17 thoughts on “Real men don’t need Flintstones band aids…”
I smashed the back of my left thumb with a 2 pound sledge hammer one time at the dealership so bad that it split open and you could see the bone from the knuckle to the joint.
After I quit hopping around cursing I wiped as much blood off of it as I could, wrapped a “clean” shop rag around it and wound electrical tape around that.
It soaked the rag and was dripping on the floor in no time.
Wrapped another rag around it, told the boss I needed to go get some stitches and drove thirty miles to my doctor..
They rushed me in and when he got it unwrapped and took a look at it, he looked up at me and asked if that was the bone he was looking at.
Dude, you are a doctor?
Eight stitches later and a Tetanus shot, I went back to work.
The fucker throbbed like a sick chicken’s ass for a couple of days.
Life was a bitch for a couple of weeks, trying to be a one handed mechanic but I managed.
Compare that to almost anyone you know these days.
Back in ’98 I think it was, I was a meat market manager in a small store, working alone. I was rushing to get enough pork steak cut to get us into the next day so I could go home, get my pickup loaded, and take my lovely out to Oregon to see her mom and kids. I got too close on the last slice on one of the pork butts and cut around 3/16ths /1/4″ of the end of my right thumb off. Ouch… So I went to the hand wash station to rinse it off and put a bandage on it. Didn’t work. So I put a finger cot on it, which contained the blood a bit. Then tore down the saw to clean and sterilize it so I could finish the job. Had to drain the finger cot a few times. Finished the work and then tore it all apart again for a final cleaning so I could hit the road with my lovely. In a blizzard.
No millennial will ever do that.
Straight up; electrical tape is all I ever use. You just have to let the tape relax, after pulling it out, before wrapping – or else it will cut off the circulation.
Leigh
Whitehall, NY
Electricians band aid. I always have Super glue in my tool bag too in case I do something really stupid
LOL zip tie and duct tape “Bandages” keeps my ER friends so busy 🙂
We even keep a pretty clean side cutter to snip those zip ties with at the desk, as bandage scissors often can’t get under them to cut them off.
Oh, the infected messes we get from such wound care.
But, hey it pays my bills.
When 911 is gone and the ER a smoldering ruin PLEASE take the time to treat your wound better otherwise you’ll be lucky to be known as Lefty after crippling that right hand.
If you can afford ammo, you can afford a real industrial level first aid kit.
Cannot be overemphasized: “When 911 is gone and the ER a smoldering ruin”……. We have become blase’ about infection in our era of antibiotics. But it used to be THE major cause of mortality, whether Civil War era or pioneer days. The most trivial gunshot wound was a death sentence from gangrene.
We all need to stockpile not just first aid, but second aid: antibiotics and LOTS of bandage changes. Know what Dakins solution is and how to make it.
Phil, you’re damn lucky to still have that thumb.
Mine was paper towel and electrical tape…
Mine was pretty close to that. Paper towel on Scotch, duct or masking tape. Whatever you could find first…..
Try super glue.
We would use T.P. ( it was usually under the seat of the truck) and electrical tape. Fast food restaurant napkins were better though, T.P. had a tendency to come off in small bits.
Yup, rag and tape or plumb bob string, whatever is handy. Been there a few times.
Duct tape! Need I say more?
I used it on a 3-day hiking trip when my belly band on my pack frame rubbed skin off of my stomach AND hips. Needed something BIG to keep the dermis from becoming damaged, it worked REALLY well.
Then I had to remove it at home so I could properly dress/disinfect it. Believe it or not, I used rubbing alcohol to emulsify the tape’s glue, which also did a pretty good job of killing the bugs. Hurt like hell, but ya gotta pay the price.
Everybody thought I was crazy but I came out of it unscarred.
+1
Paper towel and masking tape until I can get to the band-aids. Never (yet) needed stitches for anything.
This is the best blog ever!
Super glue, rag, duct tape, and a welding glove to hide it from the supervisor.
I smashed the back of my left thumb with a 2 pound sledge hammer one time at the dealership so bad that it split open and you could see the bone from the knuckle to the joint.
After I quit hopping around cursing I wiped as much blood off of it as I could, wrapped a “clean” shop rag around it and wound electrical tape around that.
It soaked the rag and was dripping on the floor in no time.
Wrapped another rag around it, told the boss I needed to go get some stitches and drove thirty miles to my doctor..
They rushed me in and when he got it unwrapped and took a look at it, he looked up at me and asked if that was the bone he was looking at.
Dude, you are a doctor?
Eight stitches later and a Tetanus shot, I went back to work.
The fucker throbbed like a sick chicken’s ass for a couple of days.
Life was a bitch for a couple of weeks, trying to be a one handed mechanic but I managed.
Compare that to almost anyone you know these days.
Back in ’98 I think it was, I was a meat market manager in a small store, working alone. I was rushing to get enough pork steak cut to get us into the next day so I could go home, get my pickup loaded, and take my lovely out to Oregon to see her mom and kids. I got too close on the last slice on one of the pork butts and cut around 3/16ths /1/4″ of the end of my right thumb off. Ouch… So I went to the hand wash station to rinse it off and put a bandage on it. Didn’t work. So I put a finger cot on it, which contained the blood a bit. Then tore down the saw to clean and sterilize it so I could finish the job. Had to drain the finger cot a few times. Finished the work and then tore it all apart again for a final cleaning so I could hit the road with my lovely. In a blizzard.
No millennial will ever do that.
Straight up; electrical tape is all I ever use. You just have to let the tape relax, after pulling it out, before wrapping – or else it will cut off the circulation.
Leigh
Whitehall, NY
Electricians band aid. I always have Super glue in my tool bag too in case I do something really stupid
LOL zip tie and duct tape “Bandages” keeps my ER friends so busy 🙂
We even keep a pretty clean side cutter to snip those zip ties with at the desk, as bandage scissors often can’t get under them to cut them off.
Oh, the infected messes we get from such wound care.
But, hey it pays my bills.
When 911 is gone and the ER a smoldering ruin PLEASE take the time to treat your wound better otherwise you’ll be lucky to be known as Lefty after crippling that right hand.
If you can afford ammo, you can afford a real industrial level first aid kit.
Cannot be overemphasized: “When 911 is gone and the ER a smoldering ruin”……. We have become blase’ about infection in our era of antibiotics. But it used to be THE major cause of mortality, whether Civil War era or pioneer days. The most trivial gunshot wound was a death sentence from gangrene.
We all need to stockpile not just first aid, but second aid: antibiotics and LOTS of bandage changes. Know what Dakins solution is and how to make it.
Phil, you’re damn lucky to still have that thumb.
Mine was paper towel and electrical tape…
Mine was pretty close to that. Paper towel on Scotch, duct or masking tape. Whatever you could find first…..
Try super glue.
We would use T.P. ( it was usually under the seat of the truck) and electrical tape. Fast food restaurant napkins were better though, T.P. had a tendency to come off in small bits.
Yup, rag and tape or plumb bob string, whatever is handy. Been there a few times.
Duct tape! Need I say more?
I used it on a 3-day hiking trip when my belly band on my pack frame rubbed skin off of my stomach AND hips. Needed something BIG to keep the dermis from becoming damaged, it worked REALLY well.
Then I had to remove it at home so I could properly dress/disinfect it. Believe it or not, I used rubbing alcohol to emulsify the tape’s glue, which also did a pretty good job of killing the bugs. Hurt like hell, but ya gotta pay the price.
Everybody thought I was crazy but I came out of it unscarred.
+1
Paper towel and masking tape until I can get to the band-aids. Never (yet) needed stitches for anything.
This is the best blog ever!
Super glue, rag, duct tape, and a welding glove to hide it from the supervisor.