Consumer Advisory + Darwin Award Nominee

Hi guys,

Well, I have posted recently about acquiring a sword from Cold Steel; I ended up purchasing a Cold Steel Naval Dirk. I was pretty impressed with the amount of blade I received compared to the price. If you read my review in here (http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=460607) it is definitely sharp and useable. Regretably, after drinking some beers (Darwin), I took it out this evening to hack at some foliage. The Naval Dirk was machete like in clearing foliage; I began to try it in overhead swings against varying thicknesses of branches. It was consistently cutting through 1/2 in. thick branches! I obviously went for thicker examples. After picking out a roughly 2/3 thick branch I made a vicious swing. My technique (+ beers) was pretty shabby and the blade bounced off the branch; regretably, the follow through carried the tip of the blade into my thigh above the knee. I was streaming blood and immediately realized the folloey of my actions. Chalk this one up to alcohol induced enthusiasm for a new toy- Lesson: edged weapons are NOT toys.

I don't have a wound photo right now because the bleeding was pretty bad; I will add one tomorrow after it has stopped. Any amount of alcohol really makes you bleed alot more: I had 6 beers; not drunk, not coherent, and very pliable to my own mind.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc99/maskedman504/IMG_0774.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc99/maskedman504/IMG_0776.jpg

Damn thats nuts. I cant stop laughing thinking about it though.

Glad you are ok, don't bleed out tonight!

So, would we be safe in assuming that this piece is acceptably sharp?

:evil:

Sorry to hear it, man.

Our resident hso will be along shortly with your penance.

Heal up.

And, uh, in the famous words of my doctor: "Don't do that!"


Oh, P.S. --
It's not actually necessary, for purposes of product review, to test penetration characteristics on your own body. There are suitable substitutes.

"A Cold Steel Naval Dirk and a six pack to go please."

"You'll cut your leg off, kid.":D

Ouch! Alchohol and blade-swinging do not mix very well :neener:. Glad you're ok though.

Live and learn..........live and learn.

I also often learn the hard way. Not going to give you a lecture on drinking and weapons, youve shed enough blood. Glad im not the only one, I do learn from my stupid mistakes though. Keep swing, just before the beer, film yourself, open a beer then watch yourself in action :)

Dude,
Glad your OK,
Are you sure you dont need stitches?

At 25 take a gentle, humorous lesson, I learned from my 60 years.

Now repeat after me, "Nothing good happens when you say WATCH THIS, after drinking!"

Seriously man, your were very lucky. Lesson learned the hard way. Heal fast, and prosper.
( Now if you lived closer or we were Kin we would have a different kind of conversation, if you get my drift)

Doc

"Nothing good happens when you say WATCH THIS, after drinking!"


HaHaHa, Oh so true. Wise words.

Consider yourself lucky that it didn't become a navel dirk.

What doesn't kill you--makes you stronger---lol

Yikes! Happens fast, donut?

J

Hey, could have been worse.

You might be singing soprano in the choir now, for instance.

That would not have required photos, however.

:)

In my exprience, only two things work out better after 6 beers: signing with the stereo/radio and air guitar. Knives and guns and cars: last items on the list of good "drinking games".

Just another reason why my business liability insurance is so high.

I guess Walmart has to get their workers from somewhere.

after drinking some beers (Darwin)

:scrutiny:

:rolleyes:

Ahh, just inches away from a permanent solution. :neener:

Let that be a lesson for everyone (and be damn glad that thing isn't that sharp). :evil:

What did we learn, class?

"Booze and blades don't mix!"

Yes, booze and blades (guns, cars, nude skydiving...) don't mix.

booze and blades (guns, cars, nude skydiving...) don't mix.

There's something that does mix with nude skydiving?

is this an endorsement of the cold steel product? sure looks like that to me!
gotta go get me one of them...

-kirk

Well I sure was limping around today! Pretty painful, actually. I just cleaned up and rebandaged; things are alot better than I thought. I mean, if you look are the towel in the second pic, there was alot of blood coming out of my knee! Well, all that blood had soaked into the badages and congealed into the scab and whenever I would move, it would pull on the scab. Also, my limp is due more to the big honkin bruise on the side of my knee rather than the stab wound. The dirk is a somewhat heavy piece. The cut is kinda deep also- I basically stuck the point of thing into my knee and it is a 1/4 in. wide blade. After getting it cleaned up and rebandaged so the ace wrap isn't constantly compressing the bruise, walking is alot easier! Thank you all for your concern!

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc99/maskedman504/IMG_0778.jpg

Son,

I still think you need a couple stitches, if for some reason you dont want to see a MD, try a butterfly strip.
Wounds only heal 2 ways;
Primary approximation, where the two edges meet and heal. (faster and safer)
Secondary approximation, from the bottom of the wound upward.

Also the risk of infection is always present. Keep it clean, use an antibiotic ointment.
That last thing you need is an rampant infection with serious consequences.

NOTE; I am an RN. Not an MD. My nikename is Doc. Been patching people up since 66 when I was a medic in the Nam. This post is for your information and education only and not intented as medical advice.
I urge you to see a MD.

Is that a entrance and exit wound, if so, impresive. I still think its very funny though :)

CS are known for their sharp instruments of mass destruction, or drunken stuper:). Anyway, hope it heels up good. Im sure you will have a decent scar to tell war stories about.

Hope you heal fast.

That dirk has a narrow blade, next time stab that tree... I don't think you should use it to chop wood.

Is that a entrance and exit wound, if so, impresive. I still think its very funny though


No, there was just blood on the back of my knee; there is only one wound. The blade point was towards the curved part of wound. It went in about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch.

To BikerDoc-

Thanks, I should have went to a doctor. I have been cleaning it twice a day with peroxide and bandaging with butterflies and neosporin. I let it air out a couple hours each day also. Thanks for your advice and concern.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc99/maskedman504/IMG_0803.jpg

Go to the doctor.

Dude, bravo to you. It takes a man to admit to doing something dumb. You have learned a painful lesson, and you have passed it along.

Now, hasten thee to a doctor.

Well guys, I feel I am going to be fine and I probably should have went to the doctor but I don't have insurance right now- that is why I have been dodging that advice, alright! :banghead:

You could get a loan...going to the doc is a good reason to get a loan.

However, I'm just glad for you that this accident didn't involve the blowgun as I had suspected it might!

Also, time to stop using the peroxide. It is a goog inititial cleaner and germ killer, however it is cytotoxic. Scary word for - it kills every cell. Even the good new ones growing. Switch to normal saline, or hot water to clean. Continue to use antibiotic cream, and keep covered.

Also is your Tetanus shop up to date?

Pain, fever, swelling, pus, odor, or a red line going up your leg are all signs of infection.


NOTE; I am an RN. Not an MD. My nic name is Doc. Been patching people up since 66 when I was a medic in the Nam. This post is for your information and education only and not intented as medical advice

I went and saw a friend's father that is a Doctor- got a tetanus shot, a tube of bacitracin ointment and a dirty look. But we were all optimistic. :o

Thanks for havin' that looked at. Hate to see ya lessen' a limb.

Did you ask somebody to hold your beer and say, "Watch this." right before it happened?

Good judgement on seeing the Doc.

Don't forget, blood will destroy carbon steel, make sure you clean your pig sticker :neener:

I had a similar experience. One of my friends brought over a brush axe. I decided I should try cutting some brush. Well it went straight through the stem I was cutting and straight into the calf of my leg. Had to go to the hospital for staples, and now I have a 4 inch scar in it.

Too bad I didn't take any pictures of it; the calf was hanging off of my leg; funny thing is that it didn't hurt at all. Guessing my adrenaline helped with that.

Too bad I didn't take any pictures of it; the calf was hanging off of my leg; funny thing is that it didn't hurt at all. Guessing my adrenaline helped with that.

I know exactly what you mean! After I took my swing, I brought the blade up to swing again, saw the bloody tip and then looked down at my leg.

"Oh man that is bad."

No pain though.

Believe me, you're not the only one to have stuck a perfectly good blade into a leg (even sober:o).

Just don't increase the potential for serious injury.

Hey that looks like a good sharp sword to me; works well! :) Thanks for the recommendation. :p

Maskedman, that's the same reaction I had. I looked down, saw the wound and just though,"Oh s***, this means the hospital," rather calmly.

I couldn't put hard pressure on that leg for about a week though.