Tip: When practicing the switch between forward and reverse grip in a kneeling or sitting position, take care that the knife is never positioned directly above your thigh.

I guess most people who handle kives do cut themselves sooner or later. It´s not nice to have someone witness your misfortune.
My father cut himself in thumb when he tried show me how to savely split a piece of wood with a pocket knife. At that time I was 7 years old. I learned the hard way that it´s not a good idea to laugh at such an occassion.
I own to razorsharp Spydercos of similar size. One stops the blade at an 90° angle when closing one handed, the other doesn´t. On one occassion I realized that one I was handling was the one that doesn´t stop just a 1/10 of second before the blade passed the 90° degree angle. The knife lived up to Spyderco´s reputation and left a pretty nasty cut. Fortunately I managed to do this without witnesses. I handled both knives with more care since that. The memory of this incident never faded even though it happened almost a week ago.

If they know what they're doing, and why they're doing it, they're feeling for the "feather edge", or more precisely, for the lack of it. To get a really fine edge, you pull out a VERY fine burr on the edge of the knife, fold it over, then take it off, leaving a "sharper than a razor" edge. I don't know how to explain it any better than that, but that's what Pop taught me thirty-some years ago, and it's a lot easier to grasp with a demonstration than with written words (and takes quite a bit of practice to get good at).

Troy

When I feel for the wire, I run my finger away from the blade on the opposite side of where I last honed it. You can't cut yourself that way.

as was previously said its about feeling the precision of the edge.
ive seen butchers do it mostly after using the sharpening steel, or when someone shaves with a straight razor and just stropped it.

the way ive seen it done is when the finger is slide down the blade at an angle not directly on the edge.

Look on the bright side. It gave you a chance to practice some of your medical skills


Hard times don't last....Hard people do

Heh. I bought a package of those "new skin" liquid bandages, been waiting to try it out. I haven't cut myself since.