HardHats and chaps

[046]

safety equipment is a good thing!

almost never see any tree folks around here use chaps.
helmets generally but very little chap usage.

me.. I'm using chaps, helmet, ears, glasses, steel toe boots, kevlar gloves, etc.

 

[TimberMcPherson]

Seems the arbs most ardent and condescending about wearing of the hardhats etc all the time are the ones that HAVE to wear them themselves.

Wearing them at appropriate times is sensible and prudent but ANSI cannot legislate the wearing of them "sometimes" so you wear them all the time. They also cannot legislate who wears them where, so a guy planting trees wears them all day just as a green groundy wears them rightfully under a dead takedown.

Watch a professional baseball game for example....batter puts on his helmet to hit.....afterwards he goes in the field without it. In some of you guy's worlds .....every fan in the stadium and hotdog salesmen would wear one the whole game.

(on a sidenote) How would your dad's best friend been protected from a chainsaw hitting him in the face by a hardhat.

Helmet peak would have been the stopper for the saw, not his forhead.

The compulsory thing is a very good point. I sometimes wonder what the worlds vehicle fleet would look like if there was no compulsory safety inspection, they are an expensive PITA but I doubt anyone here would think they are a bad idea in general because we are, or other car users are stupid enough to drive jalopys if we could get away with it.

If it wasnt compulsory I would still wear my petzl helmet, they have over the years saved me from alot of hurt and scars.

 

[Groundman One]

Seems the arbs most ardent and condescending about wearing of the hardhats etc all the time are the ones that HAVE to wear them themselves.

I don't have to wear one; I'm smart enough to wear one.

I've been grounding for climbers for eleven-years and I know damn well how much a helmet is worth. Not because it's going to save me from a 100lb six-foot limb that comes crashing down, but because it's going to save me from being shaved bald and getting thirty-nine stiches from an inch-thick branch stump that pinballs down the tree from fifty-feet.

My climber is ordering a new seat tomorrow and he's ordering me a kevlar helmet at the same time. Credit card, so I can pay him in two shots. Sweet! It's going to cost me about $200 for the helmet with the ear muffs and face shield.

http://www.baileysonline.com/itemdetail.asp?item=R5 YEL

 

[TreeClimber57]

Hardhat, safety glasses, and steel toe boots 100% of the time.

Chaps and chainsaw boots 0% of the time.

Well you have steel toe boots, hopefully "green patch" as well - with steel plate..

After eight-years, I've finally got my climber wearing a hardhat. (A rock climbing helmet actually, but I simply cannot get him to wear glasses. Idiot that he is.)

Glasses are essential if using any power equipment at all.. Your eye is the most delicate part, and you simply do not want to loose one.. PERIOD.

 

[asthesun]

Well you have steel toe boots, hopefully "green patch" as well - with steel plate..



Glasses are essential if using any power equipment at all.. Your eye is the most delicate part, and you simply do not want to loose one.. PERIOD.

i have steel toes wescos. they are really essential imo. every time i try to use a non-steel toed boot i regret it. mostly because i find myself stubbing my toe alot, but the steel and good leather has saved my toe a time or two from a saw as well

 

[Philbert]

You are right on there!! Gloves do very little indeed except keep slivers out of soft smooth hands.

gloves? ha the only time wear gloves is sappy trees ie. spruce pine etc and when I gots to chip throney locast always got my ear muffs on though and glasses always

Not counting anti-vibration gloves, or gloves with the cut resistant/chaps material on the left hand, general use work gloves are recommended to protect against contact with the sharp chain (when it is not moving, i.e. adjusting tension, etc.) and from contact with hot surfaces (muffler, bar, chain, etc.). Might also prevent blisters (?).

Some guys I know wear gloves for all work tasks, others . . .

Philbert

 

[TreeClimber57]

Not counting anti-vibration gloves, or gloves with the cut resistant/chaps material on the left hand, general use work gloves are recommended to protect against contact with the sharp chain (when it is not moving, i.e. adjusting tension, etc.) and from contact with hot surfaces (muffler, bar, chain, etc.). Might also prevent blisters (?).

Some guys I know wear gloves for all work tasks, others . . .

Philbert

You are correct, I was not suggesting one not wear them, only that normal leather work gloves do little to protect against a moving chain. Now if somebody wants to use to climb, move cut timber, etc.. then great. But it is not necessarily the most important piece of protective gear.

 

[Groundman One]

Not counting anti-vibration gloves, or gloves with the cut resistant/chaps material on the left hand, general use work gloves are recommended to protect against contact with the sharp chain (when it is not moving, i.e. adjusting tension, etc.) and from contact with hot surfaces (muffler, bar, chain, etc.). Might also prevent blisters (?).

Some guys I know wear gloves for all work tasks, others . . .

Philbert

We use these gloves almost all the time now.

They provide as much protection as Kleenex, but you do keep a good grip on the saw. Especially in the rain. So it's six of one and half-dozen of the other.

Not great for ropping, though.

 

[asthesun]

We use these gloves almost all the time now.

They provide as much protection as Kleenex, but you do keep a good grip on the saw. Especially in the rain. So it's six of one and half-dozen of the other.

Not great for ropping, though.

i use batting gloves for climbing and whatever else. the leather is thin enough that you can tie knots almost the same as if you were wearing nothing. they allow good grip, but arent sticky like those^^ and are breathable. several downsides tho. they're expensive and they dont last long.

 

[Mapleman]

I used skin diving gloves for a while. Costly, but I loved the feel and workability...

 

[tree md]

Gloves? I call them pus*sy mittens. I, like Shigo, like to " touch trees". Grow a pair fag*gots.

 

[Groundman One]

Gloves? I call them pus*sy mittens. I, like Shigo, like to " touch trees". Grow a pair fag*gots.

Would you like another cup of coffee while you grit your teeth and flex your testicles?

 

[tree md]

Would you like another cup of coffee while you grit your teeth and flex your testicles?

Groundman One, with all due respect, you are a groundie, I am a climber. Two different worlds. Gloves certainly have their place on the ground but to be honest, I've never seen a good climber wear gloves. My favorite is when I see one break out his Michael Jackson's and commence to climb a tree like a crippled cow on crutches...

 

[Groundman One]

Groundman One, with all due respect, you are a groundie, I am a climber. Two different worlds. Gloves certainly have their place on the ground but to be honest, I've never seen a good climber wear gloves. My favorite is when I see one break out his Michael Jackson's and commence to climb a tree like a crippled cow on crutches...

I questioned neither your expertise nor your opinion on the issues. I was merely poking fun at your attitude.

As for "I've never seen a good climber wear gloves"; perhaps you haven't. I have.

 

[Raymond]

I like to think of them as my magical mittens.

I wear them everyday now days myself climbing.
I was like you MD for years, gloves was for girls.

Then one day I had my fill of sore hands and fingers.
Bought a pair just till my hands healed up and been
wearing them ever sense.

But then what do I know? I'm just a hacker but then
I am one of the best hackers around. :agree2:

 

[TreEmergencyB]

this can go on forever im sure but as for wearing it because its the law.....

Do you wear your seat belt, its a law here in pa but i see cops w/o it on. The first guy i worked for been certified for 10 years or so dont wear a hard hat but always has his seat belt on??

 

[tree md]

I wear them everyday now days myself climbing.
I was like you MD for years, gloves was for girls.

Then one day I had my fill of sore hands and fingers.
Bought a pair just till my hands healed up and been
wearing them ever sense.

But then what do I know? I'm just a hacker but then
I am one of the best hackers around. :agree2:

I have worn the Atlas gloves in the winter myself but don't like to wear gloves when I climb. I think it causes more risk to the climber. I read about a climber getting his saw trigger pinned because of the gloves he was wearing. He cut himself out of the tree. Can't remember his name but it's the guy who wrote The Tree Climber's Companion.

The p***y mittens comment was a joke. It's what my foreman said to me when I asked him about a pair of gloves on the first construction job I worked pouring concrete at 17. I thought it was funny.

 

[asthesun]

I have worn the Atlas gloves in the winter myself but don't like to wear gloves when I climb. I think it causes more risk to the climber. I read about a climber getting his saw trigger pinned because of the gloves he was wearing. He cut himself out of the tree. Can't remember his name but it's the guy who wrote The Tree Climber's Companion.

The p***y mittens comment was a joke. It's what my foreman said to me when I asked him about a pair of gloves on the first construction job I worked pouring concrete at 17. I thought it was funny.

try batting gloves. walmart has them for like $20. they wont last long but you will like them. they're almost like surgical gloves

 

[Mapleman]

tree md: Gloves? I call them pus*sy mittens. I, like Shigo, like to " touch trees". Grow a pair fag*gots.


I like getting intimate with trees too, feeling skin on wood, and never used gloves until I started climbing autumns and winters in the northeast.

When the temps are below freezing or it's a cold rain, it's time for the pus*y mittens. Running saws for three decades has given me the dreaded "white finger syndrome." When I can't feel my fingers, I can't feel the saw or the wood. Also, I hate getting gas and oil in all those hand cuts--they never heal.

Besides, my girlfriend likes it way more better when those smoother hands become pus*y mittens...

 

[pdqdl]

Don't get me wrong, here. I'm not trying to pick a fight, just to get some folks to think a little more:

Anybody who calls someone else names for using safety equipment, protective equipment, or just plain anything to make a job easier is only trying to justify their backward, ignorant ways.

Think about it: what value is there in taking pride in doing things wrong, dangerous, uncomfortable, or dumb?