An important lesson I learned two days ago

[Mic]

Two days ago I learned an important lesson while splitting firewood - always wear appropriate safety clothing, pants, shoes - when working with very sharp blades and saws.

I never considered myself a beginner, years of splitting firewood and martial arts let me think that I am always in control. A sharp blade does not mind such thoughts. I guess it is not a matter of "if" but rather "when" something serious does happen, kind of like with downhill biking or jumping.

I had to get ten stitches on the front of my left shin, axe glanced off the piece of wood, went through the safety pants and only cut to the bone. Bone itself is unharmed. Paramedics who brought me to hospital after I took care of first aid told me some enertaining stories of people who did not wear appropriate clothing and gear.

Could have been worse.

[cerealkilla']

Glad you avoided more serious injury! Hope it doesn't cut too deep into your riding time. A great peice of equipment for people to carry when using saws or axes is a simple compression bandage- basically a big gauze pad with elastic tensor-like straps attached. Cheap, light, and easy to carry, and of infinite value in controlling a bleed. Chainsaw operators in most workplaces are required to carry them. A full first aid kit, of course, is preferable, but at the least a comp-bandage can be a life-saver.

[ceebee]

Hmmmmm, thanks for the reminder. It's pretty easy to get complacent on stuff like this. Like I did, a few weeks ago, come to think of it. And far, far, from a hospital.

[Uncle Duke]

did somebody say firewood?

[heckler]

Will it burn?

[shirk]

Originally Posted by heckler

Will it burn?

DY's gunna have a major beer can smelting party. No empties can survive that much wood to burn.

[Uncle Duke]

Originally Posted by heckler

Will it burn?

is that a rhetorical question?

been like 10 winters in a row w/ the wood stove...

it will def burn real nice..the trees have been down about 11 months...alder dries up way faster than anything else. especially if the rounds are small like these...

[Uncle Duke]

Originally Posted by shirk

DY's gunna have a major beer can smelting party. No empties can survive that much wood to burn.

i have never been a big fan of the burnin of the beer cans....toxins baby toxins!!

[drummer_dil]

if you can get your hands on some arbutus rounds you will heat the house like no other, those things burn at like 1600 btu's

[Stuminator]

My uncle took off part of his kneecap the same way. Axe glanced off the wood & now he's got a dent in his knee.

[CraigH]

I have a cool scar on my shin from doing the same thing while camping as a kid.

[Knnn]

Buddy had an axe glance off and hit him in the shin. With nothing readily to hand to bandage the wound he took his shirt off, but could not tear it, so held the shirt up against a tree and tried to use the axe to cut the shirt ........... and lopped off his thumb

Heal up soon matey.

[Uncle Duke]

Originally Posted by Knnn

Buddy had an axe glance off and hit him in the shin. With nothing readily to hand to bandage the wound he took his shirt off, but could not tear it, so held the shirt up against a tree and tried to use the axe to cut the shirt ........... and lopped off his thumb

now thats some bad luck..

[Brother Lu]

I hope he's an organ donor

[dubprof]

Originally Posted by drummer_dil

if you can get your hands on some arbutus rounds you will heat the house like no other, those things burn at like 1600 btu's

i went through a half-cord of Black Locus last year...that shit burns forever. just as long as one of those magic logs. No idea what the BTU rating is but i bet its over 2000.

warning though - it stinks like burning skank. Only good for the air-tight stoves.