Surprised to see no eye protection

[Jack Straw]

Helmet with face shield and ear muffs. Sometimes safety glasses too if fogging and sweat isn't to much of a problem. Chaps and steel toed boots too. I find it interesting that on Axmen so far, only the Canadian crew wear any PPE beyond helmet and ear plugs. The Canadians also seem to be the only guys on the show with full mouths of teeth too.

Good point, I am surprised that OSHA or their insurance companies don't require it.

 

[firefighterjake]

Regular eye glasses only for eye protection . . . the good thing is they are the "safety" type . . . of course this means I get them scratched up pretty easily and quickly.

 

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

Shawneyboy,

I'm not doubting the value of chaps - in fact just the opposite. I appreciate the sense they make. However, there are TWO ways of avoiding those leg injuries while cutting wood. One is to use chaps like you suggest, the other is to use a hand saw instead of a chainsaw.

I could SPEND $60 for a set of chaps, or I could SELL my chainsaw for $150 or so.

 

[shawneyboy]

Shawneyboy,

I'm not doubting the value of chaps - in fact just the opposite. I appreciate the sense they make. However, there are TWO ways of avoiding those leg injuries while cutting wood. One is to use chaps like you suggest, the other is to use a hand saw instead of a chainsaw.

I could SPEND $60 for a set of chaps, or I could SELL my chainsaw for $150 or so.

Fair enough I wasn't thinking of it that way..... My bad.

I just wonder why some, not you, take such a risk. Of course I fell trees, which in and of it self cares risk.

Back to your regular programing already in progress.

Shawn

 

[Battenkiller]

Almost lost my right eye in a table saw accident three years ago. I can see out of it now (after many surgeries), but it ain't a pretty picture. I was wearing safety glasses, but the block of wood that hit me knocked them (and me) into the next room. They say I'm damn lucky to even have the eye, so I stopped complaining about the poor vision. So do I wear eye protection at all times? You betcha!

I like those full helmet/hearing protector/screen face shields for cutting wood, but when I'm grinding they simply won't do. Full polycarbonate safety face shield, and keep the thing up against the chest while you're working. More than one metal worker has had a chip of steel or piece of abrasive bounce off his chest and bury itself in his eyeball.

I've been doing a lot of chainsaw carving, and lots of these guys refuse to wear eye gear because it cuts down on their ability to see. One well known carver lets the sawdust pile up over his eye until it falls down in what he calls a "browvalance". I told him I'll come visit him when he is forced to sit and sleep upright in a recliner for three weeks like I had to after blowing out all the arteries inside my eye.

Don't be foolish, guys, wood comes at you at up to 50 MPH from a saw (175 MPH from a table saw), you will have absolutely no chance to react from a projectile originating only three feet away. After you lose an eye, the other one isn't twice as valuable, it's 10,000 times as valuable.

EDIT:

Bailey's sells a mesh face shield/hearing protector combo (no helmet) for only $20. I'm adding one to my next order.

Another thing I might get is Kevlar gloves. I just met a guy who almost lost his left thumb in a weird kickback episode. Weird stuff happens, and since it's weird, no one is prepared for it when it does. They design safety equipment based on injury reports. If something is designed to prevent an injury, pretty damn sure some poor schmuck was the case that led to the design.

 

[NH_Wood]

Like others, I wear a helmet with face shield and ear protection, but only sunglasses under the face shield. I've been really thinking about chaps a lot, so I figure, if I concerned enough to be thinking about them, it's likely worth buying them. I've also looked at Kevlar boots, but man, they are super pricey. Might go for the chaps and see about the boots later. Oh, just rubbed a bunch of cat crap from the litter box on my sun glasses..........I don't think it works. :lol:
Cheers!

 

[drozenski]

I've been seeing a lot of chainsaw users without eye protection. I initially thought it was unusual to see, but now I see it all the time on TV (logger shows, youtube etc). Do all you guys use eye protection while using the chainsaw? Am I too paranoid?

Nope,


Shorts, sandals, t shirt and my favorite 12 pack is all i need for cutting.






















Not really,

Boots, chaps, ear muffs and goggles

 

[midwestcoast]

Safety glasses always when I cut. (earplugs, gloves & chaps too)
I try to remember to wear some kind of glasses whenever I'm working in the woods or with brush saw or no saw. I got poked in the eye with a little branch once when working as a tree planter. No damage, but made me realize how easy & crappy it would be to get a dead little twig stuck in my eye...

 

[moosetrek]

I've been seeing a lot of chainsaw users without eye protection. I initially thought it was unusual to see, but now I see it all the time on TV (logger shows, youtube etc). Do all you guys use eye protection while using the chainsaw? Am I too paranoid?

Nope,


Shorts, sandals, t shirt and my favorite 12 pack is all i need for cutting.

That's what I wear on my motorcycle! Gotta balance the 12-back between the saddlebags though. In the woods it's chaps, gloves, jeans, steel-toed boots and safety glasses, at home it's the same but not usually the chaps (I know, where they're needed most - bucking). Thinking of a Stihl helmet for this summer. I usually cut alone, so I try to be extra careful out in the woods. Most important PPE I've found is taking time to do it safely and not working when tired.

 

[smokinj]

I've been seeing a lot of chainsaw users without eye protection. I initially thought it was unusual to see, but now I see it all the time on TV (logger shows, youtube etc). Do all you guys use eye protection while using the chainsaw? Am I too paranoid?

Nope,


Shorts, sandals, t shirt and my favorite 12 pack is all i need for cutting.








I can do it without the t-shirt shorts and sandals!

 

[Adabiviak]

Polycarbonate face shield for my eyes. Doesn't fog up much (although I will be pulling some Cat Crap from my snowboarding bag to try on the inside of the shield). I also use it when hammering at a splitting wedge. I like the added neck protection, and the ability to lift it up out of the way easily.

 

[yooperdave]

when i first got my chain saw, years ago, i kept the eye protection and ear plugs right with the bar oil and gas can and tool kit. went every where the saw went.
sorry to say that over the years, i haven't worn either. ran across them a couple years back and thought "oh yeah, i remember these". i have pulled chunks of sawdust out of my eyes more than once. don't know why i don't use the eye protection, at least.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

I wear glasses (near sighted) they have saved my eyes from injury on numerous occasions. One thing I don't have, and have never worn, is a pair of chaps, and I got a scar on my left thigh to prove it. ;-)

 

[Joe in MI]

A home remedy for fogging glasses: Add a few drops of dawn dish soap to a third cup or so of water. Rub this overly-soapy mixture on your glasses and allow them to air-dry. No more fogging! I do this to my sunglasses when I run.

Cheaper and less gag-inducing than cat crap. ;-)


I think I'm gonna ask for some chaps and the whole helmet-earmuffs-shield combo for fathers day / birthday / Christmas / whatever. Right now I usually wear safety sunglasses and ear muffs. My dad never wore any kind of ear or eye protection while running his homlite xl-12 with blown-out muffler. That safety crap was for yuppie wusses who didn't know how to really work in the woods. Now he wears trifocals and can't hear. Go figure. He has been known to wear safety glasses and ear muffs now.


Joe