Safety question: gloves or no gloves

If you have protective gloves, gloves rated to protect you from a chain, use them. If not, don't kid yourself. The leather or whatever gloves are for abrasion, not for chain saw safety. Blaming the gloves for dragging your hands into a chain is like blaming seat belts for not letting you throw yourself free of an accident. It is total BS.

I used to prefer no gloves in the summer but my son gave me some mechanics gloves that are thin & tight fitting and I can feel everything with them on. I now like to use them just to keep any sharp chain edges or splinters from cutting my hands. They will not protect from cutting my hand off, that's my brain's job.

In the winter, I have to use insulated gloves to keep my hands warm. Nothing more dangerous than using a chainsaw with hands that are numb from being partly frozen.

I hate it when that happens. The self inflicted chainsaw massacre.

Well, take this with a grain of salt, this is coming from someone who has lopped off a couple fingers too, I always wear gloves, I get what your saying with the saw (the risk out weights the benefit), but think of it this way, wear gloves to be able to move what your sawing in a split second, In my own opinion people that don't wear work gloves while working have two things going on, 1. - they are super strong like batman or superman, 2.- they don't have a good pair of gloves, there existing pair doesn't fit correctly / or are worn out and that's causing the user to not use them. A good pair of gloves will also reduce vibration fatigue from the saw when using it for long periods.

I don't wear any gloves while running the saw.

Always. No reason not to.

sportbikerider78 said:

Always. No reason not to.

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When you're operating the saw, what exactly are the gloves protecting you from? Flying wood chips? I find that I have much better grip and control of the chainsaw without gloves on.

claydogg84 said:

When you're operating the saw, what exactly are the gloves protecting you from? Flying wood chips? I find that I have much better grip and control of the chainsaw without gloves on.

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If all you're doing is holding the saw I guess gloves might not help, but if you are also moving rounds out of the way, moving the logs into position, filling the oil/gas, then gloves make sense. I don't like to stop and put my gloves on to move a round, pull them back off to make a cut, put them on again to position the log, etc.

I'm an avid motorcyclist. We have a saying about wearing gear. "Dress for the crash, not the ride."

I think the same holds true here. I really don't know what could happen and that is why it is good to wear gloves.

I wear Stihl gloves, which fit snug, like heavier insulated mechanics gloves. The fingers are beefed up with extra hide layers in all the places the usual hardware store leather gloves fail first. I go thru most gloves in a weekend, finding holes in the fingertips from wear, but the Stihl gloves usually last me several months. Definitely good value, in the long run.

I only take them off to service the saw, or handle fluids, they're always on otherwise.

claydogg84 said:

I find that I have much better grip and control of the chainsaw without gloves on

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That's what I used to say until I got the mechanics gloves. Great fit, much better grip and protection from sharp stuff.

I usually wear them. The construction company I work for, it's mandatory PPE 100% so I'm just used to glasses, gloves, safety toe boots, hard hats etc. I feel funny not wearing them

Your hands (nor any other part of your body) should be no where near the business end of a saw while it is running.

Get better gloves ?
Safety gloves specifically made for chainsaw are supposed to preclude your fear of being sucked into the wood chipper.

I wear gloves when handling wood. Cuts down on the splinters and torn up hands. So when bucking I'm lifting logs and rounds. It takes to much time to take the gloves off and on, so most of the time they stay on. I use cheap leather gloves that aren't the best grip on the saw. I guess the mechanics gloves would be a better grip on the saw, but I don't think they would hold up handling wood.

I like these for winter cutting. I get them from work and they don't hold up too bad
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/321478220979?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_ref=http%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F1%2F711-117182-37290-0%2F2%3Fmtid%3D1588%26kwid%3D1%26crlp%3D53601919689_324272%26itemid%3D321478220979%26targetid%3D87946120329%26rpc%3D0.20%26rpc_upld_id%3D51870%26rlsatarget%3D%26device%3Dt%26mpre%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.ebay.com%252Fitm%252Flike%252F321478220979%253Flpid%253D82%2526chn%253Dps%26adtype%3Dpla%26gclid%3DCKTw5JqCwsYCFY6EaQodXioEVA%26srcrot%3D711-117182-37290-0%26rvr_id%3D861210623338
Should this be in The Gear?

Six years working at a lumber mill and countless more logging and cutting wood for the US Forest Service....gloves every day. Except when swinging an axe, I wear cut resistant leather palmed gloves all the time.....protect yourself from slivers, splinters and finger smashing. A man's hands are too important.

bfitz3 said:

The question came about based on some shop safety issues. When working a lathe, mill, or drill press, fabric can get caught and suck you in. Instead of an handful (heh) of stitches, you can be killed. A chainsaw doesn't have the power/momentum issues of larger equipment, so it seems gloves are much safer/beneficial. Still...where is the dividing line in equipment that should or should not be run with gloves? My gut, and what I'm hearing here is that they should be worn.

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If your hands are making contact with a running chain, you are doing something very wrong.

I always wear gloves, thin ones for better feel & control, like the mechanic ones mentioned above. Doesn't have anything to do with a spinning chain - but more with nicks while sharpening, and scraped knuckles & cuts/tears/splinters etc. from moving wood etc. out of the way as I go. There are lots of times when limbing too that you flip the saw back & forth & sideways that would put your hands against & sliding across the tree. They also take some of the vibes out.

Plus if you are in softwood, that stuff can be messy - yuk.

claydogg84 said:

When you're operating the saw, what exactly are the gloves protecting you from? Flying wood chips? I find that I have much better grip and control of the chainsaw without gloves on.

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Same reason to wear chaps. Gloves might not stop everything, but will be a barrier to bind the chain rather than your own skin. As stated, there is no reason not to, and some protection is better than none.
And here we thought you knew everything.

Hogwildz said:

Same reason to wear chaps. Gloves might not stop everything, but will be a barrier to bind the chain rather than your own skin. As stated, there is no reason not to, and some protection is better than none.
And here we thought you knew everything.

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There absolutely is a reason not to wear them. Proper control/handling of the chainsaw is paramount to anything else. I suppose a man with your intelligence, or lack there of, should wear some sort of chain mail protection. If you had paid any attention to the thread, you would clearly see that most members wear the gloves to avoid having to put them on and off after cutting.

If you had paid any attention to the thread, you would clearly see that most members wear the gloves to avoid having to put them on and off after cutting.

That's not what this member said.

For my part I prefer to wear gloves while sawing. It's a safety thing and gloves can insulate the hands from vibration, not to mention keeping yer paws warm. The Mechanix brand offers good dexterity and they seem to hold up fairly well.

Gloves may not stop a spinning chain but they most certainly can prevent cuts while sharpening or handling a sharp chain loop. I used to remove the gloves when stopping to sharpen. Gave myself a good finger gash once, that was all it took to remind me of what gloves were for.

maple1 said:

If you had paid any attention to the thread, you would clearly see that most members wear the gloves to avoid having to put them on and off after cutting.

That's not what this member said.

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Hence the word most. I did not say all.

Fred Wright said:

For my part I prefer to wear gloves while sawing. It's a safety thing and gloves can insulate the hands from vibration, not to mention keeping yer paws warm. The Mechanix brand offers good dexterity and they seem to hold up fairly well.

Gloves may not stop a spinning chain but they most certainly can prevent cuts while sharpening or handling a sharp chain loop. I used to remove the gloves when stopping to sharpen. Gave myself a good finger gash once, that was all it took to remind me of what gloves were for.

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I always wear gloves when sharpening. One slip and things can get messy.