How not to sharpen a knife

[RPBrown]

A few years ago we were cleaning out our fish pond and separating the plants. I had my knife and was cutting through the roots of one plant (did about 12) when my wife says "your going to cut yourself like that". Next pass, stabbed the point of the knife into my foot. Caught a small artery so off to the ER we go, me bending down holding my finger on the wound listening to my wife say told you so all the way.

Now for the part I thought was funny. Now remember, this is a very small puncture in the side of my foot. As we check into the ER, I explain what happened to what seemed to be everyone there including other patients. Every staff member I spoke with asked me what happened an WROTE IT DOWN. After telling this story about 15 times I decided to be a wise acre. So finally the doc comes in and sure enough, asks me the same question. I told him that I thought I would just end it all. Did you know that doctors have no since of humor? He puts his (my) file down and asks me how long I have been having these feelings. I told him since i had come into the ER and told the same story to everyone there. I then asked him if anyone ever reads what was written down about why we were there. Not once did he even crack a smile, just put in a couple of stitches, wrote something else in my chart that no one will ever read and walked out.

[anygunanywhere]

I'm lucky I have all ten fingers intact. I ran one all the way through two fingers on my left hand once working on a curtain rod. Mrs. Anygun clears the area when she sees me going for a knife these days.

Wisdom comes from pain. I am glad you didn't do any serious damage.

[mojo84]

Just for the record, would these incidents be considered accidents or negligence?

[anygunanywhere]

Just for the record, would these incidents be considered accidents or negligence?

Depends whether or not you are the one bleeding.

[Abraham]

I'm going to rough guess everyone of us outdoor/fisherman/hunters/general work guys have all cut ourselves through being in a rush, being careless, be distracted.

Worse though, is when a friend through his carelessness with a wildly flailing fillet knife cuts your wrist wide open leaving you with a forearm so covered in blood it looks like a red leather gauntlet and as you hold it above your head to slow the bleeding, blood drips down you neck and chest.

At this point, we were fishing in his boat, I suggested if the blood didn't abate within the next 15 minutes, I would have to go the ER.

In fact, it did quit bleeding and we kept on fishing.

The cut left me with a long, white scar that probably should've been stitched, but the fishing was too good to leave...

[mojo84]

Just for the record, would these incidents be considered accidents or negligence?

Depends whether or not you are the one bleeding.

Does the same apply with guns?

[anygunanywhere]

Just for the record, would these incidents be considered accidents or negligence?

Depends whether or not you are the one bleeding.

Does the same apply with guns?

Never.

[Scott B.]

I guess none of you guys were in the Boy Scouts....

dlh

My Webelo wood carving badge (whatever it was called back in the 70s) came with a complimentary scar.

[allisji]

Doc gave me some pain meds but I'm trying not to take them

It doesn't really hurt until you get the ER Bill.

[fickman]

When I was 11, I was sitting in the garage whittling on a block of balsa wood, trying to emulate my dad's mastery of the woodcarving craft. On one stroke, my pocket knife sunk deep into the wood and became lodged. Because I was inexperienced, I inherently trusted the lockblade mechanism, I changed my grip to the opposite direction, grabbed the handle with my full palm, and tried to work the blade lose.

The lock gave (it was probably not strong enough for this force anyway, but compounding the problem was the fact that it was dirty with pocket lint and grime) and folded onto my pinkie. I severed a small artery and it shot a little spurt of blood with every heartbeat. I quickly went inside and told my dad what had happened. He talked me through wrapping it up, applying pressure, holding it above my heart, and said, "Sit down and after Star Trek is over I'll take you to get stitches."

The nerve has never fully healed - half of the tip of one pinkie is numb to this day.

Thankfully my scout troop decided not to take a corner of my Totin' Chip; they felt the stitches were lesson enough. Fast forward to today, and the lesson stays with me. I enjoy safety features on my firearms, but I'll never rely on them to overcome careless or reckless behavior.

[Soccerdad1995]

Just for the record, would these incidents be considered accidents or negligence?

In my case, I consider it to be negligence.

I would classify something as an accident if there was an outside force, that was not reasonably forseeable, that led to the injury.

[doncb]

I guess none of you guys were in the Boy Scouts.... dlh

Let's see.

I was on a camp out and decided to hold a can in my right hand and try to punch a hole in the top using the awl on my Scout knife. Raised the knife up and brought the awl right down and through the web between my thumb and index finger. Lesson learned: Use a can opener instead of punching holes in your hand.

Not a knife but when I was in High School and in tennis class. It was misting outside but two of us decided to go out and play anyway. Grip gets wet. I slam the ball good and hard and the racket pivots in my hand and and the head slams into my forehead. One inch cut and you'd swear I'd tried to scalp myself there was so much blood. Down my face. Down the front of my white shirt. On my shorts. I had to walk past the cafeteria (glass walls) holding a bloody towel to my head. I think I ruined a few peoples lunch that day. Ah, good times! Lesson learned: Don't play tennis in the rain and rackets can too cut like a knife.

(Kind of like a knife) I was squeezing past the front of my wife's car in the garage. Sliced open my knee for 2 inches on the license plate. "Nah, no need to go to the ER. I'll just put a big band-aid on it ." Lesson learned: Give license plates a wide birth. Them suckers are sharp.

I'd like to think that in the years that followed I got a little smarter and paid more attention to what I was doing. I'd like to think that anyway.

[Pawpaw]

I guess none of you guys were in the Boy Scouts.... dlh

Let's see.

I was on a camp out and decided to hold a can in my right hand and try to punch a hole in the top using the awl on my Scout knife. Raised the knife up and brought the awl right down and through the web between my thumb and index finger. Lesson learned: Use a can opener instead of punching holes in your hand.

Not a knife but when I was in High School and in tennis class. It was misting outside but two of us decided to go out and play anyway. Grip gets wet. I slam the ball good and hard and the racket pivots in my hand and and the head slams into my forehead. One inch cut and you'd swear I'd tried to scalp myself there was so much blood. Down my face. Down the front of my white shirt. On my shorts. I had to walk past the cafeteria (glass walls) holding a bloody towel to my head. I think I ruined a few peoples lunch that day. Ah, good times! Lesson learned: Don't play tennis in the rain and rackets can too cut like a knife.

(Kind of like a knife) I was squeezing past the front of my wife's car in the garage. Sliced open my knee for 2 inches on the license plate. "Nah, no need to go to the ER. I'll just put a big band-aid on it ." Lesson learned: Give license plates a wide birth. Them suckers are sharp.

I'd like to think that in the years that followed I got a little smarter and paid more attention to what I was doing. I'd like to think that anyway.