Jawsaw safety chain saw from WORX

Reviews: JawSaw, Chain Saw on a Pole

by Phil Houtz on December 2, 2012

in Gear

From the looks of the JawSaw you would think that if Aaron Ralston had one of these wicked beasts in Blue Jay Canyon, the movie 127 Hours would have to be retitled 127 seconds. This thing looks like it could blaze through a forest like a Pac Man in a candy store. But in reality the JawSaw is just a modified light duty Electric Pole Saw. While it looks like a wicked nasty beast, the JawSaw is designed to help keep life and limb together.

Here’s What’s Awesome about the WORX JawSaw:

Anybody who has ever used a chain saw for bucking logs knows that if you let the chain nick the dirt for two seconds you’re going to spend the next hour sharpening cutters with your chain saw file. The JawSaw’s guard prevents that from happening. The guard also virtually eliminates the possibility of kickback injury because the saw chain is fully protected.

There are some other really nice design features built into the saw, but those are the main benefits that I can see.

Here’s What’s Not So Awesome:

The JawSaw is powered by an anemic 5 amp motor, meaning that your hand drill likely has more power. The bar is only 6″ long and can only handle branches up to 4″ diameter. By comparison a Remington 10″ electric chain saw can cut logs up to 20″ – provided you know how to handle a chain saw and have a good deal of experience.

Bottom Line:

All-in-all the WORX JawSaw looks to be a pretty nifty and very safe-to-operate tool for homeowners who have a lot of small trees on their property. But if you don’t live in the Black Forest, why not go with something like the Fiskars Pruning Saw?

I’ve put in a lot of hours with a manual pole saw and find them to be fast, nimble and get between tight branches easier than any kind of chain saw.

But if you really feel like you need a chain saw to handle your yard clean up and don’t feel like spending a couple hours on safety training, then please consider the JawSaw. It won’t cost an arm and a leg.

Here’s what others say:

Works great, but heavy.

Plenty of power…until the chain comes off.

A safer chain saw.

Get your JawSaw here.

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Every suburban frontiersman needs an air compressor, if only to inflate your car tires without shelling out eight bits at the gas station.

Two things to consider when buying a portable air compressor – air delivery (CFM or cubic feet per minute) and tank size. You need enough air to power the tool you’re running. A nailer can use a small compressor like Harbor Freight’s model 95275. But an air spray gun is going to need some serious airpower. Tank size determines how much time your tool will run before the compressor motor kicks in. Run the compressor overtime and it will shutdown – and eventually burn up.

If you’re planning to use your compressor for airing tires and periodic brad nailing then the Central Pneumatic 3 Gallon 100 PSI Oilless Air Compressor is a great value. It has both tank pressure and output gauges and is very compact and lightweight.

Here’s what customers have to say:
Good for the money – drives 5-6 brads at a time.

Does what I need it to do

Brings tires up to 80 PSI…but not fast. Would recommend for small jobs.

Buy here:

Harbor Freight’s 1 CFM 3 Gallon Oilless Pancake Compressor

Amazon Links:

Porter-Cable C2002 Oil-Free UMC Pancake Compressor

Hyundai HPC3010 3-Gallon Air Compressor Kit

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Post image for Oh Noes! Calf Muscle Strain!

Oh Noes! Calf Muscle Strain!

by Phil Houtz on August 5, 2012

in Diary

With the Malibu Canyon Dirt Dash a little more than a month away I figured it is high time to hit the hills. So far most of my trail running has been on fairly level ground.

On Monday I did four reps on a low-grade hill and had a pretty tight knot in my calf afterwards. Wednesday I upped the workout to six reps of the same hill, another knot in the leg. Saturday I ran the hills behind Arroyo Verde park in Ventura and then another two miles on streets. Around Mile 3 I got a pretty garly pain in my calf. I think I may have a Grade II Calf Strain.

Treatment for Calf Strain is Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. Time for recovery is about two weeks. This is disappointing because I wanted to be turning the dial up a notch at this point. I’ll keep you posted how it goes.

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After hearing for years that water is the best thing to drink after exercise I was surprised to hear that the latest thing in recovery drinks is…chocolate milk!

I don’t know if it’s my imagination – or the placebo effect – but my knees do seem to feel better if I follow a run with a big glass of low fat chocolate milk. One thing I’m sure of, it’s been a great motivator. On days that I’m struggling with an extra helping of “doan wanna” it’s a little easier to get out on the trail knowing that there will be a big frosty mug of chocolate milk waiting at the end.

The Pros

According to WebMD chocolate milk has the following benefits over most sports drinks:

  • 3-to-1 ratio of carbohydrate to protein
  • Easily digested whey protein that can begin rebuilding muscle tissue immediately
  • Casein, a protein that is digested slowly and reduces amount of muscle breakdown well after the workout

Livestrong, a site that seems completely sold on the idea of chocolate milk after working out, cites a number of studies showing that runners recover faster after downing a glass of choco milk than a carbohydrate loaded sports beverage.

The Cons

As awesome as chocolate milk is, it might not be for everyone. Livestrong also posts anti-milk articles that suggest (strongly) that any dairy consumption might be cramping your style. The best way to know whether milk might be causing muscle or joint pain for you is to keep a food diary. Try two or three weeks dairy-free and record your aches and pains. Then re-introduce dairy and see if there is a difference in the way you feel.

All I know is that chocolate milk makes me feel like a kid again.

What about you, what’s your favorite post-workout drink?

[Photo by Alice Birkin]

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Trail Running (for Real This Time)

by Phil Houtz on July 2, 2012

in Adventure

20120702-202226.jpg

I started running in Vibram Five Fingers, inspired partly by the photo above. Problem is starting a running regime is easy… keeping it up, not so much.

I’ve started and restarted a running program a half-dozen times since I first heard about Five Fingers. Here’s what’s working pretty well this time around:

1. Have a goal. I’ve got a couple friends running the Malibu Dirt Dash in September. I registered for the Mud Run.

2. Start building slowly. I tend to push myself too hard too early. This time I set aside May and June to build mileage slowly. To keep it slow I decided to follow the Couch to 5k program.

3. Live coaching. Using Runkeeper on my iPhone makes it easy to track intervals, measure pace and log mileage.

Currently I’m logging about 11 miles a week, 11:18 pace. The goal for July is to continue building mileage and intensity.

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Now Maybe I Can Go Wild Again

February 1, 2012

I’ve been out of circulation for the past few months, nose in a book…actually nose in many books, learning as much as I can about the field of Information Architecture and User Experience Design. No time left over to get out and have an adventure. But now I have a new blog, loosely titled Phil [...]

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The Usable Tweet

October 22, 2011

If Twitter is part of your information ecology you are going to run smack into an interesting problem during the design phase – you have no control over the technology people use to access Twitter. Your users might come at you through a web app on the desktop or they might be using SMS on [...]

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Designing a Personal Information Ecology

September 24, 2011

I am putting together an online portfolio to showcase my abilities in research, structure and design. And of course you can’t think about a design portfolio without thinking about branding. And from branding it’s just a short walk to online presence. And now I’m thinking about my followers on Twitter – are they my users [...]

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Career Change as a Design Problem

September 6, 2011

It’s interesting how language shapes the way we think. For instance I’ve gone looking for jobs. Sometimes I’ve gone hunting for jobs. The result might be that I find a job opening and then get an interview. It recently occurred to me that a career change might be more like a construction project. For instance [...]

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My Career 2.0

September 3, 2011

I haven’t been blogging lately, not because I’ve been off section-hiking (I wish) but because I have been very actively rethinking my life and my career. The only way I can describe my mental state right now is something like histolysis, as if my brain were being dissolved by digestive juices the way a caterpillar [...]

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New Balance Minimus Trail First Run (Walk)

July 13, 2011

Let me start by crushing any notions that I’m any kind of elite trail runner. For my pace tone I use a recording of an old lady pushing a walker. I’ve got bad knees, a terrible bunion, and a collapsing metatarsal arch. I started “barefoot” running in Vibram Five Fingers a couple of years ago. [...]

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Micoach Running App for iPhone – FAIL

July 4, 2011

I’ve posted before how much I loved Adidas’ free iphone app for runners. Well, that’s over. About two weeks ago the app stopped synching with the server. I tried a number of things, including logging out. Now I can’t log back in. I get the dread error message “That didn’t work, please try again.” As [...]

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Writing a Novel in Tinderbox – Organize with Color

June 25, 2011

As I’m working on writing a novel using Eastgate’s Tinderbox to organize my notes, I’m continuing to think in terms of best practices. So far, I keeping hearing from users that it’s best to start simple and organize your notes in Map View. This is the easiest and most intuitive way to use Tinderbox. Map [...]

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Bacon Gravy

June 7, 2011

Just the thing to drizzle on your chicken fried steak open-face sandwich baked into an empanada and then grilled… Via Think Geek Share

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Come Home Alive – There’s an App for That

June 6, 2011

Christopher Van Tilburg talks on Outside Blog about a search and rescue operation that went far better than usual because the stranded hikers had a smartphone. Rescuers were able to get detailed coordinates and guide the hikers to a safe pickup location. Maybe smartphones should be basic equipment? If you are an adventuresome smartphone user, [...]

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