http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.co.../bagel-danger/

Surely everyone knows that the proper tool to cut bagels is a bandsaw!

--
Michael Koblic
Campbell River, BC

As a reminder not to cast stones etc. I just brought my wife home from
emergency where she received stitches to a nearly severed tip of her finger.
Aparently the last carrot had it in for her. With her favorite knife and
all. Has not had an accident like this last 20-odd years.

What impressed me most that after the carrots she bandaged her finger,
finished the rest of the massive prep, watched me put some of the stuff
together and only then admitted to the mishap. The power of a family
re-union!

"Michael Koblic" wrote in message
...
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.co.../bagel-danger/

Surely everyone knows that the proper tool to cut bagels is a bandsaw!

--
Michael Koblic
Campbell River, BC

As a reminder not to cast stones etc. I just brought my wife home from
emergency where she received stitches to a nearly severed tip of her
finger. Aparently the last carrot had it in for her. With her favorite
knife and all. Has not had an accident like this last 20-odd years.

What impressed me most that after the carrots she bandaged her finger,
finished the rest of the massive prep, watched me put some of the stuff
together and only then admitted to the mishap. The power of a family
re-union!


I'll bet that knife is dull. A very sharp knife causes far fewer accidents.

"Buerste" wrote in message
...

"Michael Koblic" wrote in message
...
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.co.../bagel-danger/

Surely everyone knows that the proper tool to cut bagels is a bandsaw!

--
Michael Koblic
Campbell River, BC

As a reminder not to cast stones etc. I just brought my wife home from
emergency where she received stitches to a nearly severed tip of her
finger. Aparently the last carrot had it in for her. With her favorite
knife and all. Has not had an accident like this last 20-odd years.

What impressed me most that after the carrots she bandaged her finger,
finished the rest of the massive prep, watched me put some of the stuff
together and only then admitted to the mishap. The power of a family
re-union!


I'll bet that knife is dull. A very sharp knife causes far fewer
accidents.

You would lose...

"Buerste" wrote in message
...

"Michael Koblic" wrote in message
...
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.co.../bagel-danger/

Surely everyone knows that the proper tool to cut bagels is a bandsaw!

--
Michael Koblic
Campbell River, BC

As a reminder not to cast stones etc. I just brought my wife home from
emergency where she received stitches to a nearly severed tip of her
finger. Aparently the last carrot had it in for her. With her favorite
knife and all. Has not had an accident like this last 20-odd years.

What impressed me most that after the carrots she bandaged her finger,
finished the rest of the massive prep, watched me put some of the stuff
together and only then admitted to the mishap. The power of a family
re-union!


I'll bet that knife is dull. A very sharp knife causes far fewer
accidents.

You would lose...

In article , Buerste wrote:

"Michael Koblic" wrote in message
...
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.co.../bagel-danger/

Surely everyone knows that the proper tool to cut bagels is a bandsaw!

--
Michael Koblic
Campbell River, BC

As a reminder not to cast stones etc. I just brought my wife home from
emergency where she received stitches to a nearly severed tip of her
finger. Aparently the last carrot had it in for her. With her favorite
knife and all. Has not had an accident like this last 20-odd years.

What impressed me most that after the carrots she bandaged her finger,
finished the rest of the massive prep, watched me put some of the stuff
together and only then admitted to the mishap. The power of a family
re-union!


I'll bet that knife is dull. A very sharp knife causes far fewer accidents.


Um, no. That's an old wives tale. If you've got your finger in the way,
you're going to get cut, sharp knife or dull. The only exception is a
knife so dull it slips off the carrot (or whatever). The OP didn't say
the knife slipped off the carrot (although he didn't say the opposite,
either). Any knife sharp enough to prep a bunch of carrots is not
likely to slip off the very last one.

Professional cooks, who keep their knives scary sharp, get cut far more
often than they admit, especially if they're cooking with wine

-Frank

--
Here's some of my work:
http://www.franksknives.com/

"Frank Warner" wrote in message
. ..
In article , Buerste wrote:

"Michael Koblic" wrote in message
...
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.co.../bagel-danger/

Surely everyone knows that the proper tool to cut bagels is a bandsaw!

--
Michael Koblic
Campbell River, BC

As a reminder not to cast stones etc. I just brought my wife home from
emergency where she received stitches to a nearly severed tip of her
finger. Aparently the last carrot had it in for her. With her favorite
knife and all. Has not had an accident like this last 20-odd years.

What impressed me most that after the carrots she bandaged her finger,
finished the rest of the massive prep, watched me put some of the stuff
together and only then admitted to the mishap. The power of a family
re-union!


I'll bet that knife is dull. A very sharp knife causes far fewer
accidents.


Um, no. That's an old wives tale. If you've got your finger in the way,
you're going to get cut, sharp knife or dull. The only exception is a
knife so dull it slips off the carrot (or whatever). The OP didn't say
the knife slipped off the carrot (although he didn't say the opposite,
either). Any knife sharp enough to prep a bunch of carrots is not
likely to slip off the very last one.

Professional cooks, who keep their knives scary sharp, get cut far more
often than they admit, especially if they're cooking with wine

-Frank

--
Here's some of my work:
http://www.franksknives.com/


Very nice work! But, using a dull knife, the operator then applies more and
more force, then when the resistance is overcome there is less control. I
stand by my statement!

http://www.essortment.com/home/kitchenknifesa_snwb.htm
http://www.chefschoice.com/tips_myth_all.html
http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=596
http://www.mrleonardknifesharpener.com/id9.html
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?ui...492&topic=9982

Buerste wrote:
...
http://www.chefschoice.com/tips_myth_all.html
....
"Fact" of Myth #14:
quote
Sparks produced during sharpening mean the knife is being damaged. The
sparks are actually bits of red-hot, overheated metal coming off the
knife. They indicate that the grinding wheel is seriously overheating
the knife-edge, which detempers (weakens) it.
/quote

I don't think that I buy this: just because the torn-off bits are red
hot doesn't mean that the edge is too hot. Annealing ("detemper-ing")
requires a red hot edge. Now the edge is very thin so it *could* get
red hot while just behind it doesn't, but I'm still skeptical.

Harold?

Bob

Buerste wrote:

I'll bet that knife is dull. A very sharp knife causes far fewer
accidents.

I agree but try to tell my sister-in-law that. :-)
I use to sharpen her kitchen knives when we went to
visit but so much hassel over it I quit.
...lew...

On Wed, 2 Dec 2009 10:20:27 -0500, the infamous "Buerste"
scrawled the following:


"Michael Koblic" wrote in message
...
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.co.../bagel-danger/

Surely everyone knows that the proper tool to cut bagels is a bandsaw!

--
Michael Koblic
Campbell River, BC

As a reminder not to cast stones etc. I just brought my wife home from
emergency where she received stitches to a nearly severed tip of her
finger. Aparently the last carrot had it in for her. With her favorite
knife and all. Has not had an accident like this last 20-odd years.

What impressed me most that after the carrots she bandaged her finger,
finished the rest of the massive prep, watched me put some of the stuff
together and only then admitted to the mishap. The power of a family
re-union!


I'll bet that knife is dull. A very sharp knife causes far fewer accidents.

True, usually.

I had just sharpened Mom's kitchen knife and was dicing up some meat
for stew when I hit a piece of supremely tough gristle. It pulled my
thumb into the line of fire and, before I knew it, the blade had cut
halfway through my thumbtip and nail, stopping on the distal phalanx.
I'd have lost my thumbtip had that bone not been in there. Whew!

Mom screamed when I said "Aw, ****.", but I just walked over to the
sink, cleaned the wound, dried it, applied some Bacitracin and a
bandaid, and got back to work. A hospital probably would have given
me a dozen stitches, but it healed on its own (with the butterfly
bandage) in a couple weeks with minimal fuss and pain. ERs are highly
overrated.

The blood (+ soap and warm water) cleansed the wound, the Bacitracin
prevented infection, and the clean cut allowed the skin to reattach to
itself without stitches, without any scarring, and without very much
pain at all. I was very happy about all 3. Which reminds me to grab
a little bottle of Povidone the next chance I get. It's a very good
cleanser/microbicide, too.

--
Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas
to the dangers of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label
of 'crackpot' than the stigma of conformity. And on issues that seem
important to you, stand up and be counted at any cost.
-- Thomas J. Watson

Larry Jaques wrote:
... A hospital probably would have given
me a dozen stitches, but it healed on its own (with the butterfly
bandage) in a couple weeks with minimal fuss and pain. ERs are highly
overrated.
...

Reminds me of a study/trial that I read about treating wounds in 3rd
world countries. The study was done in Haiti, IIRC.

In the trial, a hospital compared traditional suturing of wounds with
the use of butterfly bandages to close them. There were some pretty
serious cuts: as much as 1 cm deep and as much as 10 cm long, IIRC. The
prep was the same for both treatments. I.e., they just didn't slap the
butterflies on.

The butterflies did just as well as suturing. Which was great news for
them, since in the 3rd world, suturing has a considerable cost: the use
of a local anesthetic and an MD to do it.

Still, if I ever do another partial amputation of a finger, I'm going to
let the ER handle it G.

Bob

On Sat, 05 Dec 2009 11:52:55 -0500, the infamous Bob Engelhardt
scrawled the following:

Larry Jaques wrote:
... A hospital probably would have given
me a dozen stitches, but it healed on its own (with the butterfly
bandage) in a couple weeks with minimal fuss and pain. ERs are highly
overrated.
...

Reminds me of a study/trial that I read about treating wounds in 3rd
world countries. The study was done in Haiti, IIRC.

In the trial, a hospital compared traditional suturing of wounds with
the use of butterfly bandages to close them. There were some pretty
serious cuts: as much as 1 cm deep and as much as 10 cm long, IIRC. The
prep was the same for both treatments. I.e., they just didn't slap the
butterflies on.

The butterflies did just as well as suturing. Which was great news for
them, since in the 3rd world, suturing has a considerable cost: the use
of a local anesthetic and an MD to do it.

Yes, that's good news. Butterflying has to be done quickly, though,
before the wound has a chance to dry up or die at the cut ends, I
would hazard to guess.

I think mine was roughly 1cm deep about 1cm down my finger into the
nail, with maybe .8cm of meat involved, plus half the nail. I bled
like a stuck pig. A dull knife would have caused a lot more pain, I'm
sure, so I was lucky.


Still, if I ever do another partial amputation of a finger, I'm going to
let the ER handle it G.

I hope I never have to butterfly a deep wound again, too.
Self-mutilation doesn't thrill me at all, TYVM.

--
Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas
to the dangers of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label
of 'crackpot' than the stigma of conformity. And on issues that seem
important to you, stand up and be counted at any cost.
-- Thomas J. Watson

On Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:08:17 -0500, Bob Engelhardt
wrote:

Buerste wrote:
...
http://www.chefschoice.com/tips_myth_all.html
...
"Fact" of Myth #14:
quote
Sparks produced during sharpening mean the knife is being damaged. The
sparks are actually bits of red-hot, overheated metal coming off the
knife. They indicate that the grinding wheel is seriously overheating
the knife-edge, which detempers (weakens) it.
/quote

I don't think that I buy this: just because the torn-off bits are red
hot doesn't mean that the edge is too hot. Annealing ("detemper-ing")
requires a red hot edge. Now the edge is very thin so it *could* get
red hot while just behind it doesn't, but I'm still skeptical.

Harold?

Bob

I liked the "myth" that addressed giving knives as a gift. My wife
enjoys telling everyone that my wedding gift to her was a nice set of
Trident Wusthof kitchen knives. They've cut a few fingers, but not cut
our relationship, at least not in the mere 37+ years since I gave them
to her!

Joe

On Mon, 07 Dec 2009 07:00:26 -0500, the infamous Joe
scrawled the following:

On Sat, 05 Dec 2009 06:34:44 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

[snip]
The blood (+ soap and warm water) cleansed the wound, the Bacitracin
prevented infection, and the clean cut allowed the skin to reattach to
itself without stitches, without any scarring, and without very much
pain at all. I was very happy about all 3. Which reminds me to grab
a little bottle of Povidone the next chance I get. It's a very good
cleanser/microbicide, too.

I had to buy some Betadine surgical scrub (the sudsy version) a few
years ago, and was amazed at the cost for a little 6 oz bottle. Early
this year, I bought a full gallon (of the Betadine brand, no less)
from a veterinary supply place (Kentucky Horse Store, or something
like that) for 25 bucks, shipping included. It's more than a lifetime
supply for me. I prefer it over anything else for cleansing a wound
before dressing it.

With a 2 year shelf life, it's not quite a lifetime supply, unless you
know something we don't, Joe.


Also, an earlier poster mentioned bacitracin. I always used generic
Neosporin, usually to good effect, but it didn't work too well on
burns. Our plant nurse told me that bacitracin by itself is best for
burns, because one of the other antibiotics in Neosporin actually
impedes the healing of burns. Worked for me.

I'll have to remember that. I usually use a triple antibiotic.

--
To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen
to what the world tells you you ought to prefer,
is to have kept your soul alive.
-- Robert Louis Stevenson

On Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:49:15 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:


I had to buy some Betadine surgical scrub (the sudsy version) a few
years ago, and was amazed at the cost for a little 6 oz bottle. Early
this year, I bought a full gallon (of the Betadine brand, no less)
from a veterinary supply place (Kentucky Horse Store, or something
like that) for 25 bucks, shipping included. It's more than a lifetime
supply for me. I prefer it over anything else for cleansing a wound
before dressing it.

With a 2 year shelf life, it's not quite a lifetime supply, unless you
know something we don't, Joe.

I've concluded that *everything* has to have an expiration date, even
if it's just to force you to buy more. After 5+ years, some older
stuff still works well enough to be indistinguishable from new
product. I suppose eventually the povidone iodine breaks down, but I
haven't seen it happen yet. OTOH, just last week we cleaned out an
area of the attic to allow access for installing a new HVAC system and
I found a bottle of iodine xtals that I've had since the late 60s;
nearly all of it was gone - sublimated through the tightly sealed cap
& all. Nothing is forever, I guess - even diamonds revert to regular
carbon after a long enough time.

Joe




Also, an earlier poster mentioned bacitracin. I always used generic
Neosporin, usually to good effect, but it didn't work too well on
burns. Our plant nurse told me that bacitracin by itself is best for
burns, because one of the other antibiotics in Neosporin actually
impedes the healing of burns. Worked for me.

I'll have to remember that. I usually use a triple antibiotic.