Thread: Why you should watch the Stihl Safety DVD

Last night Mrs. Bounty Hunter was under the weather and went to bed early, and dauhter Kimberly was at Grandma's, so that left me and son Clayton for bachelor night. TV only gets 2 channels (and one is a Japanese game show), so it was off to the DVD stack for something to watch. In the pile was a DVD that came with a ms260 Pro we bought a couple of months ago...titled "Stihl Chainsaw Safety, Maintainence and Operation DVD"

We decided it would be fun to watch...FOR THE HUMOR! And fun we had...we laughed at the dude every time he got his bar stuck and pinched, the wrong starting techniques, being told not to put your chain on backwards, etc. (After all the DVD is made for a NEWBIE!).

Clayton had a laughing fit at the dude with his Forestry helmet hearing protectors straight up in the air..."Hey Dad! that guy looks ridiculous! If he goes rabbit hunting he could be his own DECOY!!!!!"

But then he started paying attention to the safety part...putting on you chain brake EVERY time you move, even if it's just stepping over 18" to make your next bucking cut, Turning the saw off when walking around, etc.
Clayton was watching intently...and then he says "Dad, YOU don't put on your chain brake between your cuts, do you? YOU don't turn the saw off much...YOU don't walk at least 10 feet away from the spot you added fuel to the saws...YOU even put it down ideling some times!"

Great...now Iv'e got my own safety Nazi on my own crew...Just Great...

But it did make some sense...what if one of us WAS walking around with a saw and tripped, grabbed the throttle revving up the saw as we fell, and then fell on the running saw? ...Don't want to think about it...perhaps it's time we did wake up to potential risks we have become complacent about.

So watch that DVD folks...Grin at the funny stuff...Go ahead and laugh at the safety wienie dude...but in the end you might just save yourself an accident or someone you love.

Bounty Hunter

P.S. After the Stihl DVD we put on Mark Wahlberg in "Shooter"...pretty good flick...

I didn't get a DVD when I bought my 390 a couple of months ago. Is this something new?

Never seen it, but have been putting on the brake whenever I set the saw down for a long time now....

Hey Adam MA,

I think the DVD is a couple years old, but it's the first one I have ever got with a new saw...Plus got a plastic wedge, a Stihl baseball cap, and the tool kit. The dealer threw in a couple spare chains...I was grinn'in

Bounty Hunter

I never knew anything about ppe except eye and head protection growin up and I didnt even think about wearing chaps,,pants till I got on AS.
How times have changed,,and for the better....Prob why I'm half deaf cause of no ear protection back then..
Still to me,and take this with a grain of salt,,you can wear all the ppe on you can have,,but to fall a tree,,you better have the wits and common sence to see what can happen in cutting a certain tree,,lean,,dead in the middle,,,path to get away in case s**t happens..
Whats bad is alot of people,,and this friend I have was watching me cut down one and seen me knotch it out and asked me why I was using wedges on my back cut,,and I told him cause of the lean and he said dont your face cut ,,knotch take care of that....Oh brother...........Alot of people thinks that just you cut a knotch in the tree it's gonna go that aways...It dont work that ways ...........Thats what wedges,,,steel rope is for....
I can trow up everytime I see someone get a saw hung up and start pullin and twisting on it....Ruined bar and av mounts...Take your time,,use your head...

At first I thought all that goofy looking safety gear was just for losers, but I now I'm starting to realize how important that safety gear really is, especially hearing protection. My uncle thinks that I look funny now with my chaps, and hearing protection. My mother even bought me one of those aluminum helmets with the full brim. She got me yellow because I like McCullochs so much. I am begining to like the idea of safety more and more the older I get. Practicing good safety habits also sets a good example for younger people, like my three younger brothers. The only thing that I haven't gotten use to yet is the chaps. They are pretty hot while working.

I watched the ones on Stihls website after purchasing my saw. It is funny to watch how crazy safe they really are in the videos but in reality these machines are very deadly in the hands of someone who doesn't have safety in their minds while using them. It is wise to watch but it's hard to follow EVERY step the way they show them.

Getting used to PPE was kinda hard, but after a while you really feel great when its on and you are working well...especially the hearing protection. I didn't wear it for many years...and like a lot of you now have permenent hearing loss...plus now I like NOT having a headache after a day of running a big saw...

Havent seen the video, when I bought my 880 (only new saw I've bought) the dealer didnt give me one. However I will say that since finding AS I've gotten alot better about wearing PPE. I never used to wear ear plugs, let alone chaps or a hard hat. Now I wear hearing protection and saw pants whenever the saw is running, and a full brim skull bucket when falling and working around snags. About the only time I dont have the hard hat on is when I'm cutting on a log pile out in the open. The hard hat has saved me from a few bumps since I've started wearing it, nothing big but would have been enough to get my ttention with out it. Fortunatly I havent had to try out the saw pants yet.

Originally Posted by Farmall Guy

Fortunatly I havent had to try out the saw pants yet.

Me neither, thank goodness. I try not to get in a hurry when cutting.

It's pretty easy to make a habit out of putting the chain brake on when you go walking about--and makes a ton of sense.

I have never even nicked my Labonville chaps yet...Thank You Lord...but not long ago a badly leaning Pinion Pine "barber chaired" when it split up the middle and smacked my melon...I had a helmet on and got nothing but a surprise. I like the "Gripo" forestry helmets Labonville sells...they are half the cost of the Stihl ones.

well obviously safety is something that needs to be taken seriously.

after all it is possibly one of the most flesh tearing devices man has made.

not trying to sound arrogant, because i certainly dont use my bar brake as much as i prolly should.

but with something going dozen's of thousands of RPM's with nothing but the sharpest teeth made to cut, you really have to, as Stripes said, use your head.