time I pick up a saw with the intent to start the engine.

I used to wear no PPE whatsoever. I got sick of ringing ears and catching little pieces of debris with my eyeballs, so at some point several years ago I decided to start wearing that stuff.

Then, I formed a habit to wear chaps due to safety rules at work about running saws and the requirement that we wear all the proper PPE.

Yeah, the chaps can be brutally hot in summer, but I would rather lose a few pounds sweating than bleed out in a minute or two from a severed femoral artery.

[Klicker]

I wear my husky helment if I am on the tractor  running the woodmizer or chain saw or  clearing saw.

[DonT]

I believe the new husky helmet mentioned above is a petzl helmet with hearing protection and visor that is branded Husky.Stihl partnered with Kask and has a variation of this style as well with a clear plastic visor.Both these helmets have chin straps to allow them to be used while climbing. I have bug eyes and also have mesh glasses. They work really well when it is hot out.  The nice thing about a helmet is it all comes in one package so you do not forget parts. PPE only works if you use it.

[sablatnic]

Yes, and protective trousers and boots - never know when I'll make a fumble.
But I use ordinary non protective gloves. 

[timberjack 240a]

No excuse not to wear ppe. Just about any name brand hard hat will do. I personally prefer glasses, earplugs on a hard plastic neck band, and a petzel helmet. And of course chaps. Nobody is ever sitting on the ground seeing stars and wishes they didn't have it on.

[UniversalFogger]

I also wear the Husqvarna helmet with a facescreen and ear muffs.  Something as simple as just pulling brush out of the way and having a limb snap you in the face will mess up your day. 

Helmet, Chaps and steel toe boots, always.  Having eye and hearing protection as well as protection from falling debris is key to me. 

[Ron Scott]

Ditto!

[terrifictimbersllc]

Presently the Stihl ProMark helmet.   Ditto on getting whipped in the eye by something. 

[CTYank]

Ever since getting a S25 Poulan back in the mid-'70s (serious screamer) I've learned always to wear hearing protection when running a saw. Prescription (safety, of course) glasses keep that simple.

I tried various combo helmets, and have settled on a Husqy combo. When my saw is running, it's on, with the screen down and muffs on. Period. Even with a polesaw. A few months back, using my polesaw to cut down limbs from a huge windblown red oak that were sticking 10-12' up in the air, I had a surprise. One big piece fell and somehow fired a "whip" of brush at me, fast. Nailed me in the left muff and left a welt on my neck below that, looking like Clint Eastwood in "Hang 'Em High". Rope-burn.

My polesaw is so quiet that I don't really need muffs running it, but I put them down out of habit. If I hadn't, I'd have had a cauliflower-ear.

I would NEVER trust any helmet to protect against kickback. Hold saw properly, and that's not possible.

Also, I really like the snap-on terry-towel covers for the sweat-band from Tree-Stuff. A lot. Summer & Winter. Very civilized.

[drobertson]

Just what about everyone else said,, not sawn as much timber as so many here, but like a few I've had the knock on the head out of no where,  small stuff, seems to always get my collar bone too when it happens, chaps, helmet, plugs or muffs, just gotta have them in timber, lots of choices, sthil and husky both make good ones, we just use 6 point hard hats, chaps and plugs, some form of eye protection is important as well,