Sawdust In Pockets and Shoes

[jomoco]

Well, maybe I'm a princess, but if something can be improved, why not improve it? After all, that is what American ingenuity is all about.

After 40 years of this biz, I've learned to separate my self and my work clothes from the inside of my house, a garage, a porch, anything, just keep it outside, away from your family and loved ones.

Why? Because of all the foul things, like poison oak, bacterias, fungi, insects n such, you don't want them exposed to, even to the point of never mixing your laundry with their's.

My kids first exposure to poison oak came from jumping on my lap with my work clothes on. My being immune to PO didn't do them a dang bit of good, and I learned a hard lesson about responsible fatherhood as an arborist.

jomoco

 

[DLCRL]

After 40 years of this biz, I've learned to separate my self and my work clothes from the inside of my house, a garage, a porch, anything, just keep it outside, away from your family and loved ones.

Why? Because of all the foul things, like poison oak, bacterias, fungi, insects n such, you don't want them exposed to, even to the point of never mixing your laundry with their's.

My kids first exposure to poison oak came from jumping on my lap with my work clothes on. My being immune to PO didn't do them a dang bit of good, and I learned a hard lesson about responsible fatherhood as an arborist.

jomoco We don't have nearly as evasive of species where I live, but it's a good idea being able to completely separate your work from the house.

 

[BuckmasterStumpGrinding]

When I get a small spot of poison ivy my wife gets it from head to toe.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

None of that here thankfully. I am told it grows in Maine, but I've never seen it. We about lived in the woods as kids. Some with ticks, never have seen one.

 

[Aldegar]

I get poison oak super bad about 4 times a year. It's like a living hell for a couple weeks, I really try and avoid it but live in a heavily forested area of western Washington so sometimes it's hard to see in all the lush greenery.

 

[millbilly]

I can't believe I read 3 pages of this. If its that bad, I would look for a new line of employment. The one to ask about saw chips is my wife. I wanna know where you wipe the oil dip stick at. I can guarantee you, ever pair of pants I own have oil stains right at the cuff.

 

[DLCRL]

I can't believe I read 3 pages of this. If its that bad, I would look for a new line of employment. The one to ask about saw chips is my wife. I wanna know where you wipe the oil dip stick at. I can guarantee you, ever pair of pants I own have oil stains right at the cuff.

Sawdust is uncomfortable it gets between you and your clothes and rubs you raw, I could care less if my clothes come clean.

 

[Pelorus]

When I get a small spot of poison ivy my wife gets it from head to toe.

From frolicking in the poison ivy?
Your wife is gonna get resentful if you keep that up.

 

[mike515]

I've always heard that nobody is truly immune to poison ivy but I'm around it all the time. I've climbed plenty of trees that had it covering the trunk. I've never had a reaction to it and nobody in my house has ever had a reaction to it from my clothes. But when my daughter was young enough to run up and hug my legs after work I was careful to keep her back if I had been around poison ivy that day....just to be safe.

 

[DLCRL]

I've always heard that nobody is truly immune to poison ivy but I'm around it all the time. I've climbed plenty of trees that had it covering the trunk. I've never had a reaction to it and nobody in my house has ever had a reaction to it from my clothes. But when my daughter was young enough to run up and hug my legs after work I was careful to keep her back if I had been around poison ivy that day....just to be safe.

I believe poison ivy secretes an oil, unless you're really susceptible to it by time you get home it's absorbed into the fabric of ones clothes, so unless your skin is really soft like your daughter's or you roll around in dirty laundry, most of us are pretty safe. Maybe best to put in the washer yourself so the wife doesn't get it.

 

[BuckmasterStumpGrinding]

I put my clothes in the washer so my wife has less exposure to it. She is just really allergic.

 

[Matt Michael]

I pretty much won't climb without gaiters. I always have a backup pair in case i wreck the mains. Can't stand sawdust in the boots.

 

[jomoco]

Early on in my career, in LA, early 80's, one of my brother's groundmen had a brown recluse spider run all the way up his pant leg and bit him in his nut sack. Poor bloke had to be hospitalized, with his sack the size of a grape fruit, ended up losing a fair chunk of it too.

It was at that point I started wearing high top boots with my pant legs tucked into them religiously.

I wear pocketless motoX nylon n Kevlar pants now that last longer,stretch and breathe better, than all the long list of other logging pants I've tried, including Filson Tin pants.

The half zippered Hickory long sleeved shirts from Madsens complete my outfit, with the tail out of course, 100% cotton.

Climbing clothes get covered in tree sap, and the same thing that cleans it off my hands, also gets it out of my clothes in the laundry, GoJo mechanics hand cleaner, about half a handful added to whatever detergent you use does the trick, IME.



jomoco

 

[treesmith]

Pfanner chainsaw pants, all pockets are either zipped or velcro on the legs, come with built in removeable gaiters too

 

[Tank_38]

Got an old pair of Army coveralls from my vacation in Iraq... they have Velcro, zippers and buttons on every pocket. Also there are cinch straps around the bottom on the legs and end of the cuffs. works pretty nice from fall to winter here in MO

 

[Groundman One]

Any wood chips that make it down my pants get left on the toilet seat for the wife.

My gift to her.

 

[Highclimber OR]

I accept it as reality sawdust everywhere my wallet always has plenty so the bank teller loves me. I eat the stuff hell who doesn't in this business?

 

[jtri]

This summer it was too hot (for me) to climb in pants, so I started wearing shorts and had to solve the sawdust in my shoes problem. The quick fix was to buy a pair of tights (which I found at goodwill) and cut them off to make a pair of light weight gators. This did the trick, and comfortable, but the tights would still work their way up every hour or so and inevitably I'd forget to pull them down until I felt a little sawdust working its way inside. So recently, I decided to try something I've been thinking about trying for a while, to help hold the tights down... I attached the photos. Basically, two pieces of para-chord, one makes a loop around your front foot with a blakes hitch for tightening, and the other to make an a half loop around your heal attaching on either side with a clove hitch. Before tightening, you can role the tights/nylons up in the cord a bit. Hoping this constitutes a simple/cheap solution.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Seriously?

 

[Ben84]

I'll take the sawdust over the tights