Chainsaw gloves

[Dan Maynard]

 
There is so little material in them I'd guess that no way would they stop a chain going at any sort of speed. It is an odd one why they are still made..
 

I guess because people keep buying them. If I remember rightly they are listed as preferred kit in the AFAG or HSE guidance on chainsaw use.

[Khriss]

On 31/05/2021 at 21:39, dumper said:

They are American stats 450 under 14s cut with a saw says it all

 

From those statistics - Black women , in their 20s , are the safest chainsaw users   , which I am pleased to hear . K

[Khriss]

21 hours ago, Rob D said:

I never figured what made a chainsaw glove ie. if both hands are always on the saw what point is there having any protection in the top of them?

 

I think it's to do with snedding where on one cut you'd work the saw one handed... but the reason it's hard to even work out says something.

 

Wear gloves that give good grip, are easy to take on and off, and you like wearing. As said in the thread the whole concept of a 'chainsaw glove' is misleading. Use what works for you.

All that - plus never seen adequate explanation for that flap of kevlar over yr left knuckle , absolutely pointless , I use builders gloves cos in the wet - yr at least gonna keep hold of saw when it kicks back . K

[5thelement]

As tree_beard has already stated, they are a left over from the days of pre chain brake saws. They would be the only protection between the left hand and the moving chain.

Most gloves are rated to 16m/s, all of my saws exceed this chain speed.

The reason these gloves are still on the market is because no one at HSE has the guts to pull the plug, and if they did, you can bet that the first incident where the back of the left hand is cut by the saw would lead to litigation.

[jarborist]

Summary : The throwback to pre chainbrake and combined front hand protection' seems the answer. (Re chainspeed etc,   once the chain came off it was then presumably running slower so the protection might well have been adequate. N.B. most protection now doesn't fully protect and in fact the way testing is done doesn't allow for full throttle cutting. It is still protection vs practicality, which is why class 2 is relatively new to the  market as previously the only way of providing class two was to make it so thick you couldn't move).                                                                                                       It took a long time for training etc to catch up with users not wearing chainsaw gloves , but then again NPTC has not required chainsaw gloves for quite some years now - stating 'gloves appropriate for the task'. even the HSE guidance (INDG 317) 'Chainsaws at work' has said for a while   ' Gloves: the use of appropriate gloves is recommended under most circumstances. The type of glove will depend on a risk assessment of the task ' etc etc. Admittedly given the apparent uselessness of chainsaw gloves it is a little confusing as at the end it says 'where chainsaw gloves are required these need to be to EN 381-7.