Woman have long faced the problem of using products that were designed for people with the average size and shape of males. This is often an inconvenience (ask any woman about pocket sizes) but when you’re talking about safety equipment, it’s a real danger.
A good example comes up in a recent Monitor story about a chainsaw class for women interested in maintaining their own woodlots. (“‘They can ask anything’: Women sharpen their chainsaw skills”)
Apart from mastering the technique, the hardest part of chainsaw use for these students is finding attire that fits.
Standing five feet tall, Weisiger knows the sizing struggle all too well. For example, chainsaw safety gloves at Bass Pro Shops only come in men’s sizes. In fact, the only women’s gloves that Weisiger could find in the whole store were gardening gloves, so she had to turn to Harbor Freight’s selection.
It’s “super annoying,” she said, but more than that, it’s dangerous. Adjusting your too-big gloves or tripping over your too-big boots while you’re operating a chainsaw could be catastrophic.
