Anyone wear a face shield?

[jeffbecky1]

My usual head attire is a ear muffs and safety glasses but I have a hardhat which has a face shield, one of those plastic shields with holes in it, like a mesh that you can see through. Wonder how much protection it gives from a kickback head strike?

Reason I ask is I have never experienced a kickback where the saw hits my head or comes near it but, wow, if that happened, that would be a bad day! The safety glasses would not give any protection. Makes me think I should just get in the habit of using a hardhat with face shield.

I recently read about a kickback injury to the head, ugh. The guy was not a rookie, it was just an unexpected surprise.

 

[jeffbecky1]

I do

 

[Skeans]

I wear an old BF McDonald aluminum hard hat, eye protection, ear protection, and chaps when falling. I may or may not keep the helmet on while bucking. Never used a face shield. I started using saws around 1979-80 and I think about the saws we used back then and PPE, what's that? I'm lucky to still have all my limbs intact and most of my hearing.

At least with the old tin lids and the skull buckets you might have a chance if the saw came back at you vs plastic.


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[CentaurG2]

I wear a pair of prescription safety glasses ANSI OSHA 22 caliber round blah blah. They aint going to stop a chainsaw chain nor will a plastic hat, or face shield. I always wear a forest helmet with a face screen. If you wear one long enough, you forget the screen is even down and when you go to spit, you have some problems. I will also wear ear plugs under the muffs if I am running the disk chipper.

The screen offers good protection but it is not absolute. With the screen down, running a chipper, I have had my glasses stripped off my face and fed through the chipper by a busy branch. Nothing $400 bucks did not solve. A note on helmets: they have a shelf life. Check yours and get a new one if it is past its expiration date.

 

[LoveStihlQuality]

What's a good helmet / muffs / shield setup? I'm thinking of buying one.

Was in a tree and the saw was necessarily close to my face, it jumped. No issues, but a plastic shield would have saved the day had I been concentrating on other things. Even without that, it would be nice to not have a face full of chips when the wind swirls and I'm in a tough spot.

Thanks for bringing up the topic.

I bought the setup from Forester. Inexpensive. Same with chaps. Footwear steel toe fire duty boots.

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[Mike Kunte]

My vote is for safety glasses plus face shield. When bucking or limbing, one's focus and concentration is on the cut. This can cause one to lose focus o
View attachment kickback_bucking.mov
n smaller twigs and branches which could poke one in the eye. Not good...
I have attached a video of a guy who experiences a kickback. In this case I'm sure that the rim of the helmet and the face shield would have prevented injury. A violent kickback may go through a face shield, but I'd rather have it than not. Take a look...

 

[oldfortyfive]

I broke down and bought some Clogger pants and chaps. My older ones were too hot and heavy so I wasn’t good about wearing them. These, like the helmet I wear regularly.

 

[purdyite]

Good for you on wearing PPE. I use the mesh screen and safety glasses, I also use foam ear plugs and the muffs on my hardhat. The screen keeps the pesky chips away. When running a saw, we wear stuff that protects us if something MIGHT happen; but the injury that happens EVERY TIME, that is INEVITABLE, is hearing loss--unless you protect it. And if you consider that muffs don't always fit exactly right, then the NRR (noise reduction rating) can be reduced. So, I wear the foam plugs--they even help to hear voices (sharp noises) over the constant noise around me. And no, the screen won't do anything to protect against kickback. I have a concept of "managing the forces" of kickback. First, don't put your head in line with the bar tip. Watch the tip to avoid contact with something that would kick it back. If you can't see the tip, stiff-arm the forward handle. Run the saw at WOT so if it contacts another limb, it would power through it. Keep the chain sharp. And--What does Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and an "anti-kickback chain" have in common? There's no such thing! Due to the physics, all chains will kick back, your preparedness is up to you.

 

[PV Hiker]

@Mike Kunte thanks for the video. So much wrong happening there.

IMPORTANT RULE Know where your tip is at all times!!!
Wear PPE
Be in control of your chainsaw being alert and prepared to react to the forces. Pay attention expect the wood to come alive.

 

[David Henry]

Yes I do

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

@Mike KunteIMPORTANT RULE Know where your tip is at all times!!!
Wear PPE

This is why I'm not a father...

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

I just bought a clear half face shield for my climbing helmet...... on a whim.

 

[Vibes]

Love my mesh face shield. We have been required to wear the clear ones at work for quite a few years when cutting with a Metabo with the threat of instant removal from the job and a one year suspension from that companies facilities. So if you get thrown off an NRG or Shell site, that is a big deal. That kind of made me used to PPE in a real hurry.

 

[Vibes]

But they do s@ck when you forget to lift it after hucking up a sawdust loogy

 

[Bobby Kirbos]

But they do s@ck when you forget to lift it after hucking up a sawdust loogy

However, you're quickly reminded when you begin the next cut and forgot to put the screen back down. I used to wear only goggles, but after having the face screen, I never run without it. Sawdust may be good for polishing some things, but my face is not one of those things.

 

[Bassmantweed]

My vote is for safety glasses plus face shield. When bucking or limbing, one's focus and concentration is on the cut. This can cause one to lose focus o
View attachment 866367
n smaller twigs and branches which could poke one in the eye. Not good...
I have attached a video of a guy who experiences a kickback. In this case I'm sure that the rim of the helmet and the face shield would have prevented injury. A violent kickback may go through a face shield, but I'd rather have it than not. Take a look...

I feel bad for this guy but Jeez so much bad stuff going on in this video.

 

[ballisticdoughnut]

Anything between you and the chain will reduce severity of injury. To what degree? hard to say but I'll take what I can get. Chaps, steel toe boots, helmet with face shield, ear protection, and gloves. I enjoy running saws and I like to be as safe as possible while doing so.

 

[Doorfx]