Tonight I was showing my bro in law some features that Doug recommended on knives, learned from reading here. The knife is a Masters of Defense CQD Mark II. I was showing the finger guard when, like a complete fool, I ran my finger right over it onto the serrated portion cutting my finger pretty deeply just above the last knuckle on my right index finger. I knew I wanted a physician to evaluate it. Luckily, it only needed medical superglue to close and not stitches. Be careful with those knives.

I sport a very fine scar on my left palm. I was removing a folsum point from a bison kill in Wyoming. The work of a long vanished knapper and millenia old 'primative' technology still made every knife I ever handled feel horribly dull. <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Don't feel bad. I received 4 stitches very recently to a finger that I cut through to the bone by a razor sharp gerber liner lock folding knife. That's why I don't trust liner locks. Grip them the wrong way and you unlock them while in use. As a matter of fact the one and only folder I now am willing to carry is my Benchmade Mini RSK MK1 with the AXIS lock. It's the only lock I trust these days. I have been to the doctor or ER 28 times for stitches so far in my life. I won't even tell you how many of those involved knives. <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> On the plus side though, I am very skilled stopping major bleeding and properly applying both butterfly sutures and durabond (from the other 28 times when I didn't go in for stitches) with one hand. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Was the guard a hilt style, or just a finger groove?

The reason I prefer the hilt style is because it represents a solid wall which keeps my fingers or hand from sliding down onto the cutting surface. I like full hilts at both edges of the blade, but most important is the one blocking the cutting edge.

Bountyhunter

Brian:

I had no idea you were such a "cutup".

Bountyhunter <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Ya any time you see me in a scar counting contest be sure you bet your money on me as I am bound to be the winner. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Damn, and I thought I was bad, Brian. I pretty much used to cut myself exactly once on each new kind of tool I got. I'm a lot more suspicious of new tools now, so that hasn't happened in awhile, knock wood.

Brian, I felt bad because every Spyderco that I own has bitten me at least once.
I know now that at least one person is clumsier than me! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
I work in hospitals, and once cut the #$%@ out of my finger while at work, playing with a Cold Steel knife. That one was hard to explain!

Nothing quite like the old blood sacrifice on your new knives, eh Goat... I've done that a few times... <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

reminds me of when i was younger and a friend was going camping so he showed off his new machete.

he said this machete is old but still really sharp....then slid his thumb down the blade like he was some butcher, and sliced the finger wide open.


i have my share of scars from playing with knives and really sharp flat screwdrivers when i was akid and "modified" everything.

Decades of using dozens of liner locks I never had 1 close on me during use. The same can't be said for non locking folders like SAK's however and most of us still carry those. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

How my grandfathers ever lived without the axis lock I'll never know.

Opinons differ I guess.

Flip

CQD, must mean "Cuts Quite Deeply"

<< How my grandfathers ever lived without the axis lock I'll never know. >>

Pretty simple I imagine. They just cut themselves a lot. <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

haha...it seems so in this case.

Bountyhunter, it is a finger groove. Yeah, the hilt would make it very difficult or impossible to do what I did.

Don't feel too bad. I cut my hand badly once when I was a kid closing a new stiff knife. A few days later i was asked how it happed....I showed them and did it again.

X-ray Dave:

At least you are consistent.

Bountyhunter <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

My insides 'GRAB' at me, every time I see someone do that(shiver...)
WHAT is the purpose of that???(shivering just thinking about it...)

Glad to hear you weren't showing him a 1911

Biscuits

<<How my grandfathers ever lived without the axis lock I'll never know. >>

"Pretty simple I imagine. They just cut themselves a lot. "

Maybe so but they didn't whine about it. <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Flip

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.