I originally posted this in my thread with the Mikes from Tampa over in the Pit, but figgered it should be cross posted here as well.
I was helping @oneshot86 process a pile of firewood and ended up in a position where the layout and obstacles put me into a situation where a couple of cuts left handed seemed to be in order. I try to NEVER cut left handed, but decided to do it in this case. I was dead assed wrong to do it and could have paid dearly for it were it not for the chaps.
I was cutting up around chest level with a 28" bar, keeping far enough back from the pile to avoid any falling logs. On the final cut I got a little bit of pinch, which I'd anticipated, and goosed the throttle to clear the cut. I came out of the cut (up around chest height) and brought the saw down across my front like "normal". HOWEVER, because I was an idiot and cutting wrong-handed, the blade side of the saw was nearest me. So instead of the pull starter resting against my waist, the clutch cover and still decelerating chain came down on my leg:
I caught the very top of the Kevlar panel and into the unprotected nylon at the crotch. Had the Kevlar not dead-stopped the chain, I would've not only destroyed my upper thigh but also cut off my dick.
It was nearly fatal reminder of why saws are right hand only, and the value of a pair of $100 chaps vs untold medical expenses. In this case I was 500 miles from home, with the missus in Boston. I'd have been hospitalized and undergoing surgeries (if I survived) and would've seriously cramped oneshot's style for quite a while. Instead, we had a nervous chuckle at how lucky I was; drank a beer; chain smoked a pack of adrenaline cigs; and re-sharpened the chain.
Chaps aren't an excuse to abandon good practices, but in this case they sure as hell saved me from a bad decision and I got to learn a lesson without bloodshed.
I was helping @oneshot86 process a pile of firewood and ended up in a position where the layout and obstacles put me into a situation where a couple of cuts left handed seemed to be in order. I try to NEVER cut left handed, but decided to do it in this case. I was dead assed wrong to do it and could have paid dearly for it were it not for the chaps.
I was cutting up around chest level with a 28" bar, keeping far enough back from the pile to avoid any falling logs. On the final cut I got a little bit of pinch, which I'd anticipated, and goosed the throttle to clear the cut. I came out of the cut (up around chest height) and brought the saw down across my front like "normal". HOWEVER, because I was an idiot and cutting wrong-handed, the blade side of the saw was nearest me. So instead of the pull starter resting against my waist, the clutch cover and still decelerating chain came down on my leg:
I caught the very top of the Kevlar panel and into the unprotected nylon at the crotch. Had the Kevlar not dead-stopped the chain, I would've not only destroyed my upper thigh but also cut off my dick.
It was nearly fatal reminder of why saws are right hand only, and the value of a pair of $100 chaps vs untold medical expenses. In this case I was 500 miles from home, with the missus in Boston. I'd have been hospitalized and undergoing surgeries (if I survived) and would've seriously cramped oneshot's style for quite a while. Instead, we had a nervous chuckle at how lucky I was; drank a beer; chain smoked a pack of adrenaline cigs; and re-sharpened the chain.
Chaps aren't an excuse to abandon good practices, but in this case they sure as hell saved me from a bad decision and I got to learn a lesson without bloodshed.
