This year I traded out my old Petzl climbing helmet for a Stihl combination helmet with the mesh faceshield and the ear muffs. Liked it instantly... the mesh faceshield keeps 90% of the sawdust outta your eyes.
4 days ago I bought a pair of the chaps for $80(US) The first day out, the crotch seam ripped from the bottom up to the top part. I'm 6'6" though, so it allowed me to pull the hem down just a couple more inches. So that way the hem of these bright orange chaps was *only* still 3 or 4 inches above the tops of my boots. (sigh...) I envy all you little short fellers. Heh
Picked up some Stihl gloves... the more fitted ones, black and orange color. My PPE is all matching now, it's pretty spiffy lookin.
The gloves actually lasted about 3 weeks....not bad.
The chaps... ugh. Apparently there's some phenomenon about chainsaws spitting oil... (lol). After just four days, my chaps are about as brown and black as they are orange. Pretty messy lookin. I'm tryin to figure out if I can wash em or not.
On a somewhat more positive note:
Yesterday while bucking a spar, a section I had just finished cutting through had caught on the chain and was flung right over onto my head, took a fraction of a second. Scared that crap outta me, as I'd never had it happen before. Nice 200 pound piece of pine.
After initial feelings thinking that God had just hit me with a celestial baseball bat, I realized that I felt just fine. My melon was nicely ensconced in orange Stihl plastic, and was none the worse for wear. (and I'm so glad noone saw it happen)