It bit me!!! (Ode to Old Hickory)

Codger_64

Codger_64

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My son just returned from the emergency room. Using a knife inappropriately (as a screwdriver), it slipped and cut a nice clean gash in the web of his hand between the thumb and nose finger. Five stitches. Not too bad, but at least it wasn't his new Sharpfinger (Schrade content). It was instead, one of my Old Hickory paring knives which I keep razor sharp. He didn't even notice the cut until the red stuff was flying. I love a sharp knife!

We'll go back and review "tool and knife use 101" this afternoon. Lord knows I've never cut myself. Oh yeah. Well, never completely lost a diget. Oh yeah. Well, a knife in hand is better than a hacksaw across the knuckle! I hate it when you pull the blade from the bone and it goes "twang"!! Boys will be boys. Maybe he'll look a bit harder for the Phillips screwdriver next time!

This is one reason why I keep a roll of Mil-spec duct tape in my truck. A quick wrap and I'm good to finish out the day. Sutureing can wait until I am home and have had time for the flow to stop. I know that none of you have ever cut yourselves with your knives, so these hints are meant for the lurkers who stop by, wondering what knives are, and the varying degrees of sharpness one can attain. "Hair popping" is how I like to keep my work and kitchen knives. Let the borrower beware.

Codger
 
I was drilling through a thin piece of sheet metal and holding the piece down with my left hand. After the bit caught and swung the metal around a few times I realized I probably should have used a few good clamps. I had a couple of cuts in the web area between my thumb and index finger. I tried my family doctor but they told me I had to go to the ER. I went to the ER and they fixed me up with 4 stitches.
The bill comes a few weeks later and it's for over $1400!! The insurance paid most of it but it still seems like highway robbery for 4 stitches.

Glad to hear he didn't cut himself any worse or anywhere vital!
 
Thanks. Our insurance covered it 100%. Mine does not for me. That is why for something as simple as cuts, I just stitch myself. Toughest is the right hand. I am not very good with the left working forceps to push and pull the needle. It took forever to sew my knuckle back on, because my spouse and daughter just said "eeeewww!!!", and left me to do it on my own. Superglue works for some of the smaller cuts, and lasts longer than duct tape too.

This was my son's first stitches, so at fourteen, he has indeed led a sheltered life. He has had one broken arm though, so there is some hope for him yet.

This reminds me, I need to get some more suture and scalpel packs. I lost touch with my friends who were EMT's, and the docs are cracking down on handing them out to the public. Can't stand the competition, I guess.

Codger
 
Hope your son's hand heals quickly.

Whenever I've cut myself with a knife, it has usually been my own fault. When I pinched my palm using a Gerber multi-tool pliers, it was the tool's fault.
 
I cut myself with hand saws a couple times in my younger days.A saw cut is worse than a knife as the teeth tear and not cut.Don't see many people using the old Disstons today.
Worst I've had was losing my fingerprint on my left index finge when I got careless with a small,handheld power planer.It took a 1/4" off the pad in a heartbeat.It also taught me not to carry on a conversation while using power equipment.:o
Ron
 
Christmas Day, Standing Rib Roast, Old Hickory Boning Knife, and of course, Liquid Bandaid. The knife barely touched my back side of my thumb - thankfully the knuckle bone on my thumb kept it from going deeper. I totally understand.

I never saw so much of my own blood until I took up this precarious hobby.
 
and they say Rugby is a rough game. Guess ya gotta give a little blood to keep knives. I do.
 
Oh yes, thirsty little buggers. Maybe that is why I prefer fixed blades, easier to control the muzzle, like a long rifle. I am still glad that it wasn't his new Sharpfinger. It would have severed a tendon, or gone through the palm to the hilt. I hate having to pull a knife out of someone's palm. I think he learned a lesson though. And he picked on me all evening before going to the church dance, so he got over all the shots and stitching. We'll see if he is brave still when it is time for "Dr. Dad" to pull the stitches. He'll heal in record time, not in the weeks it takes me now. And he'll have a new scar to show the girls at school, and probably an amazing story of the knife fight he was in on New Year's Eve.

Codger
 
With my unique mechanical acumen where would I begin. However strangely of all tools the double incline plane or knife is the only one I seem to be able to use without much damage er to my self, that is. It is no joke I hope your sons dicomfort is minimal. LT PS OH yes one other tool I am fairly adapt with the automated hole punch. ie firearms. PPS How I would tell the story. There I was hung over poised with my 11 inch ( pause for effect and for the reader to conjure there own perverted fantasys ). Razor edged Old Hickory ( imbued with the spirit of Andrew Jackson himself ) carver. I was fast he was faster just one slip and Big Rib ( the meanest tenderest roast in town ) made his play oh yeah he went down in the end but who can forget that Christmas day when Big roast made his play and my bandaid shows the price I paid.

To the tune of Big Iron Marty Robbins lament Big Roast Big Roast.
 
Yes, the damage was minimal, and he missed the juicy parts, so for him, the dread of the needles was worse than the bite. I suffered my share of minor and major cuts as a kid (and adult), so being the one with the cool head in the house, I examined the cut, rinsed it (stang!:eek: ), wrapped it with a small pressure dressing, and pronounced him good to go.... for shots and stitches. I forgot that his mother is a "sight-of-blood-fainter", and let her take him. She did well though until the doc made her look at it.

Other than cutting my finger off, my worst (embarrasing cut) was while standing in a pool cutting out the stair opening with onlookers, while trying to explain what I was doing, I felt a little sting. The thumb of the hand holding the vinyl out for the utility blade was flayed to the bone, and gushing. I squeezed it shut and sent the homeowner to my truck for my trusty duct tape, and after a few really tight wraps, finished the now very bloody pool. I pay more attention to the blade now. NEVER let the customer see fear or pain! Save that for the docs and nurses. By the way, telling them you are allergic to stainless steel will not belay Nurse Cratchett from stabbing you with a turkey baster full of tetnus vaccine. I think they make a comission on the stuff! Terry (object of this discussion) told the nurse he would have a really bad athesma attack if she gave him a shot. I forgot to warn him that one don't work either.

Codger
 
Codger, after 10 years in the a/c business I can tell you ,you need to use pvc cleaner before the duct tape.Toby
 
I once used a leather man supertool to disassemble a battery charger that was on a table chest high and the tool slipped and the phillips head screwdriver went through my bottom lip just above the chin! talk about painful it hurt like well you can probably imagine.
 
Codger,

You talking about taking out your own stiches reminds me of my dad. He ran the meat market in a grocery store that he and my mom owned. He cut his hands several times, and he always took his own stitches out.

When I think about how sharp and large his knives were, and how fast he cut (he really was faster than most butchers that I've ever watched), it amazes me that he only had a few "minor" cuts all through his long career. It was funny when he'd cut himself. You'd always here him shout something and then he'd grab an apron and wrap it up before he looked at it. Then, he'd slowly open the apron to see how bad it was. The only injuries that I remember are that he'd catch the side or end of a finger every 4 or 5 years. Pretty amazing for a man who could completely cut up a chicken with his eyes clothes in under a minute.
 
Just one of my learnings:

Never place a 153UH in your rear pocket blade out and then a few minutes later wipe your wet muddy hands on the backside of your jeans. That was as close to slicing an artery I ever wanna get.
Lots of fur was lost and the scar is about the size of a quarter. No stiches.
 
I suppose you expect me to tell you not to "Rambo" your knife between your teeth on a swim? That should be obvious to everyone. It is to me now.:rolleyes: Dayum movies!

Codger
 
iarry,

You are "en fuego" tonight!!.....have we finally forced you out of your shell, "Big Dog"???????

Show us the BLUE one.....:D

TTYL

Bill
 
"A sharp knife is dangerous, a dull knife is more dangerous".

Once I cut a hanging hair, then turned it over and attempted to cut what was left of it but took off a slice of my thumb instead...ouch, my daughter fixed it with gauze and tape.

Yesterday I was bit by a waiters corkscrew, just a tiny little thing, best thing to use after something like this is alcohol, ingested of course...

Luis
 
lrv said:
What teeth?
Click to expand...
Even I was young and foolish once upon a time (and had real teeth). I think it was the Errol Flynn factor.

Another "don't do" is squat down suddenly with a sharpfinger in a belt sheath that has rotated to the front. They definately can be forced through the sheath bottom. I learned to tuck mine in on the northwest corner of my southbound...mule.

Codger
 
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