I can't believe the fatalism displayed by a lot of the contributors of this thread! How can anyone assume and engine failure and force landing is a crash! (No wonder the tabloids revel in it!).
All the time you have control of the aeroplane, your fate is in your hands. Once you pull the handle and deploy the chute you have lost it!
I've had three engine failures of which one ended with a forced landing in a field. The other two were on climb out (probably where engine failure is most likely btw). They were both partial and both ended by landings on the airfield. I've also landed out in gliders a couple of times and regularly fly into fields electively.
Yes I'd pull the chute in certain conditions, but it would be last resort!!! I'm confident in my ability to walk away from a forced landing from a height where I had thinking time ... any less and the chute would probably be of no use anyway! Over confident? ... I honestly don't think so!
SS