***NSFW*** Critical Blunder (Injury Warning)

[Wheelhouse]

It's an old and important rule, all the more challenging because it's against instinct: if you drop a knife or a gun, let it fall.

We all catch a nick sooner or later -- glad it wasn't worse. Heal well.

 

[JACKMANDU]

Make sure you clean the detent on your folders. Laziness and pocket lint aren’t your friends
Ideally, put your knife in your pocket after you put your pants on.

View attachment 2030461

I thought the K20 hadn’t been released yet?

 

[Gusbuster]

When I was in the service about 40 years ago. I was stationed at MCAS El Toro in Orange County CA, one Friday afternoon one of our planes went down in a private cattle ranch, in the middle of nowhere, in Northern Arizona. I got volunteered to go on the recovery party. Luckily our pilot punched out and was fine, but our plane was in pieces on the side of a hill. We were staying in tents and had a CH53 helicopter. We would make daily flights into town and bring back some whiskey to have around the campfire at night. One night I guess I had a little too much whiskey, and decided to practice quick drawing my bayonet. I grabbed the sheath with my left hand and nearly severed the tip of my index finger. The next day I had to be flown to a nearby base to have my finger looked at. It was too late for stitches. I think the embarrassment was the worst part. The XO brought it up during a meritorious promotion board, and they all got a good chuckle over it.

Hope you have a speedy recovery DrBC

 

[Gusbuster]

Sorry double post

 

[Lorien]

insurance today is a joke.

USA has the MOST EXPENSIVE health care system in the WORLD.

We pay the most out of pocket for services and treatment.

An advanced society should be able to do better.

hey, what up Bernie Sanders?

 

[Pàdruig]

I've had a few cuts over the years but I think my worst one was with an axe. I've told the story a few times on the forums here, mostly when the argument, "to baton or not to baton" comes up. These types of accidents aren't any indication of stupidity but should be seen as learning opportunities. Seriously though, shit happens.

The thing that I did immediately after painting the snow red was clamp down on my hand and wiggle my thumb - I was pretty certain I had cut the tendon. Thankfully, no tendons cut and it healed nicely.

 

[Hammer67]

It is truly scary just how much momentum an axe in motion can have. I had a very minor slip years ago with a hatchet that was barely moving, and I was amazed at how deep it went. Knicked a tendon too, that I feel to this day if I bump it. Could have easily been much worse.

 

[Blues]

It is truly scary just how much momentum an axe in motion can have. I had a very minor slip years ago with a hatchet that was barely moving, and I was amazed at how deep it went. Knicked a tendon too, that I feel to this day if I bump it. Could have easily been much worse.

About 20 years ago, or a little over, I was cleaning up this tomahawk when my wife walked in and I looked up to say hi.

That was all it took to end up with 15 stitches in the back of my my right thumb...from the nail down across the joint.

 

[bluemax_1]

A falling knife has no handle. And you better be ready to dance too.

Learned a looong time ago to not grab at falling knives, and just do the "Run away! Run away!" tap dance.

Cut or poked myself enough to draw blood numerous times, but fortunately avoided anything that required stitches.

Worst one that I recall was like someone else's Balisong incident. Playing with one without paying attention, went for the grab a hair early and caught the edge, right before the handle slammed onto the fingers. Cut 3 fingers, but not deeply enough to cut any tendons.

I was maybe 15? Had to hide the injury from my parents, as I didn't want to deal with hearing about it

 

[bluemax_1]

No, a ZT 0452TI. One of the sharpest production folders I’ve owned.
Probably the scariest moment in my life as I was alone and didn’t know if I’d bleed out. Surprisingly, it barely bled at all.

Don't know if you're familiar with them, but it's why I advocate keeping CAT tourniquets handy and prestaged around the house (especially near tools and sharp things) and in all vehicles.

Could be a lifesaver in a serious bleed. Quicklot Combat Gauze (or Celox Rapid, if anyone in the household is on blood thinners or has hemophilia), is a good idea too, along with OLAES or Israeli bandages (I prefer the OLAES).

P.S.

ONLY buy CAT tourniquets from reputable EMS equipment dealers/retailers like NARescue, Chinook Medical etc.

I wouldn't buy CAT tourniquets from Amazon. A lot of reports of fake/counterfeit CAT tourniquets on Amazon (that fail when you try to use them).

Also a good idea to get a practice CAT (don't reuse a tourniquet you've practiced with), to familiarize/practice with and look up YT videos of prestaging a CAT (allows you to slip it on a limb and apply it 1-handed, in case your other arm is injured). Don't leave them encased in the cellophane they ship in. If you need it, it takes too long to remove the cellophane and stage the tourniquet.

I also recommend folks sign up for a Stop-The-Bleed class. They're availble free or for minimal cost in many cities.

 

[bluemax_1]

Unfortunately I am left handed. I know I know a natural born sinner in the eyes of most. But that’s why this cut and how it heals could heavily impact my life. I being left hand dominant with potential permanent never damage in my left index finger is quite worrying.

I do hope all heals up well without much to any true issues in a few months time.

Also thank you all for your kind wishes, words, and shared stories I love this community very much, there’s a lot of special and great people here in the CPK sub and BF in general! I hope everyone has a happy and safe New Years!

Hope it heals quickly.

 

[on_the_edge]

My cut body part stories pale in comparison to some posted here, but I did have occasion to go to the ER once for a "cut" to the index finger on my left hand. I was holding a hair that I was trying to split with Fallkniven U2 folder. If you've handled one, they are very thin and slicey. Anyhoo, my slow moving attempt to split the hair was not doing the job. The genius that I am, I instantly decided that I needed to add some speed to the equation to achieve the desired result. Bad move. I don't think I split the hair, but I did manage to take about a dime-sized portion of the tip of my index finger off in the process. The ER doc said putting it back wasn't really doable or an option or something along those lines. That was many years ago and the last time I tried splitting a hair with any knife. And the U2 was immediately sold!

 

[Blues]

The ER doc said putting it back wasn't really doable or an option or something along those lines. That was many years ago

They told me the same thing in 1970...and I told the Doc, I don't care, sew it back on. If it doesn't work, I'm not out anything. He wasn't used to taking orders from an 18 year old.

It worked. It was on the back of the index finger, below the nail at the joint.

 

[Blues]

^^^^^

I told my family that it happened pulling the tab off a can of soda. My sister would never use a tab again. 40 years later I told her the truth. She wasn't amused. (I wasn't about to tell them I had been slashed by a guy with a knife when I ran into a dorm room to stop an assault on a female student...my first week in college. Yeah, that'd have gone over well.)

 

[bluemax_1]

They told me the same thing in 1970...and I told the Doc, I don't care, sew it back on. If it doesn't work, I'm not out anything. He wasn't used to taking orders from an 18 year old.

It worked. It was on the back of the index finger, below the nail at the joint.

My Grandmother supposedly (not sure if they were pulling my leg or not) had a thumb reattach without surgery when she was young.

Was chopping stuff and didn't realize she'd chopped off her thumb at the base of the nail, until she saw the blood. She ran back into the house and showed her sister (mom?) who ran outside and found the severed thumb. Being dirt poor, they couldn't afford to take her to the doc, so they just put the thumb back on and wrapped it.

It supposedly reattached miraculously. Grandma claims it was all kinds of funny colors, and the nail fell off, but eventually it grew back and the funny colors went away. There's a line that goes all the way around her thumb exactly as I would think from it being severed. She said that it was a little numb, but she had no real issues from it (she passed away over 2 decades ago, in her late 80s).

 

[SomebodySomewhere]

Deleted.

 

[toker]

Make sure you clean the detent on your folders. Laziness and pocket lint aren’t your friends
Ideally, put your knife in your pocket after you put your pants on.

Were you caught with 20 different farmer's daughters simultaneously? You had to have put those pants on with the fury of a thousand suns.

 

[R_Shackelford]

Yikes! Glad you’re all patched up with good prognosis for recovery.

My worst knife injury was when making one in my garage. I was drilling holes for the handles and the drill bit bound up in the tang and helicoptered on the drill press, cutting the meat at the base of my thumb. It was a bit of a mess, but nowhere near as nasty as some of the cuts in this thread.

Edited to add: this was the second time this happened, which made it particularly dumb on my part. I did at least buy a clamp after the second time. Fool me twice…

 

[Crag the Brewer]

Yeah, I thought this story was going to end embedded in a foot. Glad it wasn’t worse.

The stupidest thing I've done (with a knife)'since this post is now as a learning lesson......

Is walking with a razor sharp machet/chopper on a wet deck with slippery shoes, with the blade unsheathed. This would be true in the woods too. Never move, walk unsheathed, if you don't have to.....

Idk if it was the fact I was a typical little boy who played in the woods with sharp things my whole life, or my years of training/not likely, or just dumb F'ing luck?

But when I Fell, in slow motion...... I watched as I purposely kept my hand holding the blade of death AWAY from my body as the rest of me went splat on the wet slippery deck.I

I was Very fortunate. Blessed really. Wow!

It was one of those moments where I was Soooo stupid for what I did, but felt proud for how I handled it. ...... My wife wasn't nearly as impressed.

 

[betzner]

I have had some pretty nasty wounds. There were two major ones with a double edge 3v Carothers Shiv. Many of us were affected by the Fototime fiasco and lost images that could never be found. That's where most of my wound pics resided, though I found this image. It occurred when I was 73ish...