Thank you GOD for kevlar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[nmurph]

Shut up......you'll drive away my victims.....errrr I mean customers. :msp_sneaky:

Aww, I don't think one club-footed sawyer would keep the masses away from your cage...er, door.

 

[number9]

Wow!!!!!

Glad you are ok and thank you for posting this.

If the Matterhorn boots are the ones I am thinking you have, I found during my recent boot search that they have been discontinued. Also, you'll find that the Labonville boots are now 2-ply kevlar instead of the 6-ply I've read they used to be. I settled on Haix boots - the Protector Pro - they are Chainsaw Protective Class1 rated (which means against a bar speed of 20m/s). I found a pair of factory seconds at the Haix NA Headquaters / boot store (I'm about 15min from them) for $169. Their website has an online store and you can shop their factory seconds listings - but I'd advise to call and ask if you don't see a model or size listed as the Protector Pro wasn't listed at all but they had them.

Again, glad you are okay and glad you shared your experience. I like my limbs and face and want to be able to use them the rest of my life. I've got 3 little ones that need to have their Daddy hold and run and play with them too. I take safety very seriously in everything I do. Like my Daddy used to always tell me - it only take a second to be paying for something for the rest of your life.

I have been riding sportbikes for a little better than 10yrs and during that time I've seen more than several people crash right in front of me with my own eyes and slide down the pavement at 70-80mph. Most of those were wearing proper protective riding gear and got up and walked away without a scratch (maybe a bruise or two) - some were not and paid for it. It only takes seeing that once to know which end result I want to have should I hit the pavement like that.

.....

 

[zogger]

Overboots

Thinking out loud here. Wonder if there might be a market for just slip on and snug up overboots with the kevlar? Something much cheaper than regular saw boots, that could be worn over your regular boots?

 

[nmurph]

There are Kevlar sock available.

I saw where the Matterhorn boots are listed as d/c but they are still on their website. I emailed them last night to inquire. Hopefully they still make them. If not, I have also emailed SwedePro to inquire about their ratings (OSHA/ chainspeed), and Labonville as well.

 

[SawTroll]

Thinking out loud here. Wonder if there might be a market for just slip on and snug up overboots with the kevlar? Something much cheaper than regular saw boots, that could be worn over your regular boots?

Making them fit (and offer a steady foooting) with a variaty of boots likely would be a challenge?

 

[ropensaddle]

I just want a robot lol make his feet titanium and legs use remote have him capable of lifting a few tons and putting it in the trailer!

Call him tree droid lol

 

[wyk]

Yes, it pulled Kevlar, and the chainbrake engaged.

Yep, they have the red pinstripe. I have a good right boot available if anyone knows a one-legged logger that wears a 14E.

Was there Kevlar wrapped around the chain sprocket?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSn7k_zKzGg

 

[wyk]

the one who invented kevlar should get some credit....so should his Creator!!

HER creator. Though, I dunno how much her parents had to do with the Kevlar, I suppose one could thank them if they so wished. Or perhaps we could also thank Poland, too while we're at it:

Kevlar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[zogger]

Making them fit (and offer a steady foooting) with a variaty of boots likely would be a challenge?

Kevlar material on the top. Held on with like cleat straps across the bottom, everything adjustable. Snug to fit. Sort of like old fashioned gaiters, but strap right around the boot, with the straps having some caulk/studs/cleat action for better footing.

 

[DSS]

If these boots are only 300$ I think that's cheap. A good pair of composite toe work boots is 200$ so what's another hundred for the kevlar.

 

[zogger]

that could work but at the moment of impact the chain will want to spin the gaiter around the foot, it will take something substantial to stop it from doing that. once it rotates around to what used to be the bottom things could get ugly in a hurry

I think how this stuff works is it grabs and tears out gobs of it and stuffs it into the clutch area, stalling it. It is sacrificial material. Dont know if it would spin the whole thing around or not. Strapped on across the top of the boot, secured, the heavy cleat strap tight across the bottom o the boot, anbd shaped to fit...I think it could be made to stay. This is just the thinking out loud stage, but yes, something to consider.

 

[Jim Mol]

Ppe
I recently bought a pair of Swede-Pro steel toed & kevlar lined boots. I hope to never put them to "the test".

I looked up Swede Pro boots but saw they only had two layers of Kevlar so I am leaning toward Matterhorn.

 

[dl5205]

I know this is an old thread, but since it's already bumped, Does anyone know if these Matterhorns fit like/ are sized like Danners?

 

[nmurph]

Those Matterhorns took a heck of a lick and kept me safe. I had a bruised foot that I hobbled around on for a few days.

I don't know how Danner's fit, but they fit pretty true thought like most steel-toed boots, they are narrower in the toe than their size would indicate.

 

[OnTheRoad]

Guys, I have said it so many times: don't count on a steel-toed boot to keep your foot safe against a chainsaw. Here is all the proof I need to know what I have been preaching is true.

I was limbing a 8" oak I had just dropped. I was running a ported 346 with 3/8" RS, freshly sharpened. I was facing the stump, limbing towards the butt. I cut a 2" limb which had a large flare at the collar. It was, unknown to me, under a great deal of tension toward the top and towards me. Because the saw went through very fast, instead of pinching it just spit the bar back at me. Before I knew what happened my saw kicked into my boot. I have always considered myself careful and attentive to the dangers of a chainsaw. This happened so fast I had to go back to the tree after I got settled down to piece things together (I later determined it was 1.5ft from where I was cutting and I was pushing the saw away from me). All I could do when it happened was imagine the worst!! I was in shock. My brother was cutting about 50yds away, and my son was stacking the wood for both and was helping my brother at the time. I threw the saw down and pulled my chaps back. My foot was aching and I was expecting to see blood. I limped to the truck, yelling at my son. He heard me and got my brother's attention. Both of them came running. We got my boot off and found I just had a big red spot where the saw hit me (got a bruise that looks like a hammer hit me). I checked the boots out well. It looks like they were cut through the first three or four layers of the seven in this boot. But what is more important, and the point I want to make is that, though this boot has a steel cap, the saw glanced off the front and went straight to the soft part. I am SO thankful that there was Kevlar there. Otherwise, I would have lost the front portion of my foot- THERE IS NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT FACT!

Please, if you value your body, invest the money in some serious protection for your feet. You do it for you legs, head, and think you do with steel toes...you are so wrong. Yes, if you hit your foot straight on the steel will stop the saw, but what happens in the next fraction of a second could be very ugly. These boots are almost three hundred dollars. My hospital bill would have run into the tens of thousands of dollars. And even with insurance I would have taken a serious financial hit. But more important, I would have never had more than a club on the end of my leg. I would never have run or played baseball with my son. I am so thankful to GOD.

I don't know if Matterhorn will sell single boots, but I plan to send some pics, thank them for their product, and see if I can get a replacement left boot. The bummer in this episode is that I have had the boots for over two years. They don't get a ton of wear, but they were finally getting well broken in. I'm guessing it would take a few weeks of daily wear to get them back to this point.

Please, hug you kids, tell your wife you love her, and get some boots with something more than a steel toe to protect your walking gear.

A

That's scary and I'm glad you made out unscathed.

If I were you I would be thanking the person who invented Kevlar and the person who used it in the construction of your boots. Thank yourself for having the good judgment to wear them. Your god had nothing to do with this.

 

[weedkilla]

For crying out loud!

It doesn't matter who murph wants to thank! Thanks for posting this, thanks for bumping this back to the front page as we all need a reminder sometimes.

I've always liked the story of the man who got a warning of flooding and was told to evacuate his house. He ignored it and said "God will protect me". When the water was 6' deep he was on the second floor balcony and a rescuer in a boat came past, he declined any help "God will save me". When the water had risen to the point where he was perched on his roof a helicopter came past and he again declined help "God will save me".
After he drowned he went to the pearly gates and confronted God "why didn't you save me?"
God replied "who do you think sent the warning, the boat and the helicopter?"

And from a different religious ideology - trust in Allah, but tie your camel.

 

[Philbert]

And another one (gotta watch the whole thing):



Steel toe does not protect the instep, but sure helps on the toe!

Philbert

 

[RandyMac]

Real men don't need PPE.

 

[spacemule]

Actually, this lady here is whom you should thank for Kevlar, along with the Dupont corporation. I'm sure the *actual, living, breathing, tangible* person whose work objectively saved your foot would appreciate the acknowledgement.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephanie_Kwolek

 

[2dogs]

Not living or breathing anymore.

Trust in Allah but tie up your camel. I can't wait to use that one.