Recommendation for the better quality hard hats with muffs

I have the Protos as well. I had the cheap Husqvarna one who ear muffs kept detaching from the helmet. $50.

The screen on the Protos is 1000 better. Stronger, better visibility, stays up when you put it up.

The fit is great except I had to loosen the straps ALL the way out to fit my big head.

The way I look at it is my head is worth $300. Period.

I like the magnetic clip for the chin strap too and the design is nice with the air vents in the back that you can open or close. I leave mine open.

I wear safety glasses 24/7. I got mine at rx-safety.com (no affiliatio) with real glass lenses. Paid $250 for 2 pair including one frame. I got sick and tired of getting new lenses every year because the plastic ones would scratch. Anti-scratch coat warranty was a joke and could only be used once. I am loving the better optics with the real glass. They are heavier and thicker but I don't care....except when I first got it the glasses would slip off my face all the time.....and then I found out about Cablz retainers. They have a short rubber part that slips over the end of the arm of the glasses and then a really neat mechanism to tighten. I got the single wire version so it can hang off the back of my head instead of pressing up against the head. Plus it makes lifting the glasses easier if there is some slack since I can't see close things anymore without lifting up the glasses.

 

Well spoken, is that under ASME or OSHA guidelines?

 

Thats a really good price for glasses. I think I paid that each for mine. I clean mine frequently with acetone, try that with plastic.

 

Is that going to get the scratches out? I'll give it a whirl. The pair I'm wearing now the frame was $40. The price also included transition lenses for both pair. I sent a frame back since the polycarbonate lenses were shot.

 

No on getting the scratches out. I frequently get oils or epoxy types of crap on mine and I always have acetone handy.

 

Hmm. My $50 husky face shield stays up when I want it. Maybe yours was defective?

I am a huge believer in the expensive helmet theory, for motorsports. Yes, there's a motor on engine on a chainsaw, but it won't be used for propulsion if you are doing things correctly.

Unless you use it this way.

Then you need a different type of helmet.

 

It may have been defective but it was definitely a POS compared to the Protos. The ear muff falling off while in the middle of cutting causing the helmet to spin around was not only annoying but plain dangerous.

 

It is hard to compare an item that is 300 to one that's 50. That said, my husky helmet works great. I'll use my $500 AGV helmet for motorcycling.. Now if you are cutting every day, for work and especially climbing, then that's a different story. Both the $50 husky helmet and the Protos are isea/ ANSI Z89.1-2014 rated.

 

I think it's important for the non-professional - like most of us are - to take safety precautions seriously, perhaps even more seriously than a "pro". A pro has experience, has been around the block, and for the most part just "knows" things that a neophyte like me is not going to know and has not seen. To counter that even the most experienced pro can have an accident and then maybe he'll regret not wearing the helmet or the gloves or the chaps.....For example I love watching Buckin' Billy Ray Smith videos but it does perturb me that he doesn't wear chaps and for a long time didn't wear a helment with a face shield (he started doing it now when chainsawing). It doesn't take much for something to go sideways.

I get that both are ansi rated but that kind of just proves the point that just because it's rated the same doesn't make them equal. That's not to say a less expensive piece of equipment can't do the job properly....but my experience was quite eye opening and obvious that getting the cheapest helmet wasn't going to work - for me. It may work for others but not for me.

While I don't always get the "best" or most expensive version of whatever, in this particular case I thought it was a wise investment and having used it for a while now I am very happy with my decision.

 

Tools For Trails is have a 20% off Labor Day sale

petzel strato is $99
Kask zenith is $235

not sure if those are good prices but they are good folks

PROTECT

 

On Nov 19 of last year I was wearing a regular construction hard hat ear muffs and face shield when a 8 to 9" maple limb hit me. The limb hit me on top of the head hard enough that it broke both my ankles. I think that cheap plastic hard hat probably saved my life. The face shield was destroyed but the ear muffs and hard that are still good . It is hanging on the wall in my shop. A good friend bought a new one and gave it to me as a gift.

 

Glad it didn't crack your skull but I imagine it sure hurt like hell. I hope you have healed up. I think everyone should wear a helmet. I've had more than a few close calls and was extremely glad I was wearing a helmet at the time.

Just yesterday when bucking the end of a Norway maple limb that had split off a tree a small chunk shot back towards me and slammed into my shin at 100mph. Was wearing my shin guards luckily which saved me from shattering my leg.

 

I'm not a pro by any means, but I have done & do a fair amount of cutting, & now more & more felling. I have a Stihl Pro helmet that safety wise I have no complaints about. I may upgrade to a higher end helmet for the comfort factor though. I see a lot of u tubers as well as regular wood cutters work without eye protection, & it just boggles my mind. Just the lost time & aggravation of getting a saw chip in the eye, screwing around getting it out & the stinging in the eye for a few hours to a day afterward make it worth it. The mesh chainsaw glasses don't fog up & are very lightweight if fogged up safety glasses is your complaint.