How many of you wear protective chaps while climbing?

[Scars2prove-it]

I don't and none of the climbers I know wear them. Maybe I should since I was cut above my right knee while in the tree. I was thinking of making a protector for just the right side since all of the leg cuts I have seen were in that general area.

 

[topnotchtree]

Not me

 

[TREETX]

Currently I do not for a whole host of BS reasons. Starting in Feb I will be due to regulations.....

 

[rborist1]

:Eye:

 

[Dobber]

Yep, I wear saw pants while Im in the bucket too, you have to wear something, so you might as well protect yourself. Chaps suck, go to pants you wont be dissapointed.

 

[monkeypuzzle]

The Husky line of pants an bibs are nice.

 

[Matt Follett]

in the words of rborist1

all day every day, unless I know there's no chainsaw work that day. Stihl pants right now, been through various brands including UK reg. SIP's... man they were hot in 32 C!

In the heat of summer, I keep a pair of light weight pants in the truck to prune with...

I can't think of working without them, PARTICULARILY in the tree, I don't understand how some people can say they would wear them on the ground but not in the tree!

I realize they are heavy and hot but you do get used to them.

Now chainsaw boots, those I have not really figured out, I can't see there being enough material in any one portion of the boot to stop the saw... I've heard they will become mandatory here soon.

 

[MasterBlaster]

In this climate if I were forced to wear pants/chaps I would probably go back to being a rocket scientist.

 

[Abbershay]

i never wear saw chaps or saw pants... i feel they are much like a guard of anyother thing... you get used to forgeting about the danger.... then if you dont have them on you are way more likely to cut yourself. I dont think i have ever cut myself on a chainsaw while its been running. because i know i have to be careful.

 

[Matt Follett]

Master Blaster, and the rest of the southerners... I have heard this comment about heat many times,

Maybe my experiances in the south were always cold days, but it seems to me it gets just as hot here as it does there, granted we have a cool season, to break it up, but for at least 4 months of the year it can routinely hit 32 C or more and often very humid.

I'm not trying to play who's tougher..., but those are your legs we'are talking about! I don't know where the info came from (perhaps here) but I recently saw a picutre of the human body, with the percentage points for injurys, legs and hands thats the worst hit area!

My two cents, safety first! (I know, I know, we can all handle a saw, even one handed, I'll never get hurt, I'm always careful, bal bla bal never happen to me... DEAD, opps, what happened)

 

[Matt Follett]

Abbershay,

I understand your thought process, but why not have them on...

I think of all these protective devices as seatbelts, they didn't come into use because they might work... they came into use because they do work, and people were less injured using them.

Chaps/pants may not stop you from cutting you leg, like a seat belt may not stop you from being injured, but they might save your leg, like the belt might save you life!

 

[Abbershay]

look at it like this , how manytimes have someone who wears them cut them? How manytimes have they cut their blue jeans in the same manner? THe anser is they have cut the chaps way more often and thats fine . but cutting the chaps proves that you are not working in as safe of a manner as you would when youhave blue jeans... now if you are used to always having chaps. it is reasonable for you in the heat of work to forget that you have dont have them on... pow there you go and something so simple you just cut your leg bigtime because you forgot.

Here is a funny story that happened to me. i am always used to throwing my climbing saw if i need to use my hands in a hurry. no problem.... well i was used to it a no brainer.. well i happen to up the tree once without the saw tied because it was being used for something else... i cut the branch and threw the saw right out of the tree..

As far as safety belts go that is a hole different story doesnt even rank in the same line of thought... maybe if i was in traffic with a bunch of idiot chainsaw trafficers....

Notice they always say wear a seat belt for safety , but they never say hey dont drive like an idiot.. lol

 

[MasterBlaster]

Chaps have their place. If I was slinging a big saw all day for a living I would have them on as quick as any other PP gear.
I don't see their place in climbing except for apprentice climbers, maybe.
Groundies operating a big saw should wear them, as well as newbies to operating any size saw.

Big saws = Chaps

 

[tjk]

I nwear pants or bibs while doing removals , not prunning. While ground cutting always. ANSI standard.

 

[blue]

here in the uk all climbers are supposed to wear class 1 front and back chainsaw protection trousers.some may think it don't get hot in the uk but last summer it hit 37degrees C,we still had to wear these trousers but you do get used to them.they may be hot but hey better than losing a leg.a few years ago you onlly had to wear front protection trousers and i managed to cut the back of my calf muscle not through being complacement but just a pure accident and now i will not climb and use a saw without wearing protection.it may sound a bit gay but at least if i do make a mistake or f**** up a least i'll still have my legs or my life!

 

[TREETX]

Matt -

It gets just as hot in Texas, Louisiana, and Florida as it does in Canada. Everyone knows that

That is why caribou and polar bears live in the South....

Wait, no they live in Canada.......

Try 4 months of the year when it is "oh happy day" if it doesn't get over 100. Tack on another 2 months of 90s. Then a couple of months in the 80s.

114 is the hottest I have every climbed in.

Is heat a lame excuse, yes.

I can see not wearing them when it is boiling, but why not in oct, nov, dec, jan, feb, mar ?? Laziness here.

Plus I am enjoying the freedom now. When I move next month, national regs will make them mandatory for me. I am not going to complain about picking up a safe habit.....

 

[Dobber]

Saw pants

Accidents that is why saw pants are there, When you are paying attention accidents never happen right, WRONG!!! Someone said that they dont need saw pants because they give you a false sence of security, and by not wearing them it forces him to pay attention thereby insuring no accidents. This statment is the same as, I drive better when I have had a few beers, because I pay closer attention. Nobody ever knowingly cuts their leg, so paying EXTRA ATTENTION doesnt work. And as for pants being too hot, thats why they make summer pants that have a more breathable material on the back of the leg.

 

[TREETX]

Re: Saw pants

Originally posted by Dobber
And as for pants being too hot, thats why they make summer pants that have a more breathable material on the back of the leg.

That must be handy in summer. Unfortunately, we don't have a winter but we still have 4 seasons. Fall, Spring, Summer and 7th circle of hell

I can't see a reason for not using them in 3 of those seasons.

 

[Dobber]

The summer sawpants are great, unfortunatly I haul brush when I hit the ground and find once they get old they just dont stand up as well as the regular ones. I think Husky has a sawpant out rated for the 7th circle of hell.

 

[Stumper]

Abby, You throw your sawroutinely?In the last couple of years I've started using a lanyard on my saw and can gently lower it below my feet one handed to break a chunk or whatever. For years I only clipped my saw to my saddle with about a six inch strap-never threw my saw anywhere.

Matt, I've been to Nathan's stomping grounds. What you simply cannot relate to is the reality that for a period of months 32*Celsius is a welcome COOL day. When you live with weeks of 40*C then you will begin to understand the "lame" heat arguments. It doesn't get easier cause you are used to it either-once acclimatized there seems to be a progressive deterioration in tolerance for many people. The ongoing struggle to stay hydrated makes it easy to accumulate fatigue. After weeks of hot weather work you can easily make yourself sick rushing through a little tree without enough fluids circulating.

The bad thing about the lame arguments having real validity is that the habits stick with us even when the temps drop.