New to site and to business

[bonesxl1100]

Hello all,

I will be starting this monday as a groundsman. I am happy to have found this site as there is a ton of information here. I am new to this work and am unsure as to the type of clothing I should get. i live in the Northeast, the poconos, so we get a lot of snow and freezing rain. I have a decent pair of redwings, a pair of carhardt bibs and plenty of hoodies. I should be getting a nice carhardt jacket today too. But Im mainly concerned about wet weather gear. I've never been a fan of rain gear as it seems to be cheap and uncomfortable to me. But then again, i've always wore the cheap stuff when ever I've ever used them. Any opinions, suggestions, comments as to what I should look into getting?

Also, the company will provide me with all the safety gear except gloves. Any suggestions on a good pair of gloves?

Thanks in advanced

 

[jomoco]

Hello all,

I will be starting this monday as a groundsman. I am happy to have found this site as there is a ton of information here. I am new to this work and am unsure as to the type of clothing I should get. i live in the Northeast, the poconos, so we get a lot of snow and freezing rain. I have a decent pair of redwings, a pair of carhardt bibs and plenty of hoodies. I should be getting a nice carhardt jacket today too. But Im mainly concerned about wet weather gear. I've never been a fan of rain gear as it seems to be cheap and uncomfortable to me. But then again, i've always wore the cheap stuff when ever I've ever used them. Any opinions, suggestions, comments as to what I should look into getting?

Also, the company will provide me with all the safety gear except gloves. Any suggestions on a good pair of gloves?

Thanks in advanced

Hey there Bones,

Filson Double Tin pants are expensive made in America logging pants that truly
are waterproof, which isn't always a "good" thing, they are basically heavily waxed thick gage canvas pants with cool flaps to keep sawdust n such out.

They are very stiff, so wearing longjohns is a must, many jokes are made about woodsman just standing their Filson Tins up in a corner at night!

I paid about 125 bucks a pair for mine, they are very susceptable to handsaw nicks that grow in sze with each washing, so perhaps just standing them in the corner is best after all!

These loggers pants are very popular and respected in the PNW by grizzled
old pros in caulked boots and slickers right at home in the rain.

If you've got the quilted Carrhart stuff, that should be just fine with a good pair of boots and a seven dollar pair of good tight fitting leather gloves for sunny days and the two dollar, blue rubberized cotton gloves for wet days.

Be very cautious around or particularly feeding woodchippers, they can kill newbies and veterans alike, never feed a big chipper alone by hand. Insist on proper chipper safety training before being required to feed one.

Online chipper training videos are I believe available that will let you prove your worth before your first day on the job!

Madsens Saw or Baileys Catalog both have good quality rain gear at decent prices, some of it made right here in America, check it out.

Good luck!

Work safe!

jomoco

 

[bonesxl1100]

hey, thanks for the info.

I got a good deal on a brand new carrhartt jacket today at the local army/navy store. 51 dollars. Not bad huh? Its the 12 oz quilted.

Anyway, I'll probably just use my mechanics gloves for the most part and when its too cold for them, I'll just use the cheapo leather and cotton gloves you can get at gas stations almost anywhere around here. I don't want to spend a fortune on great gloves just to have them get hung up on a branch and thrown into the chipper. lol

 

[BC WetCoast]

Make sure your gloves don't have a large loose cuff on them, that it tight on the wrist. The loose cuff can catch on branches being fed into the chipper.

As for raingear, I use double layer coated nylon pants and a rubberized jacket. The nylon pants, which get more wear, wear longer and the rubberized jacket is more waterproof over time (ie it doesn't leak after a few months).

Interesting, I've worked as a forester in BC for about 30 years and nobody here wears tinned pants anymore, although you still hear stories about them. Most of the loggers I worked with thought they were doing well if their raingear survived a 15 day shift in camp.

 

[bonesxl1100]

Be very cautious around or particularly feeding woodchippers, they can kill newbies and veterans alike, never feed a big chipper alone by hand. Insist on proper chipper safety training before being required to feed one.

Online chipper training videos are I believe available that will let you prove your worth before your first day on the job!

Do you know where there are any of these videos? I googled but came up with nothing.

 

[jomoco]

Do you know where there are any of these videos? I googled but came up with nothing.

I found these very basic chipper safety guidelines for you Bones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrRImlDM0ko&feature=related

It really ticks me off that neither the chipper manufacturers or the TCIA don't provide free online chipper safety training videos for beginners, perhaps that's why more and more groundsmen get eaten alive these days.

Sorry I couldn't find anything better for you Bones, perhaps one of the many other good veterans here can.

Good luck Bones, be careful.

jomoco

 

[bonesxl1100]

Yeah, I found it kind of messed up you can't find any videos online from the manufacturers at least. I guess there is money in everything. Even safety.

Thanks for the link though.

 

[jomoco]

I found this on youtube Bones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrRImlDM0ko&feature=related

jomoco

 

[hornett224]

Cabela's seems to have the best cold weather gear so far.

Excellent return policy as well.they just built one 5 minutes from my house.i'm in heaven.

 

[JeffL]

Honestly, get some good waterproofing for your boots. At least for me, I'll take a wet shirt and pants over a cold and wet set of feet any day.

 

[bonesxl1100]

What are some good waterproof boots? I saw that the army/navy store had a sale on Columbia waterproof boots but I didn't buy them. One pair was 400 grams and the other was 200 grams. My redwings that I wear now are water resistant but not completely water proof.

 

[Thillmaine]

Gear

Carthartt rain gear, or Grundens, both quality. As for wet weather boots I would go with some steel toed rangers, or some rubbers that go over your current boots. SOmetimes rain gear is a big waste of time, better to suffer in the wet then be bogged down with all the gear. AS for gloves, atlas therma fit (polyester, with grey rubberized coating) for winter and the regular atlas blue covered for the summer.Bopth will keepo you warm wet or dry.

 

[Sprig]

For raingear I've always been impartial to Pioneer's gear, rip-stop nylon, big vent on the back, rubberized inside (which can make it a bit sweaty, but most 'waterproof' outer wear does). I still have a pair of Black Diamond bibbed pants from my days on the sidewinder boats, they are heavy duty and have a tendancy to rip easily on sharp stuff, but they are easy to repair with a tire kit as they are true rubber (they are not cheap though and heavy compared to nylon gear. As for the gloves I prefer doeskins in dry conditions but a bit back I tried a pair of my friends 'Gorilla gloves' (Amick's, a site sponsor, carries them for a very good price), comphy, great grip, and well built, worth checking out.
My wee 0.02$ worth fer the afternoon.



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