Saturday, I was home with my Daughter (3) and we were just hanging around. My wife & son were at the roller rink.

For whatever reason, I needed to cut a hunk of polypropylene rope that was tied around something. My knife was not in my pocket (gasp!) so I grabbed my wife's extra Swiss Army Knife.

Now, I'm used to lock-blades, but that does not excuse what happened.
As I tried to cut the rope, and was giving a slight twist & turn to the knife, I distinctly remember thinking "Damn, this knife is too dull to be safe" when WHAM it folded HARD into my right index finger, just between the first and second knuckle, cutting to the bone. YOW! I yelled, ran to the bathroom and started first aid. My little one was right there with me, opening a couple of 3x3's and 4x4's to soak up the amazing amount of blood that the cut was producing. She never freaked out or got upset, all she wanted to do was help.

Well, the blood wasn't stopping after about 10 minutes, so I figured I'd give that Bleed-X stuff a try. The biggest problem I had was that I was working with one hand, so the blood would float the stuff off the wound real fast. Instead of directly pouring it on the wound, I tried putting in in a small pile on a 4x4 and then pressing that into the wound. That worked like a charm. My little one then helped tape the gauze on my finger, and then all was well. 3 hours later, there was a little bit of bleeding, mostly because I'm obstinate and didn't immobilize it , so every time I bent my finger, it opened the would a bit. Bit all in all, the stuff works great.

Great Review. Perhaps you went a little too far in making the test realistic. I trust all is well now.

Clearly this would be a good product to have on hand.

Jon

Thanks for the review.

I did a search to find out about Bleed-X and found this page:
http://www.cfamilyresources.com/products/bleedx.htm

Step 2 of the instructions there say "... gently dry the wound and blot up any excess blood" before applying the powder. I think if you can actually accomplish that, you're not bleeding bad enough to need the stuff.

Kinda like the classic life raft patch kit - "all surfaces must be thoroughly dry before applying patch".

Been there done that, kindasorta. My old original Leatherman PST did not have locking blades, and more than once I had the blade fold up on my right index finger, right where you describe it, altho I never made it all the way to the bone. You now have to try to get the thing to heal, since you will be bending it all the time. Glad you got the bleeding stopped with the super stuff...

Sorry about your test, but thanks for the report.

This is part of why I'm interested in the BoodSTOP gauze. I seems like it would be much easier to apply while blood is flowing.

I was thinking it would work well by layering it on top of your dressing, and then applying the whole thing to the wound.

Sounds good in theory anyway.

-john

Thanks for the real world feedback.

So, did you notice any heat when you first applied it? In particular, when you slapped that little pile on the 4x4 onto the wound?

Not to hyjack the thread, but isn't it silly that some municipal knife laws ban locking blades?

No, no heat at all. Just a lumpy mess forming.

Hi people.
Here's one all of you should know.
There is a hemostat that works great and won't cost you $$$.
And best of all it can be found in every grocerystore in the western world. I've I read this years ago, here :
http://www.escape-co.com/Control_Bleeding.htm
It is safe. I've used this to halt major bleeding from a severed vein in someones leg, as wel as on minor cuts like the one described by Martin.
It is nothing other than plain old "Instant mashed potatoes" powder.
Pour it on and into the wound, cover with gauze and apply pressure........
Try this, you will be surprised ! <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Pharaoh.

Whoops, my bad. I was confusing Bleed-X with a different product. Bleed-X is basically the potato-based product that the link in Pharoah's post refers to. Traumadex, also made by the same company, is in the same category.

I was thinking of Quikclot, which is not potato-based and can generate heat when applied to a wound.