Chainsaw Chaps Usage Poll

[DanCorcoran]

That article on chaps is very informative and motivational. Too bad none of the "pros" using chainsaws shown on the Madsens website are wearing any; that seriously undermines their credibility.

 

[billb3]

Had not worn them for many years. A couple of months ago a neighbor across the road saw me cutting up some oak in my yard and brought his over and suggested I try them. His had a big cut across the left thigh. Funny how wearing them for a day with that cut staring at me convinced me that they are now a mandatory part of my routine. Just bought my own set.

When I'm cutting you can't see my thigh.
Heck you can't see my ankles.

 

[Highbeam]

It is interesting to note the poll data so far:

Almost all of the folks here who own chaps use them 100% of the time. The data show that if you have found it in your budget to purchase a pair - you will use them all the time. Why? Most likely because chaps are a good product that provides sufficient, practical, benefits. Those of us (including myself) that don't own chaps would nine times out of ten use them if chaps were available to us one way or another. I was hoping Obama would address this issue last night in his State of the Union Speech. The program would likely have been called Cash for Chaps to Chipper Choppers. :cheese:

I don't think you can make those conclusions. All the data tells us (essentially)is that you either own them and use them or you don't own them. The poll has no information about how many of the non-users would wear chaps even if they were available nor does it say why the non-users don't own them.

 

[Monkey Wrench]

The data show that if you have found it in your budget to purchase a pair - you will use them all the time. Why?

I believe why/why not is a personality driven decision. Some people aren't bothered at all by risks. Others are so scared they won't do anything dangerous. My personality drives me to take reasonable precautions to make the risky activities I enjoy less risky.

I like using a chainsaw. I like my face, eyes, and ears enough to spend $50 on a chainsaw helmet. I like my legs enough to spend $80 on a pair of full wrap chaps incase I screw up. I also wear a helmet, gloves, padded pants, padded jacket, armored boots, and armored back protector every time I get on my motorcycle even though I've never crashed going more than 3mph. The flip flops, shorts, and Oakleys I see others wearing while riding and sawing would have protected me good enough so far, but if I knew the exact moments I was going to screw up in life I'd have done a lot of things differently over the years. LoL

If you find $50 too much to spend on entry level chaps and don't have REALLY GOOD disability and health insurance read this.
(broken link removed to http://www.madsens1.com/chaps.htm)

"Top chain speed on today's pro saws exceeds one hundred feet per second. Perhaps a more amazing fact is at this speed, a chain on a 32" bar travels around it more than ten times a second."

:






"We revved up the saw to full speed and let off the trigger as the chain came in contact with the jeans - just as an operator's reflex would do in a real accident. In an instant, the ham was cut to the bone, which surprised us. This grizzly test demonstrated two things. 1) Chain saws make nasty cuts. They don't cut animal tissue like a knife; they tear it. The least gruesome way to describe the test wound is... well, it would have kept a doctor busy sewing for a while. 2) The second thing our test demonstrated was just how quickly an accident happens. In an instant, a chain saw can cut you to the bone. This happens so fast, no thought of moving your leg would have made it out of your brain in time. Even an alert person would not have had time to respond before they were seriously injured."

 

[kenwit]

Great thread I'm new to heating with wood, but have had and used chain saws on my property for 20 years. I know I'm going to be using the saws a lot more now and reading about the chaps makes me relize "the more you know, the less you understand. Thanks Ken

 

[colebrookman]

I hate to say it . . . but I don't wear chaps.

For Shame. Haven't you had messy saw versus body part call? Be safe.
Ed

 

[Monkey Wrench]

Listen Up Guys.
I've been shot 2x's
Walked into an ambush. took over a thousand stiches to get me back
been shot down
left for dead , for 2 days.

I Wear Chaps.

 

[Shipper50]

I am posting this picture for effect. Just imagine what your leg might look like if your saw got away from you and it hit somewhere near your knee and you didn't have chaps on and this is what you look like after they sew you up.


Shipper

 

[Danno77]

I am posting this picture for effect. Just imagine what your leg might look like if your saw got away from you and it hit somewhere near your knee and you didn't have chaps on and this is what you look like after they sew you up.


Shipper

that could also be what you look like after a knee surgery, lol, you'd be lucky to look like that after a chainsaw accident. remember "TEARING" flesh, not cutting it.

 

[Shipper50]

I am posting this picture for effect. Just imagine what your leg might look like if your saw got away from you and it hit somewhere near your knee and you didn't have chaps on and this is what you look like after they sew you up.


Shipper

that could also be what you look like after a knee surgery, lol, you'd be lucky to look like that after a chainsaw accident. remember "TEARING" flesh, not cutting it.

You should see the scar now that it took another 2 surgeries to fix the infection from the first and its still not right, but you get the picture? :-S


Shipper

 

[Danno77]

You should see the scar now that it took another 2 surgeries to fix the infection from the first and its still not right, but you get the picture? :-S


Shipper

I hear ya. I bet it's a good one. I have quite a set of scars from my knee surgeries. stupid scar right on the kneecap is the killer one at first. there were times when I thought I could bend my knee further if not for the stretching skin because it wasn't the pain in the joint holding me back.

anyway, back to your scheduled discussion on how nasty a chainsaw accident could be....

 

[firefighterjake]

I hate to say it . . . but I don't wear chaps.

For Shame. Haven't you had messy saw versus body part call? Be safe.
Ed

I know better . . . and it's no excuse . . . but this is a case where I've been doing this all my life so I've never felt a great and pressing need . . . again, not that it is a good excuse since it only takes that "one time" to mess up bad.

Incidentally, the incident was more of an improper cutting technique with a large pine branch (see . . . pine is evil) . . . where I failed to do an undercut and the branch came down whacking me in the forehead . . . the saw I was using in this case was completely innocent . . . and in fact it was a hand-held pruning pole saw.

 

[quads]

I think everyone should wear chainsaw chaps. I do not. I once cut into my pants on the inside of my thigh with the chainsaw. I still won't spend my scarce dollars on chaps. But I think everyone should. I think everyone should wear a helmet when riding an ATV. I do not. If someone were to ask me if they should wear a safety harness when they are hunting deer from a tree stand - absolutely yes! Would I wear one - no, probably not. Would I give anybody a lecture for not doing any of the above? No. If asked for advice however, I would advise them to.

But I do wear a seat belt when I'm making firewood deliveries in my old pickup. I think everyone should split with a Fiskars. I do not.

 

[karri0n]

I would wear them every time I started the saw if I owned them.

I will buy them soon. I heat with wood primarily because I can't afford to pay the oil man. When I'm cutting, it's because I can't afford to buy wood. The $80 going towards a pair of chaps could buy me half a month of heat or half a month of food for the 4 mouths I'm feeding. The saw was inherited, or I would have gotten all my PPE when I got the saw.

 

[colebrookman]

I would wear them every time I started the saw if I owned them.

I will buy them soon. I heat with wood primarily because I can't afford to pay the oil man. When I'm cutting, it's because I can't afford to buy wood. The $80 going towards a pair of chaps could buy me half a month of heat or half a month of food for the 4 mouths I'm feeding. The saw was inherited, or I would have gotten all my PPE when I got the saw.

Yup we have all been there when money is tight. Still is for most of us. Check out Amazon.com. They have chaps starting at $55 with free shipping. still not cheap. Craigs list or even someone here may have a pair they could sell you. Just remember that if you do get hurt, your family will also suffer. Like being caught between a rock and a hard place. Be safe.
Ed

 

[r_d_gard]

Was watching a mate of mine do an undercut on a log and the chainsaw kicked down and the chain went straight into the chaps on his leg. It's impressive how fast they stopped the chain. Even more impressive that he still has his leg.

I'm a convert.

 

[ROBERT F]

Ive got a lovely pair of stihl pro chaps, and I'll wear em' when im cuttin, unless my girl is with me. Then she wears them. Well I guess they are hers technicaly.

 

[thinkxingu]

Lowe's sells Husky chaps for $40, $36 with a 10% coupon. Emergency room co-pay is $50.

 

[TreePapa]

I don't have chaps. I do have saw (used electric off C/L). I won't use saw 'till I get chaps and helmet / sheild. Yes, I know that chaps may not stop 'lectric saw, but it's better than not wearin' 'em.

I checked Lowe's website, no chaps listed. Must be a regional thing, 'cuz I've never seen chaps at a big box hdw store (i.e., lowez or home dope-oh) 'round here. I have to either order of the 'net or buy from local Stihl / Husq. dealer, which is a mow & blow / tree service supply, mainly.

Peace,
- Sequoia

 

[thinkxingu]

No, they're not online. Go to the chainsaw aisle and look below and to the left of the chains. I've been to 7 Lowe's and they're always in the same place. Right above the Power Box, to the right of the gloves and glasses! It's sad--I could draw you a diagram from memory!

S

 

[midwestcoast]

Just got a saw this year, used it 2 days before buying chaps from Baileys along with some better chains, bar cover & wedge. Info on this site was a major influence. The money I saved buying a used saw paid for all that. I now wear them every time mainly 'cause I'd feel like an incredible fool if I cut into my leg while my chaps were folded neatly in the shed. Bought my dad a pair for X-mas & he's using them now after 40+ years cutting firewood, fenceposts, oak for milling...
Wonder if they'd help on a Fiskars impact? That thing is sharp :gulp:

 

[BrotherBart]

I have dragged my leg out of the woods on a Sunday afternoon holding the slice together. I have knocked on a neighbor's door and had them take me to the emergency room. I know what the bone in my left leg just above the knee looks like. That was after whacking trees without chaps for thirty years.

Anybody that starts a saw without chaps on is a damned fool. As to the cost, even back then the emergency room cost was over three hundred bucks and the stinkin chaps at that time would have been thirty bucks.

 

[colebrookman]

I have dragged my leg out of the woods on a Sunday afternoon holding the slice together. I have knocked on a neighbor's door and had them take me to the emergency room. I know what the bone in my left leg just above the knee looks like. That was after whacking trees without chaps for thirty years.

Anybody that starts a saw without chaps on is a damned fool. As to the cost, even back then the emergency room cost was over three hundred bucks and the stinkin chaps at that time would have been thirty bucks.

Well said "BrotherBart" and they are usually gruesome tearing, chewing injuries. You're fortunate that you could drag yourself out and not just faint and leave a few pints or more on the ground before someone found you. Be safe. Also good to always carry a cell phone, of course if you are rural like me you would not have service anyway.
Ed

 

[Wood Duck]

I don't have a pair, but I know I need to get one.

 

[albertj03]

I've never worn chaps but plan to buy some (along with a helmet/mask) before the next time I start the saw. I learned to run a saw by going out and cutting with my father and uncle since I was probably 10 and they never wore any safety equipment except for gloves and steel toe boots. I guess I always thought chaps were just for the pros. Back in the fall I had a close call when I grazed my thigh with the bar on my Husky 450 as the chain was just barley turning and it cut through my jeans stopping right on my flesh. It was a good wake up call.

What really woke me up to safety was when I just about cut the tip of my right middle finger off on my table saw in October. Luckily I had a very talented ER doctor who stitched it back together so well that you can barley tell that anything happened to it. Once the fingernail grows back some more it should look almost normal. The only thing I think when I look at it is that I'm extremely lucky that it wasn't any worse and I don't ever want to go through anything like that again.