Still Going Strong
Posted: December 5, 2012 Filed under: Firewood | Tags: chainsaw safety, steel-toed boots, wood cutting Leave a comment
For years, I cut wood wearing whatever footwear happened to be handy–tennies, romeos, even flip-flops!–without thinking twice. Then, shortly after Skyla was born, I was cutting wood with my buddy Travis and he said something like “Are you insane? You have a kid now…you want to raise her on one foot?” Of course, I’d heard warnings about my chainsaw footwear for years (and ignored ’em) but this time it sank in.
So I ordered these steel-toed, waterproof boots from the company that makes my favorite day-to-day romeos (“fishermen slippers”) and I’ve been wearing them in the woods ever since. I also started thinking more about safety, and invested in chain-proof kevlar chaps and a hardhat with ear muffs and face screen. It all makes me feel vaguely silly and overdressed, but a quick google search of “chainsaw accidents” puts me back on track every time.
Anyway, the boots started coming apart this season, and I discovered waterproof materials do little to keep you dry when there are gaping holes in your shoes. So the local shoe repair guy went to work with needle, thread and glue to bring them back to life. Not exactly pretty, but I’m stoked to have ’em back and working. And now, when I think about what I used to wear, it makes me cringe. Here’s to the good old boots, back in action.
