Chainsaw safety pants...how much kevlar is enough?

[zackman1801]

hey guys, im looking for a pair of chainsaw pants. ive used chaps enough already to know i dont like the way they fit, wear, or move around while walking or cutting. So im looking into pants. I was recently (about 5 mins ago) looking at some pants on Baileys website and saw that they had a pair for about $75 which is about my price range. but these pants said "2 layers of kevlar material, and 2 layers of polyester felt" now i know that kevlar is good and can bind up saws but is 2 layers really safe enough especially for professional logging use? i know when guys talk about nicking the chaps they say it gets down 2-3 layers, on these pants that third layer would be your skin! Should i be worried about using these if i do buy them or should i just look else were and get my self a safer pair of pants?

Also If not these pants does anyone know whre i can get a pair of pants for $75-$80 with a waist of around 40-42" (im not a small guy!) I really need to get some since im going to be starting up soon when the snow goes down and i cant go in the woods without being properly dressed. ( you wouldent go to the office in your underpants now would you?)

[sawguy21]

The pants should be rated by chain threshold speed, the maximum chain speed that they will resist before tender flesh is reached. Here the minimum for WCB coverage is 3600fpm which provides good protection. There are pants rated for 3900 and 4100 but they tend to be bulky and hot in the summer.

[arojay]

Not sure which pants you are looking at but I bought a pair from Baileys last year.  They are green and have zippers on the lower leg.  They are rated for wcb and the big bonus,  they fit over my winter caulks.  Husqvarna and other 'brand' names I tried don't.  My take is that when they added the protection at the calf and back of the leg, they just added it inside the pantsleg and lost the space that used to be there for boots.  At any rate they are pretty decent for winter.  Thin at the backside but snow doesn't stick the them too much.  I got some small cuts in thehell from sharp limbs and one from a saw tooth, not running.  I sewed the cut in the shell and glued over.

[thecfarm]

Check out Labonville in Rumford or Farmington.They should have them too.

[roger 4400]

      Hi   !   My pants are 1/4 to 3/8 inches thick kevlar (Husqvarna) and Hot ..hot    hot... but yerterday I was VERY LUCKY I had them. I,ll tell you HOW STUPID I WAS..... I have a big pile of firewood (maple, beech..) to cut in 16 in. The logs are frozen (?) together. I cut a big log ,over my 16 in blade ,and instead of cutting the rest from my SAFE position, I STUPIDELY put my right leg between the log I was cutting and the big pile AND IT HAPPENED...... a 14 in.maple log over 16 ft long with two smaller logs over it rolled on my leg compressing it on the **runner log on the ground * so my ankle is trapped on the runner and a big not from the rolling log is compressing my calf and pants. I had +- 1,000 pounds compressing my leg. I could not free myself. It was very painfull.I tried in pulling the pants...impossible. After 5 minutes I tought of carefully cut the lower log but I was affraid that the other two would roll on my back and breaking me in two. I could not see any neighbor ( over 500 ft) I thought I would wait for my wife to come back from work........in an hour or so...and then my pants were so thight over my SAFETY HUSQVARNA FELLER BOOTS I felt I had no more blood going to my foot and the foot felt dizzy...I was desperate.SO i put my other calf under the firts log and with the 2 legs I put as much energy I could and with both hands I pulled on the pants to tear them or free myself............luckily I got free..........those pants do not tear.  Today I can barely walk, my leg is one and a half bigger than normal but nothin is broken ONLY compressed muscle and blood came to the skin surface in FRONT of the leg du to the terrific pression of the pants on the skin etc....I AM SURE THAT WITHOUT MY PANTS AND WITHOUT THAT TICKNESS IT WOULD BEEN BROKEN.. I WAS VERY    VERY    VERY   STUPID  to put my leg between those logs.....but WISE ENOUGH to put safety PANTS..BOOTH...AND EVEN I HAD MY SAFETY HAT..........so be safe    SAFE    SAFE  and remember that safety equipment do not replace a S A F E    B E H A V I O R............................Humbly                 Roger

[Ron Scott]

Lucky! We work around log decks all the time and need to be careful when doing so.

[thecfarm]

Stupid would be not learning from your mistake and doing it again.We all get careless at time.Glad you are OK.There a husband and wife in NH that get trapped by a big piece of ice that slid off the wood pile.She was able to get herself free but had to get the fire dept to free her husband.

[Woodhog]

This wood cutting is so dangerous...

Everyone should have a fully charged cell phone with them at all times...you cant think of all the crazy things that can happen when doing logging type activities, if you are alone you have no way of getting help.

On the pants, I wear chaps because the pants get so rank after a while that you dont like to stop in a store on the way home or even sit in the truck, with the chaps you can quickly take them off and throw them in the back, your underneath pants are (well) better for the general public.

[StorminN]

Zackman,

Anyone that has hit their chaps or pants will tell you it's pretty easy to go through two layers of Kevlar without even knowing it... I did it one day with a winding-down saw (not really moving that fast) when I was really tired (don't accidents always seem to happen then?). Luckily my chaps have seven layers of Kevlar, so I wasn't hurt.

If I were you, I would keep shopping and find a pair of thicker pants... you'll probably have to increase your budget, but just think how much it would cost you to get stitched up / lose work time if you happened to nick yourself through thin pants...

-Norm.

[snowman]

I had some of those baileys winter chap pants once, very nice until I stood to close to landing mans fire one day, boy do they melt fast!  I switched back to chaps though, they absorb the pitch, bar oil etc and keep your pants clean as a whistle, not to mention dry in wet conditions. In summer, forget it, your legs are going to cook and I dont wear chaps of anykind. I'm very experienced ya know and noooo way I will ever cut my leg!

[tomtrees]

Well you've gone and done it now snow man "never say never" even if you think it.
I managed to find some Stil chainsaw summer pants with less layers but the same chain stopping power they are a lot cooler.

I have never done it my self but have seen others spend hours pulling that stuf out of the chainsaw after a near one it gose every where.

[arojay]

Yep, the Bailey's pants are too sweaty for warm weather so far as I am concerned.  I don't like the fit etc. of chaps either.  I have some old style Husqvarna pants with the same kevlar as wcb rating but they are obsolete because it doesn't reach around the back.  They are reasonably cool and that's what I wear when I log in summer, which isn't very often.  Cut pants or chaps are pretty much garbage in my experience.  A guy really should pack it in for the day when you are tired, but I too,have talked myself into keeping on and made mistakes.

[Dale Hatfield]

Make sure you keep the chaps/saw pant washed. All the oil they soak up Matts the fibers together  and keeps them from working as they should.......................
Dale

[zackman1801]

yeah we had a saw a little while back that someone cut the chaps with and they didnt even know. (because the chaps already had a hole in them but only the outer fabric was ripped none of the kevlar) the next few days his saw got slower and slower untill it finally stopped working. we took the thing completely apart and found out that the kevlar had actually melted inside of the clutch and bound it up. so now we have to get a new clutch for the saw. and if we can find the pair that was cut a new pair of chaps.

[snowman]

Well you've gone and done it now snow man "never say never" even if you think it.
I managed to find some Stil chainsaw summer pants with less layers but the same chain stopping power they are a lot cooler.

I have never done it my self but have seen others spend hours pulling that stuf out of the chainsaw after a near one it gose every where.

Hey tomtrees. I never thought of loggers when I thought of france. Orvwa or however you say it. I think that means hello

[timberfaller390]

Zack I use chaps to me the are a lot more comfortable than pants. I had a coasting chain hit my chaps once if they hadn't been there it would have gotten the femoral artery would've bled out before i got out of the woods. When I was on a fire detail 2 seasons ago I had forgotton my fire pants, I was running the dozer so Ijust used a pair of over pants they are only 1 layer of cotton and I cooked for hours but after the fire jumped the line and we had to start rakeing I hit the ground fast. It gets hot here in the summer. I'd stick with chaps.

[zackman1801]

probably have to. I dont see any places i can get pants for a decent price and most of the ones i find are winter pants or some are over $200. i know its worth the money to protect myself but i think that might be getting too excessive.

[tomtrees]

Well Snowman, I'm realy a tree surgoen but the weather is warm and wet here (good for tree growth) so I do get a few forestry jobs. We have beach Ash Oak and lots of pine and fir, I have never seen hickory and a few other trees mentioned here on the forum.

[timberfaller390]

They sell chaps that wrap around your calf for 100 bucks or less  and they offer almost as much coverage as pants.

[Maineloggerkid]

In my opinion, after what happened to my friend- you can never have enough protection.