Yeah, my brother who,was a logger told me I should wear chaps too, but I always resisted, like a dummy.
When i first started cutting firewood, I did a lot of wood cutting in the woods too, and felling trees, sometimes the tree would buckle, or get pinched- and ive have had a few close calls where as soon as you hit the fallen tree with the saw, it “explodes” (releases all the energy from being under pressure), and have had the saw shoot up over my head- that is a scary deal when you aren’t expecting it. Sometimes I would cut through a tree that was on top of another smaller tree which got twisted, and would hit that with the saw and it would snap out and smack me in the chins or arm.
Such a dangerous profession or pastime. But with precautions, it can be made safer. Just gotta keep yourself aware all the time as you know. Accidents happen so fast that you don’t realize they happened until the pain starts almost.
I didn’t use hearing protection either, and now suffer tinnitus- but partly because I listened to really loud rock- again, like a dummy I shunned hearing protection.
God must have had to work overtime saving me from myself. I was in too much of a rush to stop and consider the consequences of things. Typical teenager who doesn’t think about such things I guess, but my teen year “bravado” (ie lunacy) went well into my 30’s
Both my brothers logged in Oregon and Alaska and saw a few horrifying accidents. I could tell about my own falling and bucking close calls for hours, if anyone would stay awake that long. I got better at reading trees and even walking away from some, but there’s always something.
I also lost too much hearing from loud music, and shooting, and drill rigs, etc. I’ve had some degree of tinnitus as long as I can remember, but I can still hear small sounds if it’s generally quiet. Don’t really want hearing aids, because then I might be able to hear what people are saying about me.
I know what you mean about getting away with a lot of stupidity in one’s younger years. I probably shouldn’t have reached 30, but I guess the Fool-killer wasn’t paying attention.