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Kickback, chain brakes and low-kickback chain

Updated September 19, 2026

Kickback is the bar snapping up and back toward you. It happens when the chain near the top of the bar tip touches something, or when the wood pinches the chain. Chain brakes and low-kickback chain reduce the risk. Canada's workplace safety centre is blunt about the limit: these devices will reduce but will not prevent kickback.

The kickback zone

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) describes kickback as the unexpected upward motion of the guide bar when the end portion of the bar nose, the kickback zone, strikes an object and the chain snags or is pinched. It says the bar tip may move upward and back toward the operator, who could suffer a very serious or fatal injury. A battery saw does this just as a gas saw does.

What to look for on a listing

• Chain brake. Stops the chain when the front hand guard is pushed forward or, on some saws, when a sensor trips. The EGO CS1613 has a kickback brake with a position indicator. The Greenworks 40V 16 in lists an electronic chain brake. The Husqvarna Power Axe 350i has a brake indicator light.
• Low-kickback bar and chain. The DEWALT DCCS621P1 and BLACK+DECKER LCS1020 listings both name one. Oregon says low-kickback chains that meet the ANSI guidelines carry a green mark in North America.
• Front hand guard and lock-off button. Both are on the BLACK+DECKER LCS1020 listing.

CCOHS adds a maintenance point people miss: make sure the chain brake works, because its stopping power can be greatly reduced by wear, oil, dirt or sawdust in the brake parts.

A note on "ANSI B175.1"

Listings and guides often cite ANSI B175.1 as the chainsaw safety standard. Read the title. ANSI's page calls it the standard for internal combustion engine-powered hand-held chain saws, and says its requirements apply to those saws and to replacement saw chains. So for a battery saw, the part that carries over is the chain: a low-kickback replacement chain falls under it. Do not assume the label "meets ANSI B175.1" on a battery saw listing means the whole tool was checked against a gas saw standard.

Habits that matter more than features

From the CCOHS list:

• Watch the bar nose. Do not let it touch logs, branches or the ground while the saw runs.
• Hold the saw with both hands and stand to the side of the cutting path, not directly behind it.
• Cut one piece at a time, at full power, with a sharp chain at the right tension.
• Match chain and bar for exact pitch and gauge. See pitch and gauge.
• Do not saw above shoulder height.

Recalls happen to safety parts too

In February 2018 the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a recall of Greenworks, Kobalt and Snapper cordless chainsaws with 16 or 18 inch bars and 80 or 82 volt batteries, because the chain brake guard could fail and let the saw keep running. It covered 48,100 saws in the U.S. None of the seven picks on this site is in that recall, and the Greenworks 40V 16 in is a 40V model, not one of the recalled 80V ones. Still, search the CPSC site for the model number of any saw you buy, new or used.

Run your own wood through the bar length and cuts calculator, or compare all seven picks on the roundup page.