Who has actually hit themselves with an axe/hatchet/tomahawk?

I was splitting a big pine round with an axe when I was 14 or 15 and there was a large knot that turned the blade and sent it into my shin, right on the bone. It didn't break, might have fractured but I never got it X-Rayed. It was, to that date, the most painful experince of my life and I rolled on the ground screaming bloody murder for about five minutes. When I got myself under control I found a cut in my jeans and a small cut in my skin but since there was so little meat between the skin and the bone there was really no meat there to cut and it didn't look like much. Since then I adhere to the handle length rule for splitting. I have also had a metal wedge go spinning into the same shin years later and I've stopped using those as well.
 
I was in an awkward position cutting through the thick base of a shrub for a neighbor. On the reset the head either stuck a bit or I hit something and deflected the poll into my shin. It hit the meat, fortunately, so I didn't break the bone, but it was both embarrassing and educational. Next time I will take the extra minutes to go and get out a saw in a confined space.
 
Not me, but my younger brother was screwing with my (now) Finnish Billnas axe, which came very sharp. He was probably 8 or 9 years old, hit a piece of firewood, stacked underneath our porch, and it glanced off and hit him in his left leg. Luckily for him, it was just a corner of the blade, not the full faced of the blade, so it just cut him, did not break or cut thru his leg bone (below his knee). My Mother was an Emergency Room Nurse, and a quick cleaning and some bandages and it was over. I think he was more worried about what our Father might do to him as he had been told not to used that axe. John
 
20230101_194538.jpgThat hole in the middle is why you don't stand up while using a short-handled axe. Wound was fairly superficial, but at the time I couldn't tell how deep so I superglued it shut and my brothers and I hiked 3 miles back to the trailhead. Ruined the overnight trip 😆. I'm a lot more careful with axes now.
 
Yes, I have. Cold Steel Plainsman's tomahawk, limbing a fallen cottonwood after a Spring snowstorm here in Colorado. Split my foot open between two toes on my right foot. Went right through the toe of a leather boot, severed the tendon, and hit the bone. Had the angle been more perpendicular to the foot, I'd have lost one or two toes.

Somewhere I have a pic of the closed wound after visiting the E.R.

I'm all recovered. I've had much worse injuries since then, but none due to edged things.

Zieg
 
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I love chopping wood.

I’ve “bumped” myself with a tomahawk twice after a glancing blow. Neither incident drew blood.

For some reason the first one didn’t really bother me, but after the second close-call I decided to think more and chop less.

I’m now more frequently changing my body position to ensure safety, and I’m now extremely aware of the direction/arc that a heavy blade will/could possibly take and plan accordingly.

I actually gave that same tomahawk to my son (he’s 20) for Xmas (my first one - CS Frontier Hawk) and just today gave him a safety lesson and watched him do some chopping and splitting.

dogstar said:
Thanks, everyone, for sharing your stories. It is very generous of you. I am learning a lot. If it happens to me, I won't be so afraid.
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Good to be cautious and prepare for the worst. If you’re alone (or even with a small group away from town) and swinging blades, it’s a good idea to have 1) tourniquet, 2) clotting gauze, 3) communications and/or transportation.
 
A.L. said:
I hit myself once to the leg but thankfully it just bounced off when I was younger. I think the speed was slow enough or the axe was dull enough for nothing to happen. :D
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Maybe your legs were harder then. Have you applied a Rockwell hardness tester to them recently?

Parker
 
I’ve not hit myself while cutting. But just yesterday i cut myself on my estwing campers axe. I had cleaned it up and sharpened it with a file, and was fixing to sharpen with a diamond stone when it slipped from my lap. I was seated in my chair. I know better than to grab for a falling sharp object. But it happened instinctually.

Right as it happened.
https://imgur.com/bjeYPen

Today just now.
https://imgur.com/sUmc4zg

Caught the corner of it and my wedding ring probably saved it from going to the bone and redirected it to be more in the flesh of my palm. It’s about 1/4” deep I’d guess
 
JM2 said:
I’ve not hit myself while cutting. But just yesterday i cut myself on my estwing campers axe. I had cleaned it up and sharpened it with a file, and was fixing to sharpen with a diamond stone when it slipped from my lap. I was seated in my chair. I know better than to grab for a falling sharp object. But it happened instinctually.

Right as it happened.
https://imgur.com/bjeYPen

Today just now.
https://imgur.com/sUmc4zg

Caught the corner of it and my wedding ring probably saved it from going to the bone and redirected it to be more in the flesh of my palm. It’s about 1/4” deep I’d guess
Click to expand...
Well, you got that axe nice and sharp. Glad it wasn't any worse.
 
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RyanSandmeyer84 said:
How do you post a picture on here? I cannot figure it out!
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You need to post the image on an image hosting site first. There are several. I use Postimage.org
Then, you need to copy a direct link to the image and click the Insert Image icon when you are making a post; there you can paste the link you copied.
 
catspa said:
Maybe your legs were harder then. Have you applied a Rockwell hardness tester to them recently?

Parker
Click to expand...
Finn
+5 to axe resistance
+ 5 to frost resistance

Special skill: shout perkele for added axe efficiency for five minutes. Scares away bears.
 
Seems like that would reduce your chances of testing the bears’ Rockwell hardness, or their frost resistance. But I guess you’re not out there on a bear research project, you’re there to split wood.

Carry on.

Parker
 
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