# Wire Mesh Face Protector



## Dan Turner (Feb 6, 2019)

I hate the stupid thing...or more correctly, hated the stupid thing. 

If I'm cutting overhead with a silky saw or pruner on a 14ft pole....the hard hat wasn't anything I wanted to wear until I got slapped on the noggin a few times with branches that hit something on the way down and spun my way. I never really wanted the face mask, but the Southern Pines down here will drop pine needles right into your face, nose, ears and eyes if you don't duck and cover in time.

Over the weekend, I dropped an old but still springy (but butt ugly) Cedar that just had to go. I sawed it up to manageable lengths on the trunk that loaded into the K20 with no prob. The limbs still had some life in them so I put them where I could in the truck bed and bent and folded the limbs that were able to fold and bend but once loaded up, I was ready to take it to our nearby dump/recycling center that enjoy my trees and limbs so they can turn into mulch with a drum grinder. But only after I've off loaded into the pile for the day that was getting pretty tall by the time I got there.

I went up top and toss over some long limbs that were riding on top to weight the limbs down and once I started tugging on the limbs, sure enough the branches were hung up on top of each other. Since they were "spring loaded" from my own efforts and I would be eye level....I decided to put on my mesh face protector and ball cap just to complete the ensemble. I grabbed the trunk end of a limb and started tugging....when something moved, I started pulling on the smaller branches and sure enough the branch slid out once it was freed up a bit...one more tub on the limb and then *Ka-POW!!*

One of the bent up limb branches broke free and zapped me right in the face. Not just a pine cone or branch of pine needles, but the pointed business end of the Cedar limb that smacked me out of revenge. There's dent in my mask from the speed of the released springing limb....which is a) more preferred than the alternative dent in my face or shoving into that eye socket, b) one of the reasons I paid good money for the stupid mask....which appears to prove out which one of us is stupid. I've known a couple of trades guys that wear eyepatches because they chose not to wear an eye shield using an angle grinder for one and a chop saw for another. I'd hate to have to tell people that I lost an eye while unloading tree branches at the dump rather than a great story more fitting my age.

Anyhow...my accident wasn't completely unexpected with the exception, I've only seen branches slap at me or the truck bed walls....but Cedars can flat knock you into the next county if you're not careful....or wipe that smile off your face with a razor sharp branch end that has a lot of spring left in it.

I keep my mask hanging on my rack inside my truck so I can make that decision as soon as I un-ass my seat and step out to check where the tail gate is for dropping down to load out. You never see that bullet coming...but I knew there was one out there given the tree and it's propensity to be sharp and full of "hooks...and if you bend rather than cut limbs, getting smacked, bruised or something truly bad to anything standing in the way. The motorcycle adage to *"dress for the slide...not the ride..." *applies with protecting yourself even on the most none-brainer tasks.


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## Kingcarpenter1 (May 5, 2020)

Can’t overkill safety in my book. Have cut miles of our native Juniper & it will tear you up unprepared

Mike


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

The mesh face protector us one I use a lot.

I like my eyeballs....


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## Dan Turner (Feb 6, 2019)

hdavis said:


> The mesh face protector us one I use a lot.
> 
> I like my eyeballs....


Yeah....that's why I keep it in my truck. If I'm on a pruning saw or chain saw....the mask is right there.


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## reggi (Oct 12, 2020)

Kingcarpenter1 said:


> Can’t overkill safety in my book. Have cut miles of our native Juniper & it will tear you up unprepared
> 
> Mike


That’s odd.

“A few smacks about the head never hurt anybody

Mike”


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## reggi (Oct 12, 2020)

Don’t forget your safety glasses


I was levering like a sumbich on a 6” x 4’ piece of hardwood. Thing was glued down so when the glue failed it went off like a gun. Sent my ass reeling. Likely would’ve blinded me if I was not wearing glasses.




www.contractortalk.com


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## Dan Turner (Feb 6, 2019)

reggi said:


> Don’t forget your safety glasses
> 
> 
> I was levering like a sumbich on a 6” x 4’ piece of hardwood. Thing was glued down so when the glue failed it went off like a gun. Sent my ass reeling. Likely would’ve blinded me if I was not wearing glasses.
> ...


Yessir....I've sent my prescrition glasses flying a few times before...mostly nail skip-backs, but grateful each time the lens took the hit.

Thanks!


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