Hey all,
I've been kickin this around my head since Sat. after about slicing my thumb off skinning my antelope. I will for sure cut myself at least once on every animal I take care of. Well I had the antelope hanging and was caping it out. You know the spot that is always hard to get of on the chest ? I was pulling down hard and ran the knife between the hide and meat and sliced right the the hide across the top of my thumb on side of knuckle about an inch and a quarter long. I was pissed and it was flowing . I grabbed paper towels and rapped around it. It wouldn't stop. I knew it was a fairly bad cut but tried to ignore it. I got the head and cape off and before I started to brake down the carcass I said I'm going to get same big band aids and surgical tape to put on it. I went to my pack and my trusty kit was not there. I had left it home. First time since 1988 when I back packed into Cedar Breaks Wilderness in Ut. by myself and shot a buck first day. I boned it all out and went to saw off the antlers and I had forgot my pack saw. Can't blame age/memory on that time. I had a brand new knife so I thought well, I'll just stab the skull to make a hole ( no, not yet...) and then just work my knife back and forth to cut it off. Well it worked eventually. I had all meat loaded in my pack ready to go. Well there was this little piece of meat hanging from the hide on the skull plate. I just had to take that off. I grabbed on the wet piece of meat with my left hand and wacked it with knife and right across the top knuckle on my baby finger like butter. The end of my finger was hanging down and I couldn't move it. Figured I had severed my tendon. I wrapped toilet paper around it because didn't even have a bandaid let alone a first aid kit. Threw on my pack and hiked out about 3 mi.. got back to truck and washed it out and wrapped a towel around it and drove back home 8 hrs.. Next day I called around and both orthapedic surgeons were not in town. The one was going to be back next day. Went to him and he says I can't sew it up because it's been 2 days. I said huh ? BS. Fix it. He asked do you use your hands for a living ? I said doesn't everybody ? I'm a phone tech. He said ok. He stuck the novocain needle right into the middle of it and I came unglued ! Then it got numb...He sewed the tendon back together and sewed up the cut. I told him I'm leaving tonight to back pack in 6 mi. up top near Mt. San Gorgonio to meet my friend who was expecting me yesterday. He gave me a splint for finger and said bring me back some deer meat. Walked all night and found friend bout 10 pm. I kicked his tent. He said where you been. I said move over, I'll tell you in the morning. Okay, back to topic. Since then I've made and added to my military first aid kit. I've acquired fish hook sewing needle and thread sewing kits (remember the story about falling of a Cliff at night while hunting in Co. ? I used a regular needle and thread but I had it). I have surgical tweezer's (awesome),hemastat, surgical scissor's , fire starter, magnafying glass,space blanlet,lighters, matches, chapstick,sugical razor's,a pen, a pencil,allen wrench for scope mounts,aspiren, pain killers,surgical tape,crazy glue (very important you will see),iodine, neosporne,and much more, all in a pack that is about 5x5x2 in. weighes maybe 12 ounces. I guess it pays to work in two hospital's and have doctor's and surgeon's as friends... So back to last Sat.. I didn't bring my first aid kit. I was mad at myself to say the least. I found some surgical tape and 2 bandaid's in my truck. I put the bandaid's on but was to wet/bleeding to stick. I wrapped the tape around it a few times and said so be it. Kept paper towel over that. Eventually it stopped bleeding. Cut up carcass and loaded everthing up and went to town. Went in little store and found some crazy glue. Washed and dried my thumb and pinched cut together and glued it. Wrapped surgical tape around it again and was good for drive home. I know I cut nerves and maybe part way into tendon because It's numb and can bend only a little . Good to go though. I have more stiches in my body than an old couch !
So, I'd like to hear from other's what they carry in their "back pack" for first aid and any good stories too since you had to suffer through another novel of mine...
I've been kickin this around my head since Sat. after about slicing my thumb off skinning my antelope. I will for sure cut myself at least once on every animal I take care of. Well I had the antelope hanging and was caping it out. You know the spot that is always hard to get of on the chest ? I was pulling down hard and ran the knife between the hide and meat and sliced right the the hide across the top of my thumb on side of knuckle about an inch and a quarter long. I was pissed and it was flowing . I grabbed paper towels and rapped around it. It wouldn't stop. I knew it was a fairly bad cut but tried to ignore it. I got the head and cape off and before I started to brake down the carcass I said I'm going to get same big band aids and surgical tape to put on it. I went to my pack and my trusty kit was not there. I had left it home. First time since 1988 when I back packed into Cedar Breaks Wilderness in Ut. by myself and shot a buck first day. I boned it all out and went to saw off the antlers and I had forgot my pack saw. Can't blame age/memory on that time. I had a brand new knife so I thought well, I'll just stab the skull to make a hole ( no, not yet...) and then just work my knife back and forth to cut it off. Well it worked eventually. I had all meat loaded in my pack ready to go. Well there was this little piece of meat hanging from the hide on the skull plate. I just had to take that off. I grabbed on the wet piece of meat with my left hand and wacked it with knife and right across the top knuckle on my baby finger like butter. The end of my finger was hanging down and I couldn't move it. Figured I had severed my tendon. I wrapped toilet paper around it because didn't even have a bandaid let alone a first aid kit. Threw on my pack and hiked out about 3 mi.. got back to truck and washed it out and wrapped a towel around it and drove back home 8 hrs.. Next day I called around and both orthapedic surgeons were not in town. The one was going to be back next day. Went to him and he says I can't sew it up because it's been 2 days. I said huh ? BS. Fix it. He asked do you use your hands for a living ? I said doesn't everybody ? I'm a phone tech. He said ok. He stuck the novocain needle right into the middle of it and I came unglued ! Then it got numb...He sewed the tendon back together and sewed up the cut. I told him I'm leaving tonight to back pack in 6 mi. up top near Mt. San Gorgonio to meet my friend who was expecting me yesterday. He gave me a splint for finger and said bring me back some deer meat. Walked all night and found friend bout 10 pm. I kicked his tent. He said where you been. I said move over, I'll tell you in the morning. Okay, back to topic. Since then I've made and added to my military first aid kit. I've acquired fish hook sewing needle and thread sewing kits (remember the story about falling of a Cliff at night while hunting in Co. ? I used a regular needle and thread but I had it). I have surgical tweezer's (awesome),hemastat, surgical scissor's , fire starter, magnafying glass,space blanlet,lighters, matches, chapstick,sugical razor's,a pen, a pencil,allen wrench for scope mounts,aspiren, pain killers,surgical tape,crazy glue (very important you will see),iodine, neosporne,and much more, all in a pack that is about 5x5x2 in. weighes maybe 12 ounces. I guess it pays to work in two hospital's and have doctor's and surgeon's as friends... So back to last Sat.. I didn't bring my first aid kit. I was mad at myself to say the least. I found some surgical tape and 2 bandaid's in my truck. I put the bandaid's on but was to wet/bleeding to stick. I wrapped the tape around it a few times and said so be it. Kept paper towel over that. Eventually it stopped bleeding. Cut up carcass and loaded everthing up and went to town. Went in little store and found some crazy glue. Washed and dried my thumb and pinched cut together and glued it. Wrapped surgical tape around it again and was good for drive home. I know I cut nerves and maybe part way into tendon because It's numb and can bend only a little . Good to go though. I have more stiches in my body than an old couch !
So, I'd like to hear from other's what they carry in their "back pack" for first aid and any good stories too since you had to suffer through another novel of mine...
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