If you don't have them, get some Chaps!

[jeffman3]

A buddy had a very close call last week.

I had warned him that if he was going to be cutting then he really ought to have some chaps. (I won't turn on my saw with-out them) He told me that he was always very safe, and didn't want to spend the money. "People use chain saws without them all the time, and don't get hurt. You just have to be careful." Well he found out it can happen even if you are careful. The saw tore up his jeans, and his leg, pretty good, but not deep. (thank the gods!) He swore to me that he wouldn't turn on the saw, Until he had some chaps. He realised that the relatively small expense of some chaps, is a whole lot cheaper then a trip to the ER to get stitched back together, or worse. It can happen to anyone using a chain saw! No matter how careful you are. Do yourself and your loved ones a huge favor, if you don't have proper leg protection, then you NEED to get some. A pair of one hit chaps, with Kevlar fibers to jam the saw, are not that expensive, and allot cheaper then a trip to the doctor, or gods forbid the funeral home. If you run the saw, you need chaps, this is not optional equipment.

I believe this to be true of motorcycles, as well as chain saws. (I won't turn on the motorcycle with-out a helmet on, either) There are two kinds of people that ride, or cut with a chainsaw. Those that have had an accident, and those that will. The question is, are you going to be wearing the protective gear to save your life when it happens.

 

[smokinj]

my dad just about cut his thumb off with a table saw he now has the new table stop (table saw ) 3500 bucks for the saw and over 9000.00 to the dr. its cheaper to buy the gear!

 

[LLigetfa]

Maybe we should have a "post your pics" campaign of our flesh wounds or of shredded chaps to convince people of the danger. I only have small scars and the wife threw out my chaps cuz they looked so ragged and stunk, so there's not much to show.

 

[Jack Straw]

I got chaps for xmas and will be wearing them from now on thanks to this site. I'll get some ribbing from some people, but I'll have my legs.

 

[Jamess67]

I have friends that cut their legs/foot because they didnt have the proper ppe. I a pair of chap and will be getting the helmet soon maybe today.

 

[mainstation]

I own 2 pair of saw pants, one from Ontario Hydro. When I did my field chain saw certificate test, my instructor told me he wouldn't come out unless I had not only frontal/shin protection, but calf protection also. I had to buy yet another pair of saw pants, this time $120. worth of chaps. Guess what pair I wear all the time now, yeah the chaps. They are better for keeping the snow off also.
Wear your PPE. Chainsaws don't ask questions--they just do.

 

[jdemaris]

The question is, are you going to be wearing the protective gear to save your life when it happens.

Well, I won't. Fine if you feel better wearing it, just don't try to legistate it and force it on others.
I've been cutting for over 40 years, mostly just wearing a tee shirt and jeans - including when I worked as a treeman cutter and climber for Aslplundh. If I get hurt tomorrow - well - that's just the way it goes.

Had a woman who got killed here recently. She had chaps and helmet, but cut her own throat with while cutting wood from the saw kicking back. What's next - space helmets with neck-guards?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not bad mouthing safety equipment. It's fine if you want it, and ought to fine NOT to want it also. I've had to waste an awful lot of time defeating some inane pieces of safety equipment just to do certain not-uncommon tasks. Some of this safteystuff has gotten way out of hand and simply rediculous.

 

[LLigetfa]

Had a woman who got killed here recently. She had chaps and helmet, but cut her own throat with while cutting wood from the saw kicking back.

Ja, was probably the fault of all the safety gear... made her over confident and let down her guard. PFFT!

I worked many a job as sawhand before the law mandated safety gear and in all those years I only gave myself minor nicks. The first job that I went on after the law was enacted, I lost my balance wading through waist-deep snow, and cut through three layers of Kevlar across my left thigh. It was a good thing I had 5 layers of protection!

You make your own choices.

 

[Sealcove]

Well, I won't. Fine if you feel better wearing it, just don't try to legistate it and force it on others.
I've been cutting for over 40 years, mostly just wearing a tee shirt and jeans - including when I worked as a treeman cutter and climber for Aslplundh. If I get hurt tomorrow - well - that's just the way it goes.

I have been driving for about 25 years and I have never had an accident. Proof that seat belts are useless.

I wont legislate that you where PPE, but I would like to legislate that you cant be insured for accidents involving that choice. Accidents caused by negligence should be paid for out of pocket.

 

[BrotherBart]

I will look to Asplundh for chainsaw safety guidance about the same time I call Peanut Corporation of America for snack food recommendations.

 

[jdemaris]

I have been driving for about 25 years and I have never had an accident. Proof that seat belts are useless.

I wont legislate that you where PPE, but I would like to legislate that you cant be insured for accidents involving that choice. Accidents caused by negligence should be paid for out of pocket.

Note that I made no comments about safety equipment being useless. Yet, you choose to turn things around as if I did. That's what many politicians do when they can't argue with accurate facts and reason - "reduce to the rediculous" intead.

So, you want to make laws to force private insurance companies to do things your way? God help us. what business is it for your's? Insurance companies can give different rates as they see fit and offers the most potential risk - as it should be.

 

[jdemaris]

I will look to Asplundh for chainsaw safety guidance about the same time I call Peanut Corporation of America for snack food recommendations.

I wouldn't look to Asplundh, nor would I look here for the final say on safety. My mention about Asplundh was actually more towards the converse. Many of the guys I worked with were damn near crazy and half-drunk much of the time. Considering I left there uninjured, with virtually no saftey equipment is not a message about Aslplundh safety. More of my personal ability to adjust to my environment without a bunch of mandated safety gear.

If you feel you must have it - good for you -makes no difference in my life at all - anymore than me NOT using it affects you.

 

[BrotherBart]

If you feel you must have it - good for you -makes no difference in my life at all - anymore than me NOT using it affects you.

Agreed. I didn't have any use for chaps for 35 years of cutting. The 10 inside and 26 outside stitches and a view of the bone in my left leg changed my mind. Though I still didn't buy any for maybe ten years after that. Then I nicked the same leg in the same place. Personally I won't fire up a saw without them anymore but I do remember the mindset of thinking they weren't necessary. If nothing else it is a money thing. The emergency room charge back in 1986 was $325. The chaps cost me fifty bucks. I am all for saving money. :coolsmirk:

 

[LLigetfa]

Note that I made no comments about safety equipment being useless...

You may not have said it, but your words I quoted below imply that.

I’ve had to waste an awful lot of time defeating some inane pieces of safety equipment just to do certain not-uncommon tasks. Some of this safteystuff has gotten way out of hand and simply rediculous..

 

[Sealcove]

Note that I made no comments about safety equipment being useless. Yet, you choose to turn things around as if I did. That's what many politicians do when they can't argue with accurate facts and reason - "reduce to the rediculous" intead.

Hardly. You are essentially arguing that there is no need for PPE because you have been lucky for 40 years.

I’ve had to waste an awful lot of time defeating some inane pieces of safety equipment just to do certain not-uncommon tasks. Some of this safteystuff has gotten way out of hand and simply rediculous.

From Websters:

Inane
Pronunciation:
i-ˈnān
Function:
adjective
Inflected Form(s):
inan·er; inan·est
Etymology:
Latin inanis
Date:
1662

1 : empty , insubstantial
2 : lacking significance, meaning, or point : silly <inane comments>

 

[jdemaris]

If you feel you must have it - good for you -makes no difference in my life at all - anymore than me NOT using it affects you.

Agreed. I didn't have any use for chaps for 35 years of cutting. The 10 inside and 26 outside stitches and a view of the bone in my left leg changed my mind

Yes, I know the feeling since my right leg snapped into two pieces, my right foot came off, and my neck got broken in two places - all from a accident on a poorly design John Deere farm tractor. Deere made some tractors for a few years that had full hydraulic steering and brakes. By full, I mean there's no backup. If the engine quits, the steering wheel spins in free air and has no attachement to the front wheels, and same non-function from the brake pedal. My attitude now? I won't run one of those series down any of our steep hills ( Deere 3020, 4020). That's my safety "device." Farmer next to me still runs his up and down the hills with a loaded manure spreader behind him - and that's fine with me. That's his chance to take if he wishes. No legislation needed as long as he stays on the back road and doesn't point his tractor towards me.

 

[jdemaris]

[quote author="Sealcove" date="1234659487"]
Hardly. You are essentially arguing that there is no need for PPE because you have been lucky for 40 years.

Seems you've got American-English comprehension problems. Considering you rely on a Websters for word-meaning, maybe that's part of your problem. Try an OED.

I said nothing close, did not allude, did not imply - anything of the sort. I said I've done fine without them. What is alluded to in my statement is I do well working in the woods, with chainsaws. Always came natural to me. Some people are better at it than others, protective gear or not.

My comment in regard to "inane" safety devices was, and is a general one - not specific to wearing chaps. For my uses - a anti-kickback bar tip is an example. Just gets in the way for a professional that has to make plunge cuts in certain trees to keep them from cracking when being felled. Another "inane" is the situation with new 5 gallon gas cans now sold in New York with no vents and special ends so you can't use them to put fuel into a car that's run out of gas. Also the "anti-leak spouts that cause more spillage than the originals did. I could list many, many, inane and insane safety devices along with mandated "energy savers" that are absolutely useless.

Another "inane" is to claim the insurance companies should not pay medical bills for people who don't wear chaps and get hurt with a chainsaw. My medical insurance is private and I pay, out of pocket, every month for it. It is based on a legal contract between my family and them - and not anybody else. With that "do not pay" mandate, I wonder where it should stop? Maybe nobody should get any house insurance if they ever even think about burning wood? Or, maybe we should all get weighed every year and have our medical insurance canceled if we put on a few pounds? Already being done in Japan for people over 40. Maybe we should have microchips installed in all of us to monitor how much exercise we get. Then, if someone has a heart attack, shows up at the emergency room - and the monitor says the person did not exercise - Hell -teach him or her a lesson and let them die. Coming close to that right now in England. They are proposing installing chips in overweight people to see if they exercise properly.

Maybe you're a man ahead of his own country and would be more comfortable in England or Japan?

For me, I have no problem with me living my life - and you living your's as long as you leave me the hell alone. I said nothing here to disparage anyone who wants to use saftey equipment. I just expressed my objection to the personal desires of some people forced onto others.

 

[wendell]

I'm not sure if it is OK to post here if I'm not debating someone's intention or Webster's definitions but I'm wondering if someone can tell those of us of greater girth where we can find a pair of chaps that fit. I had bought a pair of Pro Forest chaps but it wasn't gonna happen.

 

[BrotherBart]

What size waist we talking about here?

 

[Sealcove]

I said nothing close, did not allude, did not imply - anything of the sort. I said I've done fine without them. What is alluded to in my statement is I do well working in the woods, with chainsaws. Always came natural to me. Some people are better at it than others, protective gear or not.

Well if you want to dance around words... Where did I claim that you called PPE "useless"? I never did.

This is starting to remind me of the Monty Python argument skit, and I have better things to do than pursue this. I hope you are able continue your record of no saw injuries.

 

[BrotherBart]

Take the argument to PMs guys. The argument has nothing to do with the OP's post. To my knowledge the OP isn't a congressman so nobody was talking about a law here.

 

[Sealcove]

Another "inane" is to claim the insurance companies should not pay medical bills for people who don't wear chaps and get hurt with a chainsaw. My medical insurance is private and I pay, out of pocket, every month for it. It is based on a legal contract between my family and them - and not anybody else. With that "do not pay" mandate, I wonder where it should stop? Maybe nobody should get any house insurance if they ever even think about burning wood? Or, maybe we should all get weighed every year and have our medical insurance canceled if we put on a few pounds? Already being done in Japan for people over 40. Maybe we should have microchips installed in all of us to monitor how much exercise we get. Then, if someone has a heart attack, shows up at the emergency room - and the monitor says the person did not exercise - Hell -teach him or her a lesson and let them die. Coming close to that right now in England. They are proposing installing chips in overweight people to see if they exercise properly.

You do realize that insurance works as a pool and that all claims impact the cost of coverage for others who may be accident free. Many providers for commercial forestry operations are in fact not liable for coverage if the accident was caused by negligence or operations outside industry standards. In other words a small logging operation could be SOL if a worker takes out his leg with saw because he/she was not wearing chaps.

I am stating that I would like to see the same thing with private coverage so others in your insurance pool are not paying for negligent saw operation, should someone like yourself ever have an accident without PPE. This idea already exists in areas of auto, marine, and aviation insurance. No coverage for negligence.

 

[Sealcove]

Take the argument to PMs guys. The argument has nothing to do with the OP's post. To my knowledge the OP isn't a congressman so nobody was talking about a law here.

Sorry - I didn't mean to stray so far. I am done.

 

[wendell]

10" bigger than when I was a 42"

 

[BrotherBart]

10" bigger than when I was a 42"

Hmmm... That is a problem. All of the XL chaps I have seen were 42s.