how embarrassing - cut myself with my Victorinox Huntsman .... I'm getting old

[ShaiHulud]

My worst cut was more of a stab, from an esee 4 through my right foot, I was tossing it up in the air and catching it by the handle, and I got good enough to start adding rotations, mastered one 360 rotation spins, two spins--- not so much.
The tip came hurling at speed towards the cement and without thinking I immediately put my foot out to catch the tip, worried moreso about damaging the tip than anything else.
initially I just wanted to extend my foot out to cushion the fall and I've been successful at this a few times before, but this time I ended up just kicking the tip as if it was a soccer ball. The pain was acutely sharp, followed by a sensation of soggy warmth and an incessant itch--- and blood, lots of blood

 

[The Grendels]

"Hey. Look at this." moments are generally when we're at our most vulnerable. I handle knives every day, at least 2-4 different ones, but only cut myself good about once every ten years. The last time was with my Boker Plus PryMini Pro being put into use on a ranch for the first time. I brought it to do some work because it was one that could be easily replaced if someone stole it from my airplane luggage on the way there. I had been carrying it clipped into a jacket pocket but on the day of the incident and my last day up north I had it scout carried on my belt, under a heavy winter coat. A feature of the PryMini Pro sheath is that there's a small uncovered gap in the Kydex sheath where if you grab the sheath and pull it out, you're going to have a very bad day, especially pulling it out unseen to show to someone who was another knife enthusiast. I probably could have used three stitches, but I had a long drive home with a rental truck packed with meat so I just had to suck it up. My girlfriend has a serious hate on for that knife because of what it did, refuses to use it for anything, and doesn't want me using it. Good knife, just be mindful of the sheath.

 

[scorpnsnake]

True story.

Years ago my grandfathers neighbor cut all four fingers off of his left hand with a radial arm saw. Nice and clean so they reattached them.

After they healed he had a party. Late in the evening he was in the garage showing a group of guys what happened. During the demonstration he absent mindedly cut the same four off again, with the very same saw..

Since he had been drinking, they sprayed like a sprinkler all over the onlookers.

They were able to attach them again. But he lost another 1/8".

 

[edgelion]

If i had a nickel...

Remember that young lady SMKW used to have on some of their social media vids couple years ago? Swaggs, or something?

It was interesting because she wasn't much older than my oldest daughter, who has witnessed my folly her whole life and has a healthy respect for sharp things. For as seldom as I'd bother to watch those promos, what caught my attention was how quickly she caught on despite walking into it with zero prior experience. I'd leave a thumbs up here and there. Only comment I remember posting was two words: "nice bandaids." Because we all know.

One of their next posts was this followup video about knife related injuries and safety and a lot of similar stories to the ones in this thread. Maybe I touched a nerve.

Anyway, one of my oldest scars was from showing my mom how all growed up i was to use my thrift store survival knife to poke air holes in a jar lid for some bugs I caught. Last week it seemed like a good idea to press cut a carnation stem using my thumb so that my youngest could dry the bloom. My kids get regular object lessons in what not to do. We keep nice bandaids well stocked.

 

[The Hawk]

I had a part time job at the local knife shop many years ago. Every day I saw guys cut themselves while testing the sharpness of blades. We kept a box of band-aids on the counter for that reason. Needless to say, I have also cut myself messing with my knives.

 

[Less Than Sharpest]

Last weekend I was playing around with a new Spyderco PM2, finger flicking it open and closing it while I was watching a movie, and I shifted my weight without realizing that my foot was about a foot closer. I flicked the knife and the tip went into my foot. It took five seconds to get to the bathroom and I left a considerable blood trail on the carpet. It was embarrassing but one of my friends said that I had bonded with that knife. It happens, but I always make certain blades are clean.

 

[Cobalt]

Like others have said, you are not a knife guy if you haven't cut yourself, in my case many times.

My two worst cuts were as follows..
Back in the 90s I was practicing sharpening knives. Well I had some cheap tanto that I worked on for a day. A whole day. That thing was so sharp it was scary. So sharp in fact that when I stuck into the sheath it bit into the side of the sheath as I was putting it in and went through the side and through the middle of my hand coming out the back of my hand. I was impressed and in pain.

The next one was with a 90s benchmade large CQC7, ATS34, model. I was trying to cut a hole into double drywall, wall. Not having any luck, I figured the CQC7 could go through the wall easily to get me started. I opened it halfheartedly and didn't pay attention to where the lock was. Well it wasn't opened all the way but just enough to feel locked open. I started pushing to go into the drywall and realized I was going to have to put all my body weight on it. I did. The result was it folded up and nearly severed my index finger off. Cut all the way to the bone of the second knuckle. So clean, I felt no pain. But man what a bleeder.

There has been dozens more over a lifetime with the first being at the age of 5.

So it is the club of the blade. Lol.

 

[Alberta Ed]

I never feel a knife is mine until I see some of my blood.

 

[Cobalt]

I never feel a knife is mine until I see some of my blood.

Seems like many of my favorites have bit me

 

[BigW]

Unpopular opinion maybe, but this is the reason I’m not a fan of “non-locking” blades. That initial resistance when pushing the blade closed makes me nervous every time. This is made especially worse on the smaller SAKs where you don’t even have a lot of real estate to grab onto the handle.

My Dad has a Victorinox that requires quite a bit of force to close. Never seen him carry it and he prefers fixed blades or Spydercos.

Locking blades (of any type really) feel more predictable and easier to open/close.

disclaimer first: everything I write here is anecdotal, so in no way scientistic evidence!

wrt locking vs non-locking: the worst incident I had actually with my Leatherman Wave when I tried to remove some plastic from a vacuum cleaner - too much pressure and the blade slipped ....was the only time my hand needed stiches. Now the Leatherman has a locking blade. The accident - it is still just a smaller cut that usually heals in 2-3 days - I had with the Victorinox Huntsman was the first I had with an Victorinox with a non-locking blade.
Considering that the Huntsman may well be the most used EDC for me I think it is actually really safe to use. I really like the Huntsman; I can't find an alternative that gives me so many tools with so little weight and is so easy to carry in the pocket. The Wave is good and gives me a plier, but it is already much heavier in the pocket, and the Surge - chunk of metal - with all the goodies I only use on constructions sites for commissioning jobs etc....

Eta: another favourite I use as an alternative to the Huntsman is the Victorinox Outrider with similar tool set, but a bigger sturdier single blade; however, it is also significant bigger and heavier.

 

[Wowbagger]

You're not getting old, I'm sure SAK have a record of self-inflicted wounds higher than any other knives
I had my deepest, worst cut ever while whistling with a Victorinox.

I beg to differ I use SAK's every day ; some times more than one in the same day and have for decades. They never cut me . I am super used to slipjoints though. In fact I have NEVER figured out why a half stop is desirable ; for me it is just an unwanted blip while closing the knife . Of course when I close a slip joint or even a Buck 110 one handed I press the spine of the blade against my leg once I have pressed it part way with my thumb . I never try to close it in my palm with a finger press all the way .

The brand that bites me the most are heavy blade Cold Steels. I love all my Cold Steel knives (!) but some of them really swing when I unlock them and I have to relearn on some of them to point the knife down when I unlock it and close with one hand , rather than horizontal like I would one of my other back locks .
Usually just a super thin line across the back of my finger that doesn't even bleed but it's still a wakeruppper .

 

[norcalAF]

I have a ZT0620 that I was using to cut the wax off a bottle of wine that had no pull tab, and bit myself pretty good on the back of the support hand. Luckily missed the nearby major vein, but I could see far farther into my hand than ever before. Healed up with a nice small scar that reminds me to be more careful.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

One of my better ones occurred when I was a much younger lad. My girlfriend at the time (Wife now) and I had gone camping. In typical Alaska tradition, we got off work late, were poorly packed, drove a couple hundred miles, landed as we were losing the last of daylight, and then groggily stumbled out into the woods to search for deadfall and dry wood to make a fire. I had a poorly chosen hatchet for wood processing...a Normark skinning axe. I was still too young and hard headed to understand that was a poor choice at the time, but...I had a VERY sharp edge on it. With it being so very light and thin, I had to swing for the bleachers with every stroke of that thing. So, I go to bust up an old limb, Went full swing, when like...in slow motion I saw my GF's hand appear EXACTLY where I was striking. I hit reverse thrust mid swing, but still saw it come down on top of her thumb. I braced myself for the shrieks of pain, and was already fixing to take off my shirt to wrap the wound until I could get her to a first aid kit and the hospital.

My jaw bounced off the mossy ground when she just kept...doing what she was doing, non-plussed, non-bothered, everything was peacjy keen. I was wondering if I had an optical illusion or something? She eventually curses under her breath and says a thorn must have gotten her, cause her thumb was bleeding. I looked as innocent as I could and clucked with concern. Then she said it must have been a helluva thorn, cause she was REALLY bleeding. I took a look at it, and saw that it was indeed fairly deep. I told her to sit this one out, I'd gather the rest of the firewood and get the fire going. Once I had given her a good fire, a cup of coffee, and a full belly, (Never fess up to something when she's still hangry) I fessed up that was not a thorn that had gotten her. she was more surprised than anything. Did not want to engage in the blame game. She was somewhat bemused by the whole matter. I cleaned the wound up and though it could have used a stitch or two, we had long gotten used to superglue, popsicle sticks, and duct tape. It stayed clean, was remarkably not painful, and healed quite rapidly. She's a good woman. She still brings it up now and then to brag up my sharpening skills. Lotda folks would not bring that up with such kind intentions.