Gordon
Member
When Kershaw gut hook folder folds on his finger when useing the gut hook to slice cord:
Seavey, a 52-year-old member of one of Alaska's most successful mushing families, filed the lawsuit in state civil court in December. It was later moved to federal court and accuses the knife company of negligence. Both the blade-maker and retailer are accused of breach of warranty and misrepresentation for selling a defective product and failing to warn of potential injuries.
Big Lake musher Jake Berkowitz was serving as an Ophir race judge and talking to Seavey at the time of the accident, Berkowitz said. He saw Seavey whip his hand back as he cut into straw bales.
"You could definitely tell he was in immediate pain," Berkowitz said.
ESSENTIAL TOOL ON THE TRAIL
The lawsuit centers on the most essential of tools in a dog musher's sled. A knife offers security, said Two Rivers musher Aliy Zirkle, who carries at least three blades on the trail, including one clipped to her parka.
If a dog's leg becomes wrapped in a line or the team tangles itself around a tree, the musher must quickly cut the animals loose, she said. At checkpoints, racers use blades to slash open food bags or pry ice from frozen sled runners.
Berkowitz, the musher who saw Seavey nearly slice off his finger, was a top contender in this year's race until he cut his own hand while separating frozen fish late in the race.
Iditarod officials said the wound was too severe for him to continue.
"I don't know if I was tired or maybe it was just one of those things where it went right through (the fish) and then went right into my hand," Berkowitz said.
The cut severed an artery between his thumb and forefinger, the musher said. The hand inflated with blood as he was flown to an Anchorage hospital for treatment, he said.
Such severe knife injuries are uncommon on the race trail.
Four-time champion Lance Mackey of Fairbanks attributes the injuries to musher carelessness. "Forty years of Iditarod and you only hear of one or two people ever hurting themselves (with knives) enough to stop the race."
Seavey's lawyer, Bill Ingaldson, said the knife the musher cut himself with suffers a serious design flaw: The lever or button used to release the locking blade is near the middle of the handle and can be depressed when the gut hook is used as intended. That frees the blade to close on the user's fingers, he said.
Kershaw Knives is owned by KAI USA Ltd. of Japan. In addition to the Kershaw brand, the company also sells Shun Cutlery blades and Zero Tolerance "tactical" knives.
A spokesman for the company did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. KAI USA denied Seavey's allegations of negligence in a Jan. 24 court filing, writing that the damages he suffered were caused by "his own negligence or assumption of risk or by the negligence of others."
Seavey also could not be reached for comment Thursday. His son, Danny Seavey, said the musher was attending a family celebration.
Mitch Seavey won the 2004 Iditarod. He placed seventh this year, his 10th top-10 finish, and was joined in the race trail by his father, 74-year-old Dan Seavey, and his son Dallas, 25.
Dallas Seavey won the race, becoming the youngest champion in Iditarod history.
Dan Seavey, the mushing family patriarch, said on the race trail this year that Mitch had been on pace for a victory in 2011 before the hand injury sent him home.
"I have not a doubt in my mind that he and (eventual champion) John Baker would have been foot-racing it to Nome," Dan Seavey said.
Seavey, a 52-year-old member of one of Alaska's most successful mushing families, filed the lawsuit in state civil court in December. It was later moved to federal court and accuses the knife company of negligence. Both the blade-maker and retailer are accused of breach of warranty and misrepresentation for selling a defective product and failing to warn of potential injuries.
Big Lake musher Jake Berkowitz was serving as an Ophir race judge and talking to Seavey at the time of the accident, Berkowitz said. He saw Seavey whip his hand back as he cut into straw bales.
"You could definitely tell he was in immediate pain," Berkowitz said.
ESSENTIAL TOOL ON THE TRAIL
The lawsuit centers on the most essential of tools in a dog musher's sled. A knife offers security, said Two Rivers musher Aliy Zirkle, who carries at least three blades on the trail, including one clipped to her parka.
If a dog's leg becomes wrapped in a line or the team tangles itself around a tree, the musher must quickly cut the animals loose, she said. At checkpoints, racers use blades to slash open food bags or pry ice from frozen sled runners.
Berkowitz, the musher who saw Seavey nearly slice off his finger, was a top contender in this year's race until he cut his own hand while separating frozen fish late in the race.
Iditarod officials said the wound was too severe for him to continue.
"I don't know if I was tired or maybe it was just one of those things where it went right through (the fish) and then went right into my hand," Berkowitz said.
The cut severed an artery between his thumb and forefinger, the musher said. The hand inflated with blood as he was flown to an Anchorage hospital for treatment, he said.
Such severe knife injuries are uncommon on the race trail.
Four-time champion Lance Mackey of Fairbanks attributes the injuries to musher carelessness. "Forty years of Iditarod and you only hear of one or two people ever hurting themselves (with knives) enough to stop the race."
Seavey's lawyer, Bill Ingaldson, said the knife the musher cut himself with suffers a serious design flaw: The lever or button used to release the locking blade is near the middle of the handle and can be depressed when the gut hook is used as intended. That frees the blade to close on the user's fingers, he said.
Kershaw Knives is owned by KAI USA Ltd. of Japan. In addition to the Kershaw brand, the company also sells Shun Cutlery blades and Zero Tolerance "tactical" knives.
A spokesman for the company did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. KAI USA denied Seavey's allegations of negligence in a Jan. 24 court filing, writing that the damages he suffered were caused by "his own negligence or assumption of risk or by the negligence of others."
Seavey also could not be reached for comment Thursday. His son, Danny Seavey, said the musher was attending a family celebration.
Mitch Seavey won the 2004 Iditarod. He placed seventh this year, his 10th top-10 finish, and was joined in the race trail by his father, 74-year-old Dan Seavey, and his son Dallas, 25.
Dallas Seavey won the race, becoming the youngest champion in Iditarod history.
Dan Seavey, the mushing family patriarch, said on the race trail this year that Mitch had been on pace for a victory in 2011 before the hand injury sent him home.
"I have not a doubt in my mind that he and (eventual champion) John Baker would have been foot-racing it to Nome," Dan Seavey said.
