Safety Helmet Question

[deerjw]

I'm tired of getting slapped in the face from all those little limbs that seem to come out of no where and was wondering what you guys think of the helmets that have the face shield and ear protection? I have checked the sponsor's sites and there seems to be a wide price range of these helmets. Is a more expensive one really that much better? Any advice on the use of a safety helmet or a model to buy would be appreciated.

 

[scattergun13]

I'm tired of getting slapped in the face from all those little limbs that seem to come out of no where and was wondering what you guys think of the helmets that have the face shield and ear protection? I have checked the sponsor's sites and there seems to be a wide price range of these helmets. Is a more expensive one really that much better? Any advice on the use of a safety helmet or a model to buy would be appreciated.

I am not being a smartass but the search thread will have a lot of past discussions on this topic. Seems for the most you won't go wrong with the Stihl, Husky or the Peltor which I have and like very much. Remember you're gonna get what you pay for so try not to skimp in this area, the rest comes down to comfort and personal preference.
Good luck..."stew".

 

[Raymond]

:computer: I would cover your ears though. I can think of a few reasons this would be a bad idea in a tree.

One more thing...if you wear that face cover, you're not going to like it in the tree and you'll end up having the whole thing stuffed behind the seat of the truck.

 

[damifino]

Heard on radio this week where a guy was killed when the dead tree he was cutting down hit another tree and knocked a 6" limb off that struck him in the head.

 

[Slamm]

Check out the Rockman Helmet from Baileys. I have two Peltors, tried a Stihl, cheaper helmets and the Rockman, and the Rockman is hands down the most comfortable and everything works like I want it too. It is slightly bigger, but it is more comfortable.

It costs more, but it well worth it in my opinion,

Sam

 

[Vibes]

I bought the Jonsered helmet last year after a freind of mine got clobbered by a piece of falling rotten wood. It fell about 40 ft . It was about 12in long and 3in diameter. Broke his skull.

But about the helmet. I find a rarely have the screen down when I'm cutting anyhow. I wear safety glasses so it just seems to get in the way. I worked in a sheetmetal duct fab shop and they gave me a standard MSA hardhat with the hearing protection muffs that go in the slots on the side of the hat and find it much more useful. If I would have worked there before I would have saved the fifty bucks on the Jonsered set-up. I'm thinking about selling it on E-bay.

 

[Darl Bundren]

I have the Stihl model, and it's pretty comfortable. One of the tensioners that keeps the earmuff up when you're not wearing it is loose now, but that's no big deal.

 

[Octane]

Ive got a Stihl foresty helmet. Its a hardhat with the earmuffs and mesh faceguard.
IMO, along with chaps and a good pair of gloves, its something that everyone should wear.

 

[Slamm]

I bought the Jonsered helmet last year after a freind of mine got clobbered by a piece of falling rotten wood. It fell about 40 ft . It was about 12in long and 3in diameter. Broke his skull.

But about the helmet. I find a rarely have the screen down when I'm cutting anyhow. I wear safety glasses so it just seems to get in the way. I worked in a sheetmetal duct fab shop and they gave me a standard MSA hardhat with the hearing protection muffs that go in the slots on the side of the hat and find it much more useful. If I would have worked there before I would have saved the fifty bucks on the Jonsered set-up. I'm thinking about selling it on E-bay.

Using safety glasses, while it works in many cases. They don't protect your face from the chips and pieces of bark or smaller branches that can come flying back in falling situations, if you are just cutting firewood in a more controlled setting then I agree, I rarely drop the faceshield if I'm just bucking up at the landing or cutting firewood. But if you are in the woods falling or cutting tops, especially if you are sweating bad or its wet, then the face shield is superior to the safety glasses, which will fog or get coated in wet chips and you can't stop and clean them everytime a drop hits them or you are wasting time.

With glasses your eyes are protected, but I don't like getting my face "sandblasted" for no reason, even if my eyes are protected.

You see with the faceshield you can have crap all over it and you will rarely ever focus on it. Honestly I can't say that I have had to actually clean the faceshield.

A good name brand combo helmet is a handy piece of equipment.

Another thing about these combos you will find is not so much safety related as it is comfort and efficiency related, is take a look at a guy that just uses those aluminum helmets with ear plugs and safety glasses at the end of the day they look like they just bobbed for apples in wet saw chips, they will be coated with chips, in their ears, around their ears, all over their faces, cheeks and neck.

Where as, the faseshield and over ear protection also provide some measure of cleanliness, from the chips, LOL.

Also, when you have a combo helmet you just have to keep track of one large item. Watch those guys with glasses, ear plugs and helmet get ready for work, fishing around in their pockets for plugs, they are poking things in their ears, looking for their glasses (that are always dirty) and then helmet.

With a combo you just throw it on and you are ready to go. You can hold a chainsaw in one hand, walk to the woods, and mount and adjust everything with the other hand while moving toward the work.

You can argue that combos are slightly heavier and hotter, but in my opinion, these are minor compared to the constant effort required to maintain some level of safety and cleanliness when logging with multiple individual safety items.

Ear plug wearers are always saying,"Hold on, I can't hear you." then they pull out their plugs with their dirty hands or have to take their gloves off, then take the plug out, ask you to repeat yourself, then put it all back together again, LOL.

LOL, I'm just too lazy to go to that trouble. I use a combo helmet and everything is right there with one hand, I can pop things up and down, on and off and still not lose it, unless you loss the whole dang thing, and if you do that you have issues, LOL.

My opinion,

Sam

 

[Austin1]

Using safety glasses, while it works in many cases. They don't protect your face from the chips and pieces of bark or smaller branches that can come flying back in falling situations, if you are just cutting firewood in a more controlled setting then I agree, I rarely drop the faceshield if I'm just bucking up at the landing or cutting firewood. But if you are in the woods falling or cutting tops, especially if you are sweating bad or its wet, then the face shield is superior to the safety glasses, which will fog or get coated in wet chips and you can't stop and clean them everytime a drop hits them or you are wasting time.

With glasses your eyes are protected, but I don't like getting my face "sandblasted" for no reason, even if my eyes are protected.

You see with the faceshield you can have crap all over it and you will rarely ever focus on it. Honestly I can't say that I have had to actually clean the faceshield.

A good name brand combo helmet is a handy piece of equipment.

Another thing about these combos you will find is not so much safety related as it is comfort and efficiency related, is take a look at a guy that just uses those aluminum helmets with ear plugs and safety glasses at the end of the day they look like they just bobbed for apples in wet saw chips, they will be coated with chips, in their ears, around their ears, all over their faces, cheeks and neck.

Where as, the faseshield and over ear protection also provide some measure of cleanliness, from the chips, LOL.

Also, when you have a combo helmet you just have to keep track of one large item. Watch those guys with glasses, ear plugs and helmet get ready for work, fishing around in their pockets for plugs, they are poking things in their ears, looking for their glasses (that are always dirty) and then helmet.

With a combo you just throw it on and you are ready to go. You can hold a chainsaw in one hand, walk to the woods, and mount and adjust everything with the other hand while moving toward the work.

You can argue that combos are slightly heavier and hotter, but in my opinion, these are minor compared to the constant effort required to maintain some level of safety and cleanliness when logging with multiple individual safety items.

Ear plug wearers are always saying,"Hold on, I can't hear you." then they pull out their plugs with their dirty hands or have to take their gloves off, then take the plug out, ask you to repeat yourself, then put it all back together again, LOL.

LOL, I'm just too lazy to go to that trouble. I use a combo helmet and everything is right there with one hand, I can pop things up and down, on and off and still not lose it, unless you loss the whole dang thing, and if you do that you have issues, LOL.

My opinion,

Sam

Well said I like your opinion.When making felling cut's I usually leave it flipped up, my helmet has a short bill that does not hinder looking up. Limbing is when I get the most crap flung at me,and the shield is down.

 

[flyboy]

The Stihl Helmet has the ratcheting suspension system. The Husky does not. For this reason alone, do not buy the Husky helmet, as it is a PITA to deal with.

I actually have to replace the screen on my Stihl Forestry Helmet. So many things have smacked it in the last 7 years that it is pretty well toasted. This is easier and cheaper than the new face transplants they are doing in Ohio.

The last time I was out I was running a dozer (skidding) I had the helmet on. I backed up past a tree limb that the ROPS was pushing out of the way. All off a sudden the limb snapped off the ROPS and hit me in the head. I had a slight headache but was fine otherwise. This would be a devastating injury otherwise. The limb was about 3/4" and 4 feet long.....sort of like the thing they cane people with in asia.

Get a brain bucket. IMO.

 

[tlandrum]

i learned long time ago that when a chip smacks you in the eye just before the tree tips or as it tips is not a good time to think about, i should have had my sheild down. and i 100% agree that limbing really gets your face full if you dont have a sheild. i use the stihl set up

 

[dingeryote]

Pick and choose one to your liking.

Husky,Stihl, Bailys, Peltor... they all are rated by OSHA and are all good.

The thing is to get one and use it.

I am the WORST offender to the point my stuff looks new, except for the wear from the truck seat.

I have been working on that though.

I'm getting older and uglier, and don't need the help of some sneaky tree or errant bar tip, to get me gimpy old and ugly.

My luck got me along so far, and by my figuring, I'm overdrawn anyway.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[Slamm]

LOL, yeah, when skidding logs in the woods you get those stretchs of logging roads that didn't quite get cleared all the way up to head level and I drop my faceshield and squint when blasting through the branches and crap.

I remember once in Wisconsin, I had this little pencil sized branch that kept whackin the cage and barely coming in the door of the 540B on every turn. I was in 7th gear flying on the way back cause it was flat, so I was going fast everytime. Well, it was about 2 degrees out and I usually remembered to move my head over or drop the lid, when that spot in the trail came, so I wouldn't get hit with that little branch.

Well one time I didn't duck and that little pencil branch whacked me in the cold nose. I was so madd I stopped, went back and cut the whole dam- tree down, LOL.

Glad it didn't hit my eyeball.

Sam

 

[2dogs]

Using safety glasses, while it works in many cases. They don't protect your face from the chips and pieces of bark or smaller branches that can come flying back in falling situations, if you are just cutting firewood in a more controlled setting then I agree, I rarely drop the faceshield if I'm just bucking up at the landing or cutting firewood. But if you are in the woods falling or cutting tops, especially if you are sweating bad or its wet, then the face shield is superior to the safety glasses, which will fog or get coated in wet chips and you can't stop and clean them everytime a drop hits them or you are wasting time.

With glasses your eyes are protected, but I don't like getting my face "sandblasted" for no reason, even if my eyes are protected.

You see with the faceshield you can have crap all over it and you will rarely ever focus on it. Honestly I can't say that I have had to actually clean the faceshield.

A good name brand combo helmet is a handy piece of equipment.

Another thing about these combos you will find is not so much safety related as it is comfort and efficiency related, is take a look at a guy that just uses those aluminum helmets with ear plugs and safety glasses at the end of the day they look like they just bobbed for apples in wet saw chips, they will be coated with chips, in their ears, around their ears, all over their faces, cheeks and neck.

Where as, the faseshield and over ear protection also provide some measure of cleanliness, from the chips, LOL.

Also, when you have a combo helmet you just have to keep track of one large item. Watch those guys with glasses, ear plugs and helmet get ready for work, fishing around in their pockets for plugs, they are poking things in their ears, looking for their glasses (that are always dirty) and then helmet.

With a combo you just throw it on and you are ready to go. You can hold a chainsaw in one hand, walk to the woods, and mount and adjust everything with the other hand while moving toward the work.

You can argue that combos are slightly heavier and hotter, but in my opinion, these are minor compared to the constant effort required to maintain some level of safety and cleanliness when logging with multiple individual safety items.

Ear plug wearers are always saying,"Hold on, I can't hear you." then they pull out their plugs with their dirty hands or have to take their gloves off, then take the plug out, ask you to repeat yourself, then put it all back together again, LOL.

LOL, I'm just too lazy to go to that trouble. I use a combo helmet and everything is right there with one hand, I can pop things up and down, on and off and still not lose it, unless you loss the whole dang thing, and if you do that you have issues, LOL.

My opinion,

Sam

Safety glasses and face shields are two different items. Safety glasses protect your eyes from high speed fragments that could blind you. Many manufactures advertise the glasses will protect from a 12ga shotgun fired from a particular distance and a certain size shot and velocity. A steel or plastic mesh face shield on the other hand offers no such protection. A shield keeps wood chips off your face and out of your eyes but only those of low velocity and mass. A shield is much better than nothing at all but should be worn WITH safety glasses.

I wear Rx safety glasses all the time so unless I am weed eating I rarely wear a face shield. Part of that though is because for me the helmet/shield/muff combo is too fragile. I can not toss it in the back of the truck with the rest of my gear. No, this is not a good practice and I am not defending my laziness but it is what I do. Besides new laws will make it mandatory to replace plastic hard hats at least every five years. (Had a sfety class yesterday.) (I tried the Skull Bucket but it did not fit me well plus my hat needs to be CalOSHA and CalFire approved.)

 

[Nailgunner]

I use a standard Husqvarna helmet combo. It's pretty much accepted in the UK that chainsaw operators will wear a combo helmet. Usefully, you can get a clear polycarbonate screen for the front which you can use for strimmers to keep hedgehog sh*t out of your eyes, or when running a circular saw with its titchy, fast fragments. I use mine for all sorts of things other than forestry.

 

[Slamm]

Safety glasses and face shields are two different items. Safety glasses protect your eyes from high speed fragments that could blind you. Many manufactures advertise the glasses will protect from a 12ga shotgun fired from a particular distance and a certain size shot and velocity. A steel or plastic mesh face shield on the other hand offers no such protection. A shield keeps wood chips off your face and out of your eyes but only those of low velocity and mass. A shield is much better than nothing at all but should be worn WITH safety glasses.

I wear Rx safety glasses all the time so unless I am weed eating I rarely wear a face shield. Part of that though is because for me the helmet/shield/muff combo is too fragile. I can not toss it in the back of the truck with the rest of my gear. No, this is not a good practice and I am not defending my laziness but it is what I do. Besides new laws will make it mandatory to replace plastic hard hats at least every five years. (Had a sfety class yesterday.) (I tried the Skull Bucket but it did not fit me well plus my hat needs to be CalOSHA and CalFire approved.)

Uh, okay, glad that works for you.

Sam

 

[Philbert]

Safety glasses and face shields are two different items. . . A shield is much better than nothing at all but should be worn WITH safety glasses.)

2dogs is right! - it says it with the instructions, and is important.

deerjw - back to your original question: the difference in price is not that much, and the cost of any of the helmets is trivial compared to what an injury would mean.

The best thing is to choose one of the certified helmet systems that you like and are comfortable with - none of them work if you don't wear them.

As a secondary consideration, consider the availability of parts, as things do wear and break over time. If you choose a name brand product, you will be able to get replacement suspensions, sweatbands, face shields, muffs, etc., from your dealer, which makes the total cost of ownership lower over time.

Philbert