When should you wear chaps

[smokinj]

I've tried on the shielded ones before (only in the store, though) and they drive me nuts. I was thinking more along the lines of some z87 prescription glasses with side shields.

Look on baileys they have some really nice one. The sthils are very good but those rockwell are even better.

 

[Thistle]

My eyeglasses are impact resistant (OSHA rules) have tried the side shields before on the job but they tended to work loose depending on what I was doing.Still wear a certain brand of safety glasses w/built-in sideshields over them to keep them from getting scratched,dark ones for sunny,overcast days or grinding/cutting metal,clear other times.Working for myself in the woods its safety glasses,ear plugs or muffs,steel toed boots always & helmet with mesh screen when felling,thin kevlar gloves except in bitter cold temps.On the jobsite working for contractor its hardhat,safety glasses & steel toed boots always,ear plugs,clear face shield,respirator or dust mask when needed.Employer supplies all of these except boots.

 

[Jutt77]

... my wife calls mine the "A$$less Chaps"

My wife calls me "That ass in the chaps"

LOL!

 

[Battenkiller]

Danno, you will grow to like the helmet/hearing protection/face screen combo. It easy to grab, fast to put on, comfy, and pleasant to breathe through. Out in the daylight, there is tons more light available than in a store, even on a cloudy day. You can see fine through the mesh. I've actually started to use mine for carving, even though that requires a lot more attention to detail than falling, limbing and bucking firewood. If I really need to see something clearly, I just flip the screen up.

It catches 90% of what comes off the chain, and it even reduces the amount of bar oil sling that gets in your face (and on your safety glasses). If I just wear safety glasses, I find I need to clean the oil and sawdust off them after about an hour or so because I can't see well through them anymore. With the mesh screen, I can carve all day long and see fine.

I can't see spending the big bucks for a name brand helmet (unless it's a Kevlar one). I have the Labonville brand. It is very well made, and only $29 with 30dB noise reduction.

http://www.labonville.com/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=125&idcategory=47

Labonville has a 20% sale going on this month. Anyone buying chaps this month ought to spend a couple extra bucks and get a combo helmet tossed into the order. Shipping would be about the same, so you get to try one out for a measly $24.

 

[zzr7ky]

Hi -

I started leaving the chaps on while splitting knarly stuff with the hydrolic splitter. About once a month I appreciate the extra protection.

It hot weather I just roll nasty lookin stuff aside.

 

[smokinj]

Hi -

I started leaving the chaps on while splitting knarly stuff with the hydrolic splitter. About once a month I appreciate the extra protection.

It hot weather I just roll nasty lookin stuff aside.

I had a guy last year that did that all the time with a helmet. Broke him in on hickory that crack still makes me jumpy! :lol:

 

[Battenkiller]

I started leaving the chaps on while splitting knarly stuff with the hydrolic splitter. About once a month I appreciate the extra protection.

Oh, yeah. My 10-ply chaps have saved my boys from serious impact injury more than once. Still doubles you over, but as least you get to makes kids someday if you are so inclined.

 

[nate379]

I guess I'm living on edge. T Shirt, jeans and boots is all I wear, same as with doing most anything else. With the MS290 I do wear earplugs though, cause it's LOUD. My old saw was about 1/2 the noise and I didn't need them.

 

[smokinj]

:cheese:

I guess I'm living on edge. T Shirt, jeans and boots is all I wear, same as with doing most anything else. With the MS290 I do wear earplugs though, cause it's LOUD. My old saw was about 1/2 the noise and I didn't need them.

I hope you never need to revisited that post. Pretty Silly! :cheese:

 

[oldspark]

Been cutting wood for about 35 years with no chaps, I guess that is coming to an end this month, gonna grab that helmet also.

 

[nate379]

It's one thing if I was doing it day in and day out, but I use the saw just a few hours a year. Cut a few cords for wood and I have it with me in the Jeep to cut down trees blocking the trails and for campfire wood.

:cheese:

I guess I'm living on edge. T Shirt, jeans and boots is all I wear, same as with doing most anything else. With the MS290 I do wear earplugs though, cause it's LOUD. My old saw was about 1/2 the noise and I didn't need them.

I hope you never need to revisited that post. Pretty Silly! :cheese:

 

[Battenkiller]

It’s one thing if I was doing it day in and day out, but I use the saw just a few hours a year. Cut a few cords for wood and I have it with me in the Jeep to cut down trees blocking the trails and for campfire wood.

Right, what are you gonna do... wear your chaps camping? I can just see some of the guys I know that go DEEP into the Canadian wilderness on canoe trips. Some bring along a chainsaw because it may come down to making a decision between clearing out 100 yards of deadfall so they can carry their gear on a portage trail or running a rapid they are unsure of with no one for a hundred miles to help them if they screw up. Should they carry the saw, mix, bar oil and all of the PPE they use at home for firewood? And I've seen pics of some of the trials these guys have cleared. No place to be walking around with chaps and straps on your legs. So, I can see your point here.

I'm new to chaps as of last year. Do I wear them every time I use the saw? Yes... well, no, not exactly. If I fire up the saw to cut a few cookies to show my buddy my new toy, or to tune it up, or to make a small cut for the wood shop... no, I do that sans-chaps. No hearing protection, either. Always safety glasses, though, learned that one the hard way. I use my electric all the time around the shop, I've even used it for rough carpentry projects. Chaps won't stop electrics, particularly my tricked out Dolmar 173A with its 9-pin rim and modified chain. I am C-A-R-E-F-U-L when I use that tool, or any time I have a running gas saw in my hands without all my PPE on. Not that I'm not careful all the rest of the time, but I have a much more heightened state of awareness of all my motions when I know I'm vulnerable. Problem is, you just can't maintain that state indefinitely (or if you can, I want to meet your guru).

Let's face it, guys, these things is dangerous, even in the best of conditions. You are always at risk when using one, but the more routine something gets, the more we do it by rote, the greater the danger that complacency will enter into our work attitude, and with complacency comes laxness. That's when most accidents happen - when we let up on our vigilance. Maybe you're tired and you've made the same cut 200 times in a row and you just want to buck up those last three logs. Zip, zip, zip, zip, zip, POW! You hit a piece of iron, or the bar gets pinched at the top and your fun new 6HP toy becomes a furious grizzly charging at you. That's when you're gonna wish you had those chaps on.

So, for an occasional cut here and there, or for places where PPE is difficult or extremely impractical to carry or don, fine. Just use your very best Jedi awareness with every motion and you will likely be fine. But if you are using the saw for any time period - particularly if you are just an occasional firewood cutter and are not a pro - what harm is taking the time to put the chaps on... even if you are just bucking logs? Remember, they make special "competition" chaps for cookie cutting. If bucking up firewood is safe without chaps, why are experienced race guys buying those 10-plies just to make a two-second cut?

 

[smokinj]

It's one thing if I was doing it day in and day out, but I use the saw just a few hours a year. Cut a few cords for wood and I have it with me in the Jeep to cut down trees blocking the trails and for campfire wood.

:cheese:

I guess I'm living on edge. T Shirt, jeans and boots is all I wear, same as with doing most anything else. With the MS290 I do wear earplugs though, cause it's LOUD. My old saw was about 1/2 the noise and I didn't need them.

I hope you never need to revisited that post. Pretty Silly! :cheese:

Chainsaw is a nasty cut seen it with and with out chaps......Only takes a split second. Be Careful its an ugly ride to the ER!

 

[jimbom]

Few can maintain the concentration necessary for complete safety indefinitely. At some point most are distracted. Good habits and practices save us at that point. Many that are injured or wounded can in retrospect identify the clue/event they failed to notice - leading to their hurt.

For me it was hearing something a little off that saved my life. These days, I wear hearing protection, but realize the tradeoff. Now I have the luxury of frequent breaks to keep rested. That certainly makes it easier to stay in a safe mode around dangerous tools and situations.

 

[Battenkiller]

Be Careful its an ugly ride to the ER!

I earned one of those ugly rides in an ambulance, sick as hell on morphine with my eyeball sagging part way out of the socket, assuming all along I was getting a ride to Albany Medical Hospital to have it removed. Only takes once to make you a believer in safety gear.

 

[smokinj]

Be Careful its an ugly ride to the ER!

I earned one of those ugly rides in an ambulance, sick as hell on morphine with my eyeball sagging part way out of the socket, assuming all along I was getting a ride to Albany Medical Hospital to have it removed. Only takes once to make you a believer in safety gear.

I drove one to the Hospital and was driven (Cab of truck pretty bad).....Both of us took it to the knee.....Oh and a set of chaps just above the knee.

 

[Battenkiller]

Few can maintain the concentration necessary for complete safety indefinitely. At some point most are distracted. Good habits and practices save us at that point. Many that are injured or wounded can in retrospect identify the clue/event they failed to notice - leading to their hurt.

For me it was hearing something a little off that saved my life. These days, I wear hearing protection, but realize the tradeoff. Now I have the luxury of frequent breaks to keep rested. That certainly makes it easier to stay in a safe mode around dangerous tools and situations.

Excellant point. We all are born with a pretty incredible set of instincts and reflexes that were developed over the course of 65 million years of evolution. As humans, we get out of touch with these things because our thought processes drown them out, especially when we are bored or tired. That's when trouble visits.

With my injury, all I can say is I should have listened better, or rather, paid attention to the obvious sound. I was tired and dehydrated and shouldn't have been using power tools, much less a table saw. I was overheated, so I decided to cart in some scrap 2x6s I got from HDs bargain bin to cut on the table saw instead of using a circ saw out the in the heat. My youngest son had been served his walking papers from his be-atch GF and had all his junk stored in my shop, crowding the space up. Everything here said "Do NOT Proceed", but I really wanted to continue on the project.

I measured and marked all the boards and started crosscutting the ends to length. On the last cut (well, it's always the last one if ya know what I mean) a piece broke off the back side of the board (HD reject because it was split) and started to ring against the blade. That was it. You stop, drop, roll, duck... whatever when you hear that sound. No, not me. I reached for the stop switch, and that's when it decided to jump up and bite me at over 150 MPH. Little 4 x 1 1/2 square block hits you like Mike Tyson at that velocity.

Had I been using my Spidey sense when I first heard that sound, I would have just had to worry about repairing the sheetrock wall, but as it turned out, that 1/100 of a second basically ended my career as a musical instrument restorer.

Pay attention to the cues. You will usually get a warning, something in the pit of your stomach that tells you to pause and reflect. I was unlucky, but thousands more end up much worse than me. At least I can still walk. Many chainsaw victims never survive the trip to the ER.

 

[Roxburyeric]

I wear them all the time because I look at it this way. I burn wood to save money and I like the work. If I hurt myself cutting wood to save some $ I may not be able to go to my regular job and then I'm really screwed!

 

[Danno77]

I like to play dress up and it makes me feel like a bass ass to wear lots of equipment. then I actually look like I know what I'm doing even when I don't.

 

[Thistle]

With my injury, all I can say is I should have listened better, or rather, paid attention to the obvious sound. I was tired and dehydrated and shouldn't have been using power tools, much less a table saw. I was overheated, so I decided to cart in some scrap 2x6s I got from HDs bargain bin to cut on the table saw instead of using a circ saw out the in the heat. My youngest son had been served his walking papers from his be-atch GF and had all his junk stored in my shop, crowding the space up. Everything here said "Do NOT Proceed", but I really wanted to continue on the project.

I measured and marked all the boards and started crosscutting the ends to length. On the last cut (well, it's always the last one if ya know what I mean) a piece broke off the back side of the board (HD reject because it was split) and started to ring against the blade. That was it. You stop, drop, roll, duck... whatever when you hear that sound. No, not me. I reached for the stop switch, and that's when it decided to jump up and bite me at over 150 MPH. Little 4 x 1 1/2 square block hits you like Mike Tyson at that velocity.

Had I been using my Spidey sense when I first heard that sound, I would have just had to worry about repairing the sheetrock wall, but as it turned out, that 1/100 of a second basically ended my career as a musical instrument restorer.

Pay attention to the cues. You will usually get a warning, something in the pit of your stomach that tells you to pause and reflect. I was unlucky, but thousands more end up much worse than me. At least I can still walk. Many chainsaw victims never survive the trip to the ER.

In Jan '95 I was cutting tapered wedges to level the twisted top of an old workbench from underneath.Using bandsaw with a blade that was getting dull,cutting them free hand with no push stick.(yeah I know,stupid).Had to force it through the last few cuts,then boom,right into the fat part of my left thumb.30 some stitches,it severed a couple tendons (still is numb today) I missed 2 weeks of work,with no pay,it left a nice scar + that cost me around $500 for the co-pay's etc that Insurance didnt cover.

Moral of the story - like others have said PAY ATTENTION,DON'T work when you're tired,sick, under stress or when something just dont 'feel right'. Take a break,get some rest & go back when things are better.

 

[smokinj]

I like to play dress up and it makes me feel like a bass ass to wear lots of equipment. then I actually look like I know what I'm doing even when I don't.

Reminds me of 1.00 beer nights at Jimbo's. They ran it for a month stright, Fights start at 5 sharp! (Where gear) ;-) Dont forget to tell the bouncer you know me! :lol: Thats a good time to wear your gear......

 

[CTYank]

For years, I thought chaps overkill and maybe a trigger for complacency.

Recently, cutting up massive tangles of blowdowns with many fellows nearby hauling off the cuts as they fell, I had an epiphany so-to-speak.
We'd been at it for about 5 hrs that sunny day, pouring down fluids (water-based), and everyone was a little off-peak. Finishing one cut of a 12-incher, I pulled the saw back towards myself while rotating the bar back towards myself, to keep it away from others. Ooops, too far. Decelerating chain caught my jeans about mid-thigh on left leg.

Tore a 2" x 2" hole in the jeans and left a tiny cut. Enough said, I get the message. Then Labonville have a 20%-off sale; they are here.

Lessons:
1) Take breaks more often than necessary; relax more. (Always treat moving chain like a loaded gun.)
2) Stay spread out more; more yet.
3) If at all practicable, put on chaps first. Especially when in dense stuff, or with other others near enough to possibly distract, or when working alone far from a phone.
4) When in doubt, stop and make things right.
5) Understand that chaps will not prevent injury, but reduce the severity.

 

[nate379]

I don't usually drink when running my saw. Might crack a few open while cording, but there is little danger in that.

 

[nate379]

I'd like to say that was possible but with only 24 hrs in a day and 7 days in a week that is about impossible. Maybe when I get old and can retire I can relax, or someone will invent an 8th day?

DON'T work when you're tired,sick, under stress or when something just dont 'feel right'. Take a break,get some rest & go back when things are better.

 

[Battenkiller]

I'd like to say that was possible but with only 24 hrs in a day and 7 days in a week that is about impossible. Maybe when I get old and can retire I can relax, or someone will invent an 8th day?

Hah! Don't count on it, Nate. I couldn't wait for my dad to retire so we could go hunting and fishing together once again like when I was a kid. Not a chance. He was busier in retirement than when he worked full-time, helping my mom run an Episcopal conference center near Cooperstown, NY. Then, when my mom died, I thought he'd finally have some time. No, too busy chasing women and driving all over the countryside helping old friends and family that time had not been as kind to.

Then he decided to sell the house because he didn't want to be bothered with the upkeep. He took a small in-law apartment at my little sister's house, where she did all his cooking, cleaning, laundry, bookkeeping and just about everything. He'd have time now, eh? Not on your life. He got involved with the canal as a volunteer and also had about three GFs to juggle. He went on that way until he passed a couple years ago at 88. Never did get any hunting or fishing in with the old coot.

Now I'm semi-retired and I seem a lot busier than a lot of you younger guys (judging by the post counts of some of you). There's me doing all the housework so my lady doesn't have to lift a finger when she gets home, there's projects around here, projects for the kids, the grandkids to visit and babysit, volunteering on environmental and political projects, developing a retirement business, etc. Plus, when the old joints start to go, the bones start aching, muscles not bulging out anymore, other bulges developing where they never used to be.... heck, everything ya gotta do just takes a lot longer. But you keep on plugging, 'cause when you finally stop, there's only that lonely hole in the ground waiting for you. Relaxing is just a waste of the time God's got left in store for you IMHO. Until that time runs out, I really need that 8th day just as much as the young guys do... maybe even more.