Who wears chaps while climbing?

[treeseer]

Hate em on the ground but wear em at times. Never ever in a tree; lack of mobility would affect safety. I sure hope ANSI Z folk consider this before considering this.

 

[oldirty]

lack of mobility would affect safety.

absolute nonsense spoken right there, super agent dendro!

 

[oldirty]

Alaska to climb there,

you like work'n for tall trees?

 

[treeseer]

absolute nonsense spoken right there, super agent dendro!

Uhh super wha? Anyway, I sure can't climb as well with chaps on. Maybe little dif with spiking and blocking down, but otherwise a positive hindrance to controlled movement.

But I get the clausty's with ubergear I admit...

 

[Tree Machine]

Climbers wear climbing pants. Chaps have no place in the canopy except to tangle with slings, saws, lanyards, tools and rope.

I would consider them a hindrance and impose greater overall risk to using them in the tree.

I get this from having worn them on the ground and understand the fit and how they perform, and translate that into how that would likely play out in the tree. Not good.

 

[tree md]

I have never worn a pair of chaps in my life. Not that I have anything against them, I have just never seen a pair on a truck for any company I have worked for nor have I ever seen anyone but a homeowner wearing them. Maybe it's a regional thing. In the South we tend to wear as little clothes as possible. And maybe other companies are wearing them now, I don't know, I have been working for myself since the 90's.

That being said, I do plan to get a pair of chaps for my saw man on the ground. Sometimes I watch him saw, not that he is a bad saw guy but sometimes I see him do something with the saw that makes me cringe.

As far as in the tree. I wouldn't wear chaps. Looks too cumbersome to me. I would like to have a pair of chainsaw pants though. Especially for large removals. I have two scars on my left thigh where I nicked my self on two different occasions while the chain was winding down. The scars were made with an 044 and are in the typical resting position where you would rest the saw while aloft. You can see where that could easily happen in this pic:

Here's the thing, I am super careful whenever I fire up a saw and make a cut. Especially with the big saw while aloft. To tell the truth I have cut myself far more times with my handsaw than anything else. I can only remember three nicks with a chainsaw in 20 years of work. I'm careful. Still, I get tired and I know there is always the potential risk of getting sloppy after I am fatigued while aloft with a big saw. After spending all day aloft with an 044 yesterday I am even more aware of that.

I want to get a pair of the chainsaw pants this year. Like my hard hat, it just makes good sense. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks???

 

[masiman]

I put them on in the morning and take them off when I park the truck. It's too easy to grab a saw and make ONE cut that goes wrong. I've been told I'm to paranoid but it's my leg/life so I wear 'em on the ground, in the tree's and even eating lunch.

Heck, I wear mine to bed, but if you met my wife you'd understand. That woman is a wildcat.

 

[oldirty]

Climbers wear climbing pants. Chaps have no place in the canopy except to tangle with slings, saws, lanyards, tools and rope.

I would consider them a hindrance and impose greater overall risk to using them in the tree.

I get this from having worn them on the ground and understand the fit and how they perform, and translate that into how that would likely play out in the tree. Not good.

get the husqy chainsaw full wrap chaps. they don't hinder my climbing at all.

 

[canopyboy]

Heck, I wear mine to bed, but if you met my wife you'd understand. That woman is a wildcat.

That's getting passed back to her for verification....will report back.

 

[masiman]

That's getting passed back to her for verification....will report back.

Doh!!

 

[TreeClimber57]

Chaps have no place in the canopy except to tangle with slings, saws, lanyards, tools and rope..

Well I can not disagree there.. too many floppy pieces to catch on items.

Climbers wear climbing pants..

Now lets define climbing pants.

Maybe something like these.. nice climbing pants. Comfortable, durable.. light.

http://www.sherrilltree.com/Professional-Gear/Pants_5/Arborwear-Original-Pants-119

Something like these high end pants!!?? A bit more costly..

http://www.sherrilltree.com/Stretch-Air-Climbing-Pants

Comfortable, durable... and a bit high in price at that!

Or.. something like these..

http://www.sherrilltree.com/Professional-Gear/Chainsaw-Protected-Clothing/Pfanner-Chainsaw-Pants

The later are the ONLY ones of this selection that can really provide protection, and are designed for climbers to use when using chainsaws. And, from what I have seen, are the only pants with protection that are comfortable enough to climb in daily.

 

[pdqdl]

I have never worn a pair of chaps in my life. Not that I have anything against them, I have just never seen a pair on a truck for any company I have worked for nor have I ever seen anyone but a homeowner wearing them. Maybe it's a regional thing. ...

I have to admit: chaps, hard hats, and hearing protection are almost unheard of in the midwest. It is pretty common to find tree climbers that don't even use ANY climbing equipment except for their spurs. I guess we are all still cowboys at heart.


It is a real struggle to make my guys wear any PPE, and I am not a real chaps enthusiast myself.

I recently made a company rule that no one on the ground could use a saw unless they were wearing chaps. I did this more to keep the unqualified numbskulls from grabbing a chainsaw than I did to keep them from cutting themselves.

 

[TreeClimber57]

I recently made a company rule that no one on the ground could use a saw unless they were wearing chaps. I did this more to keep the unqualified numbskulls from grabbing a chainsaw than I did to keep them from cutting themselves.

Actually where we are it is the law.. if you are commercial and have employees the MUST wear ALL PPE..

 

[pdqdl]

My understanding is that it is an OSHA regulation everywhere in the country. What has that got to do with compliance?

Really! I have never seen a tree crew wearing chaps (except some of my own guys). I very rarely see hard hats, except on the line clearance crews, and I don't think I have ever seen a climber wearing a climbers hard hat.

It's pretty uncommon to see bucket trucks operated with a fall harness, too.

 

[TreeClimber57]

My understanding is that it is an OSHA regulation everywhere in the country. What has that got to do with compliance?

Really! I have never seen a tree crew wearing chaps (except some of my own guys). I very rarely see hard hats, except on the line clearance crews, and I don't think I have ever seen a climber wearing a climbers hard hat.

It's pretty uncommon to see bucket trucks operated with a fall harness, too.

Well, I am in Canada.. and a lot more common here, at least from what it sounds on comments here.

You do not want one of your workers to ever get injured without PPE in Canada, or the govt will hang you out to dry on a tall pole in the hot sun.

 

[ATH]

I have to admit: chaps, hard hats, and hearing protection are almost unheard of in the midwest. It is pretty common to find tree climbers that don't even use ANY climbing equipment except for their spurs. I guess we are all still cowboys at heart...........

Don't throw a whole region under the bus. I see plenty of wisely/properly used PPE around here.

 

[tree md]

Ohio is still considered back East to us... Never met a cowboy from Ohio. We've got real cowboys here (real Indians too).

Yeah pdql, most guys here climb in cowboy boots. You'd be surprised how many there are out there climbing with cowboy boots, rope and saddle, especially around here. Some decent climbers but they cannot compete with me on the big ones. They are climbing and doing what they can with small pieces. I use my gear and bring them down in big pieces. I hooked up with one of the cowboys around here for a little while and asked him how he did the big ones before he got with me. He said he didn't.

 

[pdqdl]

I came across an entire tree crew last year that was an invitation to fatality.

1. Not one piece of PPE on the entire crew. NOTHING.
2. Climber was taking out a large sycamore with a pair of spurs and a chainsaw. No climbing belt, no fall harness, no rope.
3. As I recall, they weren't too good at roping limbs down, either. They relied on the skill of the climber to miss everything on the ground.
The crew spoke of the climber with great reverence, since he was the best climber in KC!
4. Their truck was the old pickup with wood sideboards, towing a chuck 'n duck.

 

[TreeClimber57]

I came across an entire tree crew last year that was an invitation to fatality.

1. Not one piece of PPE on the entire crew. NOTHING.
2. Climber was taking out a large sycamore with a pair of spurs and a chainsaw. No climbing belt, no fall harness, no rope.
3. As I recall, they weren't too good at roping limbs down, either. They relied on the skill of the climber to miss everything on the ground.
The crew spoke of the climber with great reverence, since he was the best climber in KC!
4. Their truck was the old pickup with wood sideboards, towing a chuck 'n duck.

And you don't have a few pics to share with us Those would be priceless.

 

[jefflovstrom]

I can see ANSI and OSHA adopting this within a few years.
Jeff CTSP