I have the Milwaukee flavoured one, but they all seem to operate the same way. I did a review on LJ... waiting to migrate my reviews. The blade on mine looks much shorter, however, that blade guarsd on the Skill seems a neat safety addition, though I could see it getting in the was (even with the pivot hinge).
Safe as any other cutting blade. Handled with care and following instructions should cause no grief, but if people chose to be cowboys, their damage potential is high... as any chainsaw.
The knuckle guard on the Milwaukee is not to protect the knuckles... it is designed as a hold on/anchor for the lose hand to keep it out of danger.
These are not intended to replace a chainsaw, but to get into those tight spots with better one handed control where a chainsaw would be dangerous/cumbersome...
I could sum it up as a short handled polesaw,
With 2 x 21V batteries, you could cut down a small forest with that Skill.
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
