Woops.
Wear those chaps people
- Thread starter Haywire Haywood
- Start date
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Sorry to hear it.
o no sorry.
Bango Skank
ArboristSite Operative
Is that right on the knee?
Heal up fast man, glad it wasn’t worse!
Heal up fast man, glad it wasn’t worse!
Dang! Heal quickly. Just bought a new pair of cloggers to replace my stihl chaps. Expensive, but breathable and much easier to move in compared to the chaps.
Just a flesh wound.. didn't get into the joint or sever any tendons/ligaments. Had my helmet/face shield on, but left the chaps in the box. Surely a wakeup call.
I have one that looks almost exactly like that... yeah, chaps suck... until that moment...
How long was the bar? What kind of saw and bar?
Were you bucking , limbing etc?
How did it happen?
Everyone of us do or should have chaps..That's cheap insurance BUT...Every now and again the mind will say,, "Hey, you don't need them JUST for THIS, it's only going to take a minute, why you will be done faster than you can put the chaps on".
Something similar to that happened to me once about 20 years ago..I was going to drop a small 3 or 4 inch tree,,just that one..no need for chaps..I thought,,I'll be careful. Back when I was young (i'm 74 now) I fasted sometimes (didn't eat anything but drank water). I was fasting at the time and was on a long fast probable day 15 or so at the time. I probably wasn't really thinking clearly but thought I was. The saw was a little Eager Beaver. Probably had a 14 inch bar safety chain..I'd bought the saw cheap and wanted to play with it..The thing was as loud as Satan making love and hard to start but it cut pretty well..The tree was located in a thicket so I cranked the motor before going. It as idled to high and the chain was rotating. OF Course I was going to be careful..As I made my way through the brush (and to this day am not sure exactly HOW it happened) the chain lightly brushed my right hip. Immediately I realized i'd been hit and killed the motor.. I told my girlfriend that I had cut myself and brought the saw out of the thicket, sat it down and she examined the cut..My jeans were cut through and through. She said no blood. I couldn't believe her. I looked and I saw no blood either..I was surprised so, right then and there, I dropped my jeans and looked at my leg.. Not a scratch..My girlfriend was amazed (that I was not cut) not that I dropped my jeans. ..She could not believe I was not bleeding either. I was not sure how that saw had cut my jeans but not cut me..I kept those jeans for years just because I couldn't throw them away. In fact I finally wore them out...Maybe it was a miracle..Maybe it was God or good luck BUT for sure it was a straight up Warning..I promised myself that I would never pick up a saw again unless I had my chaps on..But, like all of us do at times. I lied to myself because even now it's difficult for me to make myself put on chaps when I'm just gonna cut that one big branch thats laying across the trail..
I run an echo cs352 with 14 or 16 inch bar when I'm on the farm. Most of the time it's in the trailer and there are always dead trees or limbs falling across the trails..I always have my helmet, face shield gloves when I run that saw but,, like a fool, I still neglect my chaps at times..They are slow going on seem clumsy . I'm saddened that you were hurt but sometimes seeing a photo like that is what it takes to make us more aware..Bless you.
Oh, it was the usual... I knew better but didn't think it would happen to me. Was cutting blowdown, knew it was likely to shift and surprise surprise, it did. 16" bar on my Husqvarna 550xp.
twillie2460
ArboristSite Lurker
Sorry to see it and hope it heals nicely. I will have mine on later today if everything goes good anyway
My “Wake Up Call” was similar to Wow’s, I had on a Helmet with mesh face shield, Gloves and steel toed boots, but no chaps. I was cutting on a hillside, and THOUGHT that my footing was more solid than it actually was.
The chain chewed 3 holes in my jeans, but some how, didn’t even touch skin, no Blood, not a Mark, I got Dayumed LUCKY, we were about 8 miles up a Forest Circus road and more miles up the highway to cell service, easily could have been “Game Over “ for Husky Man, I bought a pair before the next time I used a saw, and I USE them now
Doug
The chain chewed 3 holes in my jeans, but some how, didn’t even touch skin, no Blood, not a Mark, I got Dayumed LUCKY, we were about 8 miles up a Forest Circus road and more miles up the highway to cell service, easily could have been “Game Over “ for Husky Man, I bought a pair before the next time I used a saw, and I USE them now
Doug
No half measures... wear your chaps or get the blood flowing..
Same guy stitch the leg and the pants? I'm seeing a similar method.
I know its not a laughing matter being bit by a chainsaw.
but.
Glad you have all endorsed using chaps.
Even when tuning saws I wear them, you never know if something might move and bang, its too late.
but.
Glad you have all endorsed using chaps.
Even when tuning saws I wear them, you never know if something might move and bang, its too late.
Batt4Christ
ArboristSite Lurker
I have a slightly less dramatic version from just a few years ago… cleaning up a hillside to open view on a property for sale. Little cheap saw in-hand, no chaps (like a dummy), just brushed my thigh… thought for sure I was “got”… it cleanly cut right through mothers denim like a razor… not a scratch on my leg. Grace of God is all I can figure.
I don’t ever run a saw without now…
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my knee looked freakishly similar to that (less blood) when I got a cutoff wheel (grinder included) into my left kneecap, I under estimated how much torque my new grinder has I guess, thank god it doesnt have a suicide switch
had it gone 1-2mm deeper it would have been a hospital trip for sure
funny thing is, my pants have almost zero damage from it
I had that happen about a dozen times over the course of my career.
