Anyone ever test Chainmail socks?

300Six said:
That part I'm well familiar with but what he is asking about is usefulness of chainmail socks.
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The chainmail socks are used for competition cutting. Used to be a once a year thing when the harvest was in but it's now gone Hollywood.

You also need to be able to log roll, throw axes, climb poles and and do some fancy cutting.
 
Yeah maille socks are not intended as protection against chainsaws.
 
Chignecto Woodsman said:
Yeah, actually the chainsaw may catch in the holes and pull you. You might even fall on the spinning saw.
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You guys crack me up! So instantly stopping a spinning chain isn't of much value plus you figure a miraculously re-invigorated saw will then want to 'walk' up your leg or somewhere else? Gimme a break!
Put one of those chainmail socks across a wooden chopping block and smack it with a sharp axe. You'll have your answer, and likely you'll lose interest in putting on a pair.
 
Why would chainmail instantly stop a chainsaw? Chaps work because of the high volume of thread which jam the saw. Chainmail would POSSIBLY kick or pull the holes of the chainmail, and thus whatever body parts attached equal to the force of the chain rotating.

I would recommend having a look at the chainsaw and consider what may happen when pointed steel enters a hole.

Competitive axemen wear them, probably not without good reason (a history of toe and limb loss without protection, for example). Generally speaking, they swing probably 2-3 times harder than the average working axeman. The danger to the shins is in the standing block, and the toes in the underhand. In comparison, proper felling generally does not pose much of a risk to the shins, but there are some situations where the uneven ground can pose risks due to foot placement. This is just the way it is where I live, lots of rolling hills and less than ideal cutting ground.

Humans aren't a block of wood, so bashing an axe at full force and directly into a wood-backed piece of chainmail wouldn't prove a thing. Good tests would involve a similar amount of weight, but also cloth and leather along with the chainmail - with a chicken or some other meat underneath to see what damage is done to flesh. And of course the word of timbersports competitors who have seen the accidents with and without protection would be good proof as well.

Seems that what little information there is on them all points to cut protection but with possible blunt force trauma. And this seems to be the biggest concern with the underhand chop. Again, steel-toe boots may not offer as much protection in that situation because the axe could glance off the steel plate and go into your instep or heel (square-peg is right about an adze though, I don't do that work yet but you can tell steel toes are very appropriate there).
 
Here's what an electric saw does to a sword:
[video=youtube;3nbMpmk_Oio]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nbMpmk_Oio[/video]

Wouldn't want to be wearing chainmail.
 
Ok, I found some video evidence (0:31) with an expert comment below (Arden Cogar Jr.):
[video=youtube;zt29SiS0Zd8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt29SiS0Zd8[/video]

"Agreed to an extent. The chain mail will stop an axe from cutting. The "more substantial footwear" is cumbersome and more dangerous in my opinion as the toe guard does not protect the underside or instep of the foot. Had she been wearing the aluminum toe guards she would have cut herself pretty badly with that glance as it went under her foot. I've seen it happen numerous times."

Exactly what I was worried about. When bucking you cut beneath your feet, so the steel toe is of little or no protection to an axe coming upwards. As well, many boots are moving towards poly protection, so who knows how much protection a poly sole plate would actually give?

And another competitor from the same video:
"Wish we could make more progress on foot protection. Socks have kept all my toes on, robot shoes look safer but get cut shockingly easily with only a training axe."
 
What about a piece of polycarbonate under the insole of the shoe/boot to protect against cuts from beneath?
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
What about a piece of polycarbonate under the insole of the shoe/boot to protect against cuts from beneath?
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Is that what the new plates are made of? Obviously they have to be pretty strong to stop a nail, but I don't know against an axe. If you mean as an addition, I think they would be too clumsy. Oh, you mean insole. Probably be pretty expensive option. I've been looking at making a toboggan and that high end plastic stuff is extremely expensive and difficult to find. May be a good idea though.

Found this video in my search, pretty unbelievable:
[video=youtube;UU7crXUp_UM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU7crXUp_UM[/video]
 
If you actually knew how much force an axe man in full flight can generate in the head of a six pound axe, you would probably wince, just like you would when it went throughout the poly carbonate or any such protection you might like to put on your foot. Melbourne Institute did a test with world champion axe man David Foster, I can't remember the figures but they are astounding. I figure, learn to chop properly, just let the rest happen, you will only do it once..... ICS
 
Chignecto Woodsman said:
Is that what the new plates are made of? Obviously they have to be pretty strong to stop a nail, but I don't know against an axe. If you mean as an addition, I think they would be too clumsy. Oh, you mean insole. Probably be pretty expensive option. I've been looking at making a toboggan and that high end plastic stuff is extremely expensive and difficult to find. May be a good idea though.

Found this video in my search, pretty unbelievable:
[video=youtube;UU7crXUp_UM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU7crXUp_UM[/video]
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You're using this video as an example of what?
The Darwin awards are issued every year to folks that are too inexperienced, stupid (or drunk/stoned) to do anything right. Chainmail socks would only have confounded this guy and maybe slowed him down from believing he could survive being a 'competent' faller. Hearing a full throttle chain saw go for 1/2 minute on a small tree already told me this lad was a 'few bricks short of a load'. Given a similarly dull axe at least he would have 'given out' physically from furiously chopping and been huffing and puffing long before the tree decided to fall down. Chainsaws can be dangerous, as can be sharp axes.
 
In the case of an under-foot cut you have the benefit of there not being a solid anvil surface, so weaker protection would cover you. Polycarbonate is extremely durable stuff and you could probably either layer it or thin steel plates in articulated segments under the insole so that the foot could still comfortably bend. Sort of like lorica segmentata for the bottom of your foot. Presumably you aren't having the axe fly directly into the foot, but rather having it strike the log and a section of the heel come up through and bite you. After being slowed by both the log and the sole of the shoe, a highly cut resistant plate should be able to mitigate the damage fairly well when the protected target doesn't have a solid backing surface acting like a chopping block.
 
FortyTwo, a cut foot is a cut foot. Usually happens one of two ways.. Axe man misjudges his blow and drives the axe into the side he is cutting, cuts into a toe or the axe glances and cuts the front off a toe or two. Secondly, the axe hits the required side, glances off, turns at right angles and travels across the kerf into the offside foot. These are the worst types of cut often ending in considerable healing and rehabilitation time. Have seen some great axe men succumb to cuts like this so anything you can come up with that would be cheaper than a 1/4 inch steel plate boot would be greatly appreciated. Though I might have just solved the problem right there, 1/4 inch steel plate boots with spikes, an axe is only worth about $700, I would rather bust an axe than pay thousands for surgery and rehab. I will post my first pair when I finish making them.... LOL ..... Cheers, ICS
 
In terms of protection required a direct blow to a foot on top of a solid anvil surface would be the hardest to defend against because the foot is totally unable to yield to the force being applied.
 
Every reply in this thread- and all of the videos, made me wince. Some things in life aren't supposed to be done as "fast as possible" . ;)
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
In terms of protection required a direct blow to a foot on top of a solid anvil surface would be the hardest to defend against because the foot is totally unable to yield to the force being applied.
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FortyTwo, it would also be the hardest to do, unless someone else is trying to chop your foot off!! ICS
 
The big toe overhand like in the Stihl video Chignecto Woodsman posted looks like it qualifies as an anvil surface situation. Because of the feet being so close to the notch it's possible for the foot to overhang slightly when pivoting the stance. When that happens you have a horizontal anvil surface.
 
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