In light of recent news events, I have a poll:

Thanks, Hungarian. And ya know the heck of it? In my own mind, I barely qualify as much of an outdoorsman at all. Though I think living in Colorado, you hear so many of these kind of "knuckleheads in action" type of stories, you do pick up a thing or two, if you just pay attention.

Couple follow-ups on questions 'n stuff ... supposedly, someone went back and retrieved the arm (hopefully not on the taxpayers' dime) and the doctors have said they would have had to amputate it anyway, the damage was so severe. However, Ralston claims he had to do some serious twisting and wrenching to break the bones in order to get free. I'm a bit skeptical of Ralston's whole story, BTW, and suspect there's some embellishment there, but this is what the news is reporting.

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein
 
Like to know what he say if he was asked if he could do it all over again would he still have wacked his arm ?
 
Originally posted by ColoradoDave
Somewhat off-topic for a moment, and maybe I'm going to ruffle some feathers saying this ... but living in Colorado, I'm beginning to get more than mildly annoyed with the incessant "news" reporting about Aron Ralston (the guy who amputated his arm.) As I see it, Ralston is a reckless risk-taker. He was caught in a avalanche back in February, and hadn't advised anyone of where he was hiking this time.

The media holding Ralston out as some kind of courageous, skilled outdoorsman, or even a hero, is a gross misrepresentation. Whatever outdoor skills he may have are obviously rendered of far less value because of his lack of good judgement.

So, as to your question ... well, first off, before I decided what knife I wanted to have with me in case I needed to perform self-surgery, I'd tell somebody where I was going. If possible, I'd photocopy my detailed trail map of the area and mark my intended hike for them. I'd take appropriate survival gear, flares, blankets, etc. and more than adequate water and nourishment. Personally, I would choose to have a firearm with me. And I'd have a good fixed-blade knife, of course -- one suitable for the usual wilderness and camping chores you might run into, and which I could use in pinch for ... well, something far more grim. And I'd hope that my proper planning would make it unnecessary for me leave a part of my precious body behind.

Sorry about the rant. I feel better now, with that off my chest.
Click to expand...

I agree with your rant, but my question was only a hypothetical situation. It's not uncommon, really - people frequently discuss the best self-defense weapon when they have no expectation of ever needing one.
 
I agree, MightyGoat; wasn't objecting to the question at all, and I'm sorry if it came off that way. Just spewin' a bit after all the adoration this guy seems to be getting from the media, which seems misplaced, IMO.

My guess would be that the "ideal" knife for something like this is going to depend on the person and their knowledge of anatomy. Someone with a medical background might very well choose a fine edge blade, as sharp as possible, and not necessarily all that large, as they would know how to cleanly separate a limb at the joint. Some of us, on the other hand, would probably do best with a belt of whiskey, a bullet to bite on, and just takin' a good, hard whack at it with a khukuri (yeow!)
 
... there are people that WANT TO lose their limbs and will do anything to do it.

http://nhnh.essortment.com/whatisselfmu_rdqn.htm

I remember www.cruel.com had a web site in which a woman worshipped women that had no arms. She was obssessed and fixated to wanting to have her own two prosthetic arms. She was willing to have her own arms surgically removed in order to do it. Most people like this seem to have some kind of emotional self-esteem issues. They usually like drama in their lives, are starving for attention, and fatalistic.

Anyways, if it was me I would have a pry bar of a knife with me. Something huge from Busse, Becker, Ryan, or Strider to chop my way out of it. I figure in five days I should chip enough away at the boulder to free my arm and look for help. My arm might be slavageable if I was to work fast. Better than cutting it off completely.
 
Wow :(.., actually.., I admit I haven't heard many reports about this.., but for those of you that are actually grabbing onto what the media says..., and framing the guy as some idiot.., I think that's a little pre-mature.

I really don't KNOW the whole story.., and maybe some of you do, but a number of physiological and psychological dynamics can come into play in a situation like that, and it's much easier to "Pop-off" typing in a cozy room, than to be in the situation this guy was faced with.

I totally agree about his lack of good judgement about several things, and they've been mentioned, but trashing the guy because the media feeds on this stuff is also out of line (in my opinion).

I'd be the first one to say I've done a few "Adventures" I think may not have been Phi-Beta-Kappa.., but geeeeeeeesh..., the man cut off his arm folks! If he did that because he is a bottomless pit of need for attention ~~~> then he's totally nuts, but I suspect he was simply following an ill-advised pattern of behavior about his "Adventure Habits"..., and as I said....I haven't followed it closely and don't know the details.

What the media does, and how they report anything is always a convoluted mess. Why??? Because they want to break a phenomenal story. We see that daily.., just watch the News.

Of course the media will "Spin" this in some form of heroic prose, but until I hear more.., I'm not sure it wasn't just bad luck..., and a strategy seen as the only way to survive for a guy that's done this a lot on his own.

If I'm off base and someone has information about this guy I'm not aware of, then enlighten me, but as of now...., I frame it as a pretty gutsy decision regardless of his lack of good judgement in planning.
 
Let's put things in perspective here, remember the California earthquake a while back? A guy had to do something similar, I don't recall if it was a leg or an arm, but the point is here was a guy driving down the highway when an overpass fell on him.

Unlike the guy in Colorado, he was not doing something dangerous,(than again driving in CA can be very dangerous) I'm not taking away from the fact that he cut his arm off to save his life, it's the fact that he put himself in an unsafe situation to start with.

It's one thing to find yourself in a situation like that through no fault of your own, it's another to put yourself there through poor planning, and being unprepared.
 
This question is irrelevant, your honour because for most of us our moment of greatest danger is falling off from the couch after dozing off from watching seven hours of TV.

The fall from the couch would probably hurt our head and what we need is not a knife but thicker carpet. :D
 
Nine years ago, a friend of mine got his arm stuck in a hay bailer while the tractor, and bailer was running. His uncle had left for a lunch break, and he was all alone. He took out his Old Timer stockman, and tried to cut his arm off. He did manage to cut to the bone before he dropped the knife, and luckily this gentleman stopped by inquiring to buy some of the hay, and managed to shut down the tractor, get his arm unstuck, and drive him to the emergency room.

My buddy has his arm still, but sometimes it will bother him.
 
Well boys this convinced me. From now on I'll be packing one those small cordless circular saws with a full charge in my emergency kit!

phantom4
 
A good multi-tool. The saw could come in handy for cutting through the bone. I saw the gentleman on the news today. He said he had to break the bones by torquing them because his knife wouldn't cut through them.
 
I'm with you guys on the notification issue. This is basic common sense. Jeez! even a note on the dashboard of his car would have pointed people in the right area. We could, "what if" about this for a while. Glad I've never had to decide to sever a limb. I have had some scary moment outdoors. I was a crap boyscout and didn't last long , but the "be prepared" bit stuck with me. Even on day hikes I carry a good blade, usually an Al Mar s2k,paracord and some kind of first aid. I have been a little slack about a whistle but I'll make sure it's included.
Now!for the what would I cut my arm off with.
My sister,an active climber, and I were having this conversation yesterday. She carries a partially serrated Kershaw Scallion, as I said I like s2k's.What we both said is that a fixed blade with serrations like the new design s2k operator with a sawback suddenly seems much less like overkill.
My body hurts just thinking about it.
 
first off:
Colorado Dave, I am from Colorado too ( Aurora )
AND you are right. You dont go hiking alone or go with out plans and maps and people to call etc. ( by the way why no cell phone ? )

two: knife I would use ? Well you have to be able to have something sharp to cut muscle and all the soft stuff... and ... have to have a saw to cut bone. Gotta be a multi plier miminum.

We hiked a lot ( did boy scouts for 10 years ) and taught some survival stuff. One thing we did for some back packing weekends... We carried a small wood saw blade. Just teh blade. You could cut a sappling and tie the blade to the sappling and have a decent saw to cut wood with. Made life easier making shelters and fire etc. Large knives are heavy as well as are axes to back pack around with.
( although I personally liked carrying a small axe with a good flat surface on the back for a hammer ) Pesonally I always liked a axe to a large knife. My carry knife ususally was a 5 " Western with a leather stacked handle. Although now I got a Cold Steel SRK.

Jack
 
Some of you are missing the point. Aron Ralston seems like someone who is very experienced in the backcountry, and more importantly, tough enough that when the **** hit the fan, he was able to improvise and do something to get himself out of the situation. To all those armchair quarterbacks that condemn him for not doing things like carrying a cell phone, well let me be the first to tell you that there are many places in the wilderness that a cell phone won't do you any good. The narrow box canyon that he was reported to be trapped in would have been one of them.

Let's gain some perspective - he was trapped for FOUR DAYS, and ran out of water and food early in the ordeal. He kept his wits about him, prepped for his best course of action and executed an extremely difficult and painful amputation on himself on day four without the benefit of aenethetics. THEN he set a tourniquet to control the loss of blood, set up a multiple point anchor and rapelled to the bottom of this canyon with ONE HAND and proceded to hike out back to his car. When search officials caught up with him he was still mobile and only three kilometers from his vehicle. When the rescue helicopter arrived at the ER he walked into the ER under his own steam.

The most important thing to remember is that he took responsibilty for his actions. Even though he made an error in judgement, he dealt with it as best as he could and moved on.

If I ever have the chance to meet him, I'd buy this tough SOB a beer.
 
Extremely well put crucible! I don't know if my Nads are big enough to do what this guy did. And the composure he showed after the ordeal, showing both humor and a degree of humility.

My hat is off to this guy. His courage and fortitude are legendary.

You bet, I'd buy a beer or fifteen for Aron Rolston.

For me to do this I'd need a hefty cleaver (very sharp) and a big honkin crying towel :footinmou
 
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