Seriously FAKed up

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JakeR

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 18, 2004
2,288
4
36
Cardiff
Well i went to the forest today as projected and things didn't quite happen as planned. We have this nice spot where we go a mess around in the middle of a little area of forestation in Rudry, about 1/2 hours walk from the car. I took my freind along and when we arrived i thought i'd get the tea going (inspiration from all the cocao, coffee or tea thread discussions!). He asked if he could borrow my knife and, reluctantly i allowed him. I say reluctantly because he has had little experience with blades and it did make me a little concerned.

While i was doing the fire, i heard "Oh :censored: , I think i have just cut myself." :roll:

Expecting a little cut i soon learned it wasn't the case. My freind suffers from blood phobia, so when i saw all the blood i saw he was panicking. I got him to look away and i took a closer inspection, i could see his bone. So i put my finger on top of the flap of skin and got my tinder pouch as i new i had some cotton wool there which i put onto his wound.
I got him to lie down, and we fashioned a newspaper bandage. I made him some tea and he soon calmed. We then, considering the circumstances, had a nice afternoon! We took him to casualty about 2 hours after and apparently the Dr was impressed with my dressing :eek:): .

Well, the perpetrator my Northstar! I'll do a thread on that later...i gotta go!

Time for a proper FAK i think, i forgot my basic one and we were lucky really. Time to wise up.

Cheers.
Jake
 

Andy

Native
Dec 31, 2003
1,867
11
38
sheffield
www.freewebs.com
there is a hard way and an easy way to learn thing like this

the easy way is to se someone else do it the hard way. It's a good job the knife was clean. I supervise people with sharpe things if they don't know how to use them
 

Moine

Forager
Nice story...

I always am amazed to see how totally white our bones are :)

Here are the contents of my own FAK. Might interest you, might not... Here it is anyways. I keep things simple. You can't carry the hospital on your back, and prevention is the best thing in the world, as far as wilderness medicine is concerned.

What I care the most is the 6 following points, and assess them with the related gear. I try and choose gear that is as multi-use as possible, and stick with it.

1 - hemorragy (you have a few quarts of blood, you want to keep most of them INSIDE your veins) :
- big hemostatic pad (that's not really multi-use... well, it's a big sponge so you can collect dew with it... but it's a serious life saver whenever you seriously bleed)
- huge bandana (absorbs about half a quart of blood, and doubles as a water filter, backpack, triangular bandage for broken arms, ankles, whatever... zillion uses for that one)

2 - infection
- always disinfect a wound (especially bites, be it tick, viper or komodo dragon)... Biseptine rules, as it kills both fungus and bacteria/virii, and is not at risk of causing allergic reactions (which are very hard to treat in the field). It's also clear as spring water, which is good. Red colored disinfectants suck, because you won't be able to notice if the wound turns red, which is a symptom of an allergic reaction, envenomation or infection

3 - cuts/wounds dressing:
- 3 feet of Hypafix (just a tough, super-sticky polyester mesh dressing that will close any large wound you can think of, and even hold a broken limb... you can cut them any size/shape you want and make everything with it, from a lymph compression dressing to a little finger band-aid).
- Duct tape !!! On the 8th day, the Good Lord created the duct tape. When people talk about the Holy Graal, they do so without knowing that 3M sells it in 15 ft rolls. Duct tape is good against blisters, it will keep the dirt out of a wound, and it will let you fix a twisted ankle and walk on it... plus all the other possible uses. Don't leave home without it. Really.

4 - impossibility to walk out
- duct tape again
- serious antalgics (paracetamol 1g)

5 - severe allergic reactions
- some full blown corticoids (ask your doctor to prescribe them and don't mess with that stuff...)
- epinephrin / antihistamines package (will only buy you a few minutes so you can use the corticoids... ask your doctor again, s/he'll explain you everything in details).

6 - exhaustion
- some caffeine pills (ephedrin and the like are not legal over here... caffeine will also help for an asthma crisis and sometimes against some forms of shock, but don't use that without knowing what you're doing)
- dehydrated fruits & nuts mix

The whole thing is lightweight and everything in there can find alternate uses, which is good IMO.

HTH,

David
 

Tantalus

Full Member
May 10, 2004
1,026
107
60
Galashiels
nice work Jake

and now you have a reason never to lend anyone your knives again too

either that or keep one for lending that is so blunt nobody will ask for it twice :eek:):

presence of mind is an asset in emergency situations

Moine your post deserves it's own thread i think, some nice tips in there

Tant
 

Great Pebble

Settler
Jan 10, 2004
775
2
54
Belfast, Northern Ireland
I remember when I was a Kay-det doing one of those "team exercise" things... You know, cross tadpole infested river with planks and rope...

When one of the party said "I've appear to have cut my finger off"
"There's plasters in my ruckky" says I
"No... I've actually cut it off" says he calm as you like...

He had too.

Had to walk a fair bit to the car before we could get him run to casualty, where it was "reattatched".

I realise that was totally OT but the thread just brought it into my mind.

Between what I carry, and SWMBOs stuff (little mole) we can usually manage minor surgery in the field.
 

JakeR

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 18, 2004
2,288
4
36
Cardiff
"She Who Must Be Obeyed" (Girl-friend/wife :wink: )

I usually make sure that the person carving *KNOWS* what he is doing, especially with one of mine :wink: . I think i should have been more aware but i kinda trusted him and he knows he shouldn't have done what he did, but it is a case of me having other things on my mind than babysitting an 18yr old!

I explained after that it was good that it was such a clean cut. I demonstrated on a 1.5 cm thick pice of birch, i sliced right through it in one swoop. My knives are sharp!

Thanks for that David, it did help. I think im gonna go to the pharmacist on monday. Thats if i can't get my dad to get some free-bees at work!

Cheers.
 

Moonraker

Need to contact Admin...
Aug 20, 2004
1,190
18
61
Dorset & France
Why take a knife out if you do not carry a FAK sufficient to cope with the accidents that 'may' happen :?:

Really from all I have read here that has to bee good solid advice, this has to be the most basic lesson.
 

JakeR

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 18, 2004
2,288
4
36
Cardiff
Moonraker i usually take a small bandage, a few plasters and anti-septic wipes, i just forgot to put them into my bag. I always have plasters in my wallet, but not sufficient ones this time!
 

Frogo

Forager
Jul 29, 2004
239
0
*********
Jake Rollnick said:
Well i went to the forest today as projected and things didn't quite happen as planned. We have this nice spot where we go a mess around in the middle of a little area of forestation in Rudry, about 1/2 hours walk from the car. I took my freind along and when we arrived i thought i'd get the tea going (inspiration from all the cocao, coffee or tea thread discussions!). He asked if he could borrow my knife and, reluctantly i allowed him. I say reluctantly because he has had little experience with blades and it did make me a little concerned.

While i was doing the fire, i heard "Oh :censored: , I think i have just cut myself." :roll:

Expecting a little cut i soon learned it wasn't the case. My freind suffers from blood phobia, so when i saw all the blood i saw he was panicking. I got him to look away and i took a closer inspection, i could see his bone. So i put my finger on top of the flap of skin and got my tinder pouch as i new i had some cotton wool there which i put onto his wound.
I got him to lie down, and we fashioned a newspaper bandage. I made him some tea and he soon calmed. We then, considering the circumstances, had a nice afternoon! We took him to casualty about 2 hours after and apparently the Dr was impressed with my dressing :eek:): .

Well, the perpetrator my Northstar! I'll do a thread on that later...i gotta go!

Time for a proper FAK i think, i forgot my basic one and we were lucky really. Time to wise up.

Cheers.
Jake

Jake,
Found a nicely constructed shelter up that way on the Saturday, nothing to do with you a?

Hope your mate is not put of from using blades.

Frogo
 

Moonraker

Need to contact Admin...
Aug 20, 2004
1,190
18
61
Dorset & France
Sorry, a bit harsh there Jake :cry: It is a good reminder about carrying essentials and how important it is to double check before setting off. :wink:
 

JakeR

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 18, 2004
2,288
4
36
Cardiff
No worries. :wink:

I doubt it Frogo, ours was destroyed a few months back by someone, either a farmer worried about people staying on his land or :censored: thugs.

Do you go to the place that starts by that old pub?

Jake
 

SquirrelBoy

Nomad
Feb 1, 2004
324
0
UK
Well done Jake for dealing with the situation your friend got into. We all make mistakes some more painfull than others !

I done it myself on a Woodlore course. It was turning dark as we had to prep a fish for dinner so was using my trusty Petzal Zoom. Anyhow once done I needed to wash my hands and knife, so proceded to do so in the wash basin. Well you probably know whats coming... yep I dropped the knife in there and stupidly went straight for it = cut finger... well it was dark :roll:

I also forgot to pack a FAK... :slap:

Cheers Juha for the plaster :oops:
 

JakeR

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 18, 2004
2,288
4
36
Cardiff
Cheers mate.

It's now a big worry for me, what happens if your not in reach of a casualty? If properly dressed will the wound be ok until you can get it seen to? When we walked across the Kalahari (incidentally with the same people but plus my mates dad) we had a doctor with us! He had a full on kit, morphine (illegally i suspect) and the works.

I figure as long as it's clean, and sealed, then one should be fine? :?:
 

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