CARELESS KNUCKLEHEAD + CHAINSAW = EMERGENCY ROOM

JimR · Oct 17, 2005

Glad to hear your ok. The scary part is that it takes less than a second to happen. One second your fine, the next your opened up. I've been cutting trees for firewood for over 30 years and have yet to cut myself with a chainsaw. I consider myself to be one of the lucky few. I also used a chainsaw for nose diving into beams for my barn. This is very dangerous work and should only be tried by experienced people that know how to handle a chainsaw.

JRobyn · Oct 17, 2005

I was looking at chaps in the Sherrill/Vermeer arborist catalog. One of their notes states:

"The latest study done in 1996 by the Consumer Product Safety Commission showed that of 24,000 chainsaw injuries in that year alone, the average injury required 110 stitches and cost $5,600.00"

Sounds like you were lucky to have both minimal damage and relatively minimal cost!

dmccarty · Oct 17, 2005

JRobyn,

I get a magazine about small wood lots and logging. They mentioned a study that was more recent than the one you cite but the numbers are about the same with 30,000 injuries. What I don't remember was the average number of stitches and cost. 110 stiches is huge. The most I have ever had is 5. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

And that was from a light bulb. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Later,
Dan

Scrounger · Oct 17, 2005

Pictures of the new mod to the knee? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Hope your feeling ok and that luck was on your side. I've seen one accident with a saw and it was gnarly. Guy cut right thru his boot into his foot. Wear talking top thru the boot sole. At least he was passed out.

jimmysisson · Nov 1, 2005

Also glad you're ok. Probably most of us have used a saw, some more than others, so it's easy to relate to your incident. I like the chaps because they protect your clothing. I use them for all woods work, plus splitting. You can push a piece back on to the splitter with your thigh without stabbing yourself. Plus the lube oil for the slider doesn't soak your jeans. I've had the filler on my Stihl chaps showing but nothing worse. The plastic buckles on the straps are apt to catch on things, maybe I'll look into the pants type, never saw any. Hope you're healing. Jim

Kevin37 · Nov 4, 2005

We do learn from others, if we're smart. I read this post and the next day bought a pair of Stihl chaps ($59) and a face guard with ear protectors ($29). Cheap insurance when used with good heavy boots and gloves.