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c/arborists•dakotab93dakotab93•1mo agoProlific Poster

Chainsaw chaps took a hit last Tuesday, glad I wore em

I always figured those chaps were just bs safety theater till a hung branch dropped a 14 inch section straight onto my thigh last week on a job in Tacoma. The saw ripped through the outer layer but stopped dead before my leg, not even a scratch underneath. Cost me 80 bucks for a new pair but that's nothing compared to a hospital trip. Anyone else had a close call that made you swap your gear game?
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2 Comments
anderson.piper
The "stopped dead" part is what gets me cause most folks think chaps just slow the saw down, not fully stop it. But the real angle is that cheap chaps with thin webbing can actually fail or bunch up and pull you into the cut, which is way worse. If you're gonna trust your leg to these things, spend the extra on the ones with the long coverage and proper straps, not the flimsy wrap arounds that shift when you're reaching up.
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mark436
mark43629d ago
@anderson.piper makes a solid point about the cheap ones, but honestly my brain just goes "saw go brrr" until the moment the pants eat the blade like a stubborn burrito. I've had the fancy wrap-around kind shift on me mid-cut before too, so now I'm out here looking like a Michelin man with extra straps just to feel safe. The real close call was when the neighbor asked if I was cosplaying as a lumberjack for a Renaissance fair... I told him no, I just like my legs attached. At least now I know the 80 bucks buys me more than just weird looks from the homeowners.
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