Glad to hear it wasn't too serious. I don't know anyone who hasn't managed to accidentally cut themselves, unless they just never use a cutting tool. All it takes is a split instant of inattention or carelessness, and nobody can be on 100% of the time. BTDT, more times than I care to recall. Saws are definitely safer than an hatchet or an axe, but...

From a project I am working on: "If it can cut, it can cut you"
(c) Doug Ritter 2005

Ors,

We all make mistakes like this, or very similar. I almost lost a finger while chopping wood with an axe.

The main thing is that you are okay. Now you have a show and tell to "prove a point!" Not recommended to do this again though.

Did you remember to restock the home FAK?

Stargazer

Last tetanus shot i had the doctor said 10 years for most people was fine. He did recommend that if you are engaging in high risk behavior, lots of outdoor activities, working in construction, and the like that it will do no harm to get one every 5 years.

The doctor I saw said that if you break a glass in your kitchen and cut yourself, that would be a 10 year booster shot...I never would have thought about that. I always thought of cutting yourself on rusty metal as a reason to get a tetanus booster. In fact I told him, "I know it wasn't a rusty saw, it's brand new." I think I was trying to get by without the shot, but at that point I'd already been stuck several times with the lidocaine and had the stitches, so what's one more stick?

Anyhow, that's when he told me about "for outdoor things, the booster is 5 years". He also told me that everything that grows in this state is considered to be a possible source of tetanus. Since I had wee bits of bark in the wound... <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

When my wife was driving me to get stitches, she said, "What's the big deal, it's just a scratch." That scratch went through the subcutaneuous layer!

But I think I'm a little smarter now.

I did cut myself carving once...similar situation too...knife slipped and my fingers were in the path...hmm...maybe I'm not that much smarter! <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />
I got my index finger and thumb in one slice that time. Not deep, but enough to hurt for several days. I was in the middle of my music therapy internship at the time, playing guitar everyday and of course I managed to slice my fret hand. Nu-Skin was a friend that week!

I felt like Tim Allen from Home Improvement yesterday, but I think I got lucky. No permenant damage, and a bit of wisdom earned.

But I'll be extra mindful when using the Becker Brute that's on my wish list! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Ors,

Glad to hear that you are OK. We've all done something like this to ourselves, so you certainly aren't the first. Besides, it keeps your wife happy for a few days because she has a new reason to say "I told you so..." <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Seriously, it's good that you are practicing techniques instead of just buying gear and letting it sit while waiting for an emergency. You've just learned a method on how not to do something. It would have been more serious had it been during a real recovery from a disaster.

Hopefully, no one caught it on videotape. <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Last year my elderly father slipped and cut his forehead. The Doctor asked when he got his last Tetanus shot. Dad answered "I don't know". The doctor then said "Today". I got my last one in 2000, after I injured myself while operating a "rotary device of meyhem and destruction" (also known as a lawn mower). I still have all the toes on my right foot and they're the right lengths, they just don't necessarily bend the same any more. And yes, I no longer wear sneakers when mowing the yard, I wear boots.

JimJr

If you've cut yourself and you think you might be overdue on a tetanus booster, my doctor said you have to get it within 3 days of the injury.

Sue

Looks like I'd better get all my boosters on my next checkup. <img src="/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />

Ah yes the old 'Finger carving merit badge'....I've earned that one too.