In reply to TheDrunkenBakers:
For home use theres not point getting into the stihl vs husky debate, they're both fine as are dolmar and jonsered but you wont find many enthusiasts for those in the uk.
I got a second hand husky a few years ago which has been fine, wasn't running properly but was cheap and like 99% of small engines just needed a clean and she was as good as new.
I did a two day cross cut course, it was good but it was a one day course squeezed into two days imo and the maintainance part of it was a little slow for anyone vaguely familiary with engines. I find most of these types of courses cover the same ground, risk assessments, pewer legislation, how an engine works etc. so if you've got a decent head on your shoulders and can look after yourself you can probably learn it from just reading the booklet but if you prefer learning from a person or are going to be using your saw a lot then it might be worth it.
PPE is cheap, boots and trousers don't use chaps. I mostly just use it for fire wood cutting on the ground so Ioften use head phones and goggles instead of a helmet if it's not messy, there's no risk of anything falling on my head and if the saw comes flying towards me the last thing I'll be worried about is whether I've got my plastic helmet onor not.
If you're cutting scrap wood instead of raw timber then you might find that a good reciprocating saw with a wood/metal blade might be better. If you've not got clean wood you'll end up spending most ofyour time sharpening your chain.
Post edited at 07:53