Please don't "just fire 'er up and use it". I've been through this one before (I think? Might have been on PB) My dad's a WCB guy and has see lot's of people who cut wood for a living (experienced people) get injured/killed with/by chainsaws, or even by the trees they're working on. I strongly recommend you take a safety course, you definately do need safety equipment (helmet with faceshield, hearing, gloves and chaps), you definately need a first aid kit. If you're out far in the bush and don't have a service road or some way for people to get your bleeding mass out of the woods quickly on, please use the chainsaw as little as possible. If it's hot and dry and there's any forest fire risk, leave the saw at home. Start with a smaller saw and cut with somone who knows what they're doing for quite some time (check the WCB site for recommended training/experience) before you move up to something you can make kitchen tables with. Always cut with a sharp chain, always cut with the right chain for the kind of cutting you're doing. Never cut tired, never bomb start, never carry the thing running. Always check your cutting area, never cut a fallen tree on the downside of a slope. Never…. k, this is going to take too long to write out. Just take a course and they'll teach you all this stuff.
You'll get alot of guys who will tell you common sense is all you need. Most of those guys are recreational users and havn't had an incident or know of anyone who's hurt themselves. People who cut for a living will never say just giver. Chainsaws are right up there with driving a motor vehicle and using a firearm on the potential danger scale. Only you don't need a license or any experience to use one. What makes them so bad is the multiple kinds of danger (cutting yourself, springback, crushing, impalement, fire, noise) as well as your out in the woods so your time to the emergency room is that much longer. Bleeding or shock can kill you really fast even if you've got first aid available. Also, alot of the dangers aren't always obvious. It's often hard to read the stress in a fallen tree. Fear and respect that chainsaw! It's a great tool but man can it F you up fast.
Sorry for the rant but I've worked in a timber lab and in manufacturing for over a decade and I've seen 3 people almost bleed to death (none were chainsaw injuries, one was a fall from heights, one was a grinding wheel exploding, and one was a guy crushed by a piece of equipment). It's not a fun experience watching somebody bleed while waiting for an ambulance.
k, rant officially over… enjoy trail building, please don't hurt yourself.