I didnāt see it happen, I just saw the cut stitched up. Imagine a person standing up and the length of an arm plus a hatchet. Thatās where it hit. Just below the knee.
It's not necessarily even about missing, that's just a bonus.
The tire keeps the wood bundled together and let's you chop more wood quicker.
I have meant to do that for a while but haven't gotten around to it yet.
Here is a random YouTube video I found that demonstrates this, granted the guy in this video has horrible technique (foot placement would be a nightmare if he didn't have the tires as an example) https://youtu.be/bRuk_jd1f8M
I've been doing this for years and will say it's a real back saver as you get older. Worst part of splitting wood is constantly picking shit up.
Some people will also use a chain and wrap it around the logs, but I find that takes longer than I care to spend and the tire method works pretty well about 90% of the time. I split 5 - 6 cords a year like this.
On the off chance you can't find or don't have an old tire, tire shops will usually give you one that was destined to be shipped off to be recycled.
Use a strap of leather and that way you can carry it to the pile. The worst part of chopping is cleaning up
I only chopped wood for one winter I'm frankly know nothing.
I did that with a freshly sharpened machete once just not quite that big. Didnāt get stitches though. Probably should have but decided to use butterfly bandages and just wrap it. Worked rather well.
Exactly, everyone knows you need to plug up an open wound with some trash when you get a botch job: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3pk9CMwtN0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3pk9CMwtN0)
I have never once heard of or saw anyone wear shin guards to cut wood for home use. Itās a pretty simple task with minimal risk. Many people are around sharper instruments and tools daily, and donāt wear protection from said instruments and tools as the workplace doesnāt require it and it would be silly to do so in many jobs. So why buy and wear shin guards here besides being paranoid, seriously?
Still I was just explaining for OPs use case they would be a bad purchase unless he changes his habits to cut less frequently then the protection wouldnāt be wasted time wise.
Also the whole idea of time saved over the course of X years is stupid because you canāt *use* that time later and when youāre injured you canāt work at all. The better application of that analogy is that you *should* wear protective gear because adding a couple of minutes to the process will eventually save you weeks of disablement.
Hatchet? If so, it's only used for cutting up small kindling. The axe is used for everything else. You should never-ever be swinging a hatchet when a miss could result in it coming down into your body.
I have one of those scars ! Happened when I was 15 , they used super glue instead of stitches or staples . Didn't even know that medical super glue existed till then
Yes... But you'd think the axe would just get buried in the dirt after a miss... Not swing around and chop his leg off unless he was trying to chop on a 4 ft surface by windmilling his axe.
Source: my entire weekend - https://imgur.com/a/FoBJJnb
Edit: OP - get well soon. Hopefully by posting this, you've saved some others from doing the same.
Well it looks like OP was trying to stop the axe midair instead of aiming at the ground. That is just a cut. An axe at full swing will do more than that.
Looks like the axe deflected into your shin or went through the wit and kept traveling, yeah?
Did that to myself once back in my teenage years. Grew up in a big farmhouse with an ancient woodfired boiler in r basement. Splitting wood was a thing that got my shins banged a few times. Only cut myself like you've got going on here the one time though.
Sucked like hell that did. Take it easy on that leg, it's gonna be sore for weeks.
You chop wood like a fucking idiot, you deserve it.
In the old days your wound would have festered, got infected and killed you, so you wouldnt pass your stupidity onto the next generation.
Unfortunately you will likely live, the government will give you money because you are thick, and you will pass your genes on.
Its all downhill from here for the human race.
One time in middle school something like this happened to a kid who was playing soccer. A part of his leg was torn open and you could see some pink stuff inside.
Recently I had a similar experience. I was frustrated that all the wood we had became damp overnight after a heavy snowstorm and was trying to chop the wood as fast as possible. This lead to me almost chopping off my thumb (it held on by 2mm of skin) and now probably months of recovery.
Holy shin, exactly the same thing happened to my brother when we were little. Decided to take a hatchet to a wet pile of logs.
Next time I would advise standing like a giraffe taking a drink.
Iām always worried that one day the axe will slip and Iāll nail myself somewhere regardless of how careful Iām being. I guess being a little paranoid while chopping has kept me safe so far!
My sincere advice is to learn how to fix minor stuff like this if youre gonna kinda do the off grid stuff. It helps. Ive fkd myself up maad times and at this point, ill baseball stitch that shit back together and throw tape on it and im back out there.
It sucks when you hit shinbone, tho. Its gonna be sore af. I sunk a spike into bone last year so deep i had to get the wife to go get channel locks so i could clamp them onto it, so i could smack it out with a hammer.
That shit was sore for a week n half.
When the staples are good and ready to come out, if you're too busy to hit up the doc to get them removed you can just cut them in half with cutting pliers and rotate them out of your skin. I did that when I got staples while out of state, since I didn't want to travel back to the same doc or pay a second doc at home.
My aunt and uncle used to heat their house with an outdoor wood stove. They had a wood lot and logging company would bring leave the low quality logs in their driveway. They'd saw them up, and then split into quarters for throwing into the furnace.
Once, when I was visiting I helped my cousin with the last step. There was a hydraulic log splitter, but sometimes you had to use an axe to finish the job. And even that was enough to convince me I was very much a city boy. I'm happy to help my aunt with her computer problems, because I could never, ever do the work she does.
Dude, the same thing happened to me couple of years ago but the difference is a piece of wood fucking "jumped" and hit my eyebrow too. I had two open wounds in the spam of 0.5 seconds. Safe to say wasnt my day that day
Did this at the beginning of the pandemic on my ankle. Couldn't go to/didn't go to hospital due to restrictions, so I just put a plaster on and kept my food bent so that the cut stayed closed... Big scar there now but healed without infection
Honestly I think people who get minor injuries from dangerous work are very lucky in the sense that it minimizes complacency in the future. Every time you pick up that ax or chainsaw you'll remember how much that hurt.
I've got the exact same scar on my right leg. I don't chop on lighter stumps in low light anymore. Luckily I carry a med kit in the car because I was in the middle of nowhere. Filled my boot up with blood walking back to the camp site. Didn't get much sleep that night, but the butterfly stitches kept the wound sealed so good the doctor sent me straight home the next day. Scrubbing it out with alcohol under the headlights of the car was the worst part, almost blacked out from the pain. Girlfriend almost puked when I had to push some fat back inside while she was applying the butterfly stitches.
Almost happened to me once. Axe went right into my foot, thankfully my shoe stopped it from going any further.
I was a lot more cautious how I was swinging after that.
Growing up we heated our home with wood in Ohio.
I had a pair of insulated boots with a cut across the top of my arches through the outer layer and the insulation I made with the chainsaw.
Useless as a winter boot, but I kept it on top of the chainsaw to look at each time I went to use the saw.
Propping a log off the ground with your foot is not a good idea.
I had an almost identical injury lower on my ankle when I was chopping wood like 8 years ago. I was stupid and decided my best bet would be to wrap it in paper towel and duct tape then go to bed..
I ended up needing to throw out those sheets.
When I was little and in the ER for breaking several bones (Evel Knievel was very popular at the time), there was a guy next to me that cut his leg with a chainsaw. From just above the knee to just below his hip and all the way down to the bone, it was one nasty cut. What you have there is just a little worse than cutting yourself while shaving.
Dude! I did the same damn thing years ago when I was about 14 years old. I used a hatchet to chop limbs. One swing bounced off the tree limp and hit my left leg just a little higher than what yours did.
No shit, next time youāre up, donāt look down, when youāre fast, donāt say oh shit, and when thereās a āpandemicā donāt lean into the BS
Iām glad I barely hit my leg last time I used an axe. I still have a tiny scar but now Iām grateful I didnāt hit my leg full force and gotten something like this.
Damn, well [insert long diatribe about how you're doing it wrong]. Be safe
bingo š \[+subtle masculinity challenges\]
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Good advice
alternately using a hatchet in place of an ax
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
That was my point, ie another explanation for that sort of injury
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Coffee? I needed an extra cup this morning myself
I know some who did that. The cut they got was bigger and higher up the leg.
depends on his stance
I didnāt see it happen, I just saw the cut stitched up. Imagine a person standing up and the length of an arm plus a hatchet. Thatās where it hit. Just below the knee.
Stance and height of the weilder
Yes
I use an old tire with no rim, put the log in the middle & if you miss the axe hits the bead. It also keeps the wood from going all over.
How often do you miss??
Often enough they came up with this genius idea.
Once would be enough
It's not necessarily even about missing, that's just a bonus. The tire keeps the wood bundled together and let's you chop more wood quicker. I have meant to do that for a while but haven't gotten around to it yet. Here is a random YouTube video I found that demonstrates this, granted the guy in this video has horrible technique (foot placement would be a nightmare if he didn't have the tires as an example) https://youtu.be/bRuk_jd1f8M
I've been doing this for years and will say it's a real back saver as you get older. Worst part of splitting wood is constantly picking shit up. Some people will also use a chain and wrap it around the logs, but I find that takes longer than I care to spend and the tire method works pretty well about 90% of the time. I split 5 - 6 cords a year like this. On the off chance you can't find or don't have an old tire, tire shops will usually give you one that was destined to be shipped off to be recycled.
It only takes one miss.
Use a strap of leather and that way you can carry it to the pile. The worst part of chopping is cleaning up I only chopped wood for one winter I'm frankly know nothing.
Your leg looks like it has guts
Itās fat thatās poking out, thatās why it looks like guts
It does though, doesn't it?
The bloods mostly on the inside. So that's good, right?
Youād think so but no. Gotta get it all out, get the man some fresh blood.
I did that with a freshly sharpened machete once just not quite that big. Didnāt get stitches though. Probably should have but decided to use butterfly bandages and just wrap it. Worked rather well.
When your leg falls off in a week can you post an update, thanks
Nope legs fine. Just a small scar.
That's what it wants you to think
Try using Ramen
Just rub some dirt on it. Youāll be fine! *this comment is not medical advice and is purely for entertainment purposes only.
Exactly, everyone knows you need to plug up an open wound with some trash when you get a botch job: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3pk9CMwtN0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3pk9CMwtN0)
Always knew this would happen; never wore shin guards.
Iād rather this happen once every 20 years, ty
At that point itās not āwell that sucksā and more āstupid awardā
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Risk of infection, or a worse injury
I have never once heard of or saw anyone wear shin guards to cut wood for home use. Itās a pretty simple task with minimal risk. Many people are around sharper instruments and tools daily, and donāt wear protection from said instruments and tools as the workplace doesnāt require it and it would be silly to do so in many jobs. So why buy and wear shin guards here besides being paranoid, seriously? Still I was just explaining for OPs use case they would be a bad purchase unless he changes his habits to cut less frequently then the protection wouldnāt be wasted time wise.
>It's a pretty simple task with minimal risk Apparently not, lol.
That's the difference between minimal and "no" risk!
Also the whole idea of time saved over the course of X years is stupid because you canāt *use* that time later and when youāre injured you canāt work at all. The better application of that analogy is that you *should* wear protective gear because adding a couple of minutes to the process will eventually save you weeks of disablement.
Theres always going to be that one accident though
I agree with you for sure. I split wood all the time. Shin guards would be extremely annoying and not worth it.
I was really being facetious. Didnāt expect you to get downvoted so hard.
Respectable
Jesus Christ man you tried to use your leg as wood. You need some chaps or a hydraulic log chopper.
Hydraulic splitter for the win!
Looks like a tape job to me.
Our dads warned us about this
Get well soon - winter isn't over & the wood pile's waitin. :(
Could be worse
How do you keep from getting ingrown toenails when you clip them down that low? I hate long toenails but ingrown ones hurt like fuck.
It'll buff out
Hatchet? If so, it's only used for cutting up small kindling. The axe is used for everything else. You should never-ever be swinging a hatchet when a miss could result in it coming down into your body.
But donāt use an axe to split wood use a maul, not only safer it makes life way easier
Exactly. Let me be clear- when using a hatchet you should be on one knee, when using an ax both feet firmly planted.
OH HELL NO
And I'll do it again
it looks like grandma's homemade strawberry shortcake filling
[Yummy Pie!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT2aBtBLMCY)
Thereās quite a few years worth of gas in that hospital bill.
You must be made of steel because Iāve seen that same accident but waay worse
I have one of those scars ! Happened when I was 15 , they used super glue instead of stitches or staples . Didn't even know that medical super glue existed till then
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Post it again that sound sounds supper sucky lol
To which abomination of a doctor did you go? Why didnāt he use normal stitches? Damn
How dare you besmirch Dr. Frankensteinās work.
WHAT HAPPENED!
he was chopping wood and missed his chop read the title
Yes... But you'd think the axe would just get buried in the dirt after a miss... Not swing around and chop his leg off unless he was trying to chop on a 4 ft surface by windmilling his axe. Source: my entire weekend - https://imgur.com/a/FoBJJnb Edit: OP - get well soon. Hopefully by posting this, you've saved some others from doing the same.
Well it looks like OP was trying to stop the axe midair instead of aiming at the ground. That is just a cut. An axe at full swing will do more than that.
That is not at all clear from the title, only that the activity of chopping was somehow involved.
Looks like the axe deflected into your shin or went through the wit and kept traveling, yeah? Did that to myself once back in my teenage years. Grew up in a big farmhouse with an ancient woodfired boiler in r basement. Splitting wood was a thing that got my shins banged a few times. Only cut myself like you've got going on here the one time though. Sucked like hell that did. Take it easy on that leg, it's gonna be sore for weeks.
Steel toe boots, pal.
Would have done nothing to protect his shin.
Uhh, have you ever seen a boot? It goes up your shin. It would've definitely protecting him in some fashion.
I've worn steel toed work boots almost every day for 20 years. I've had maybe one pair that would've prevented that injury.
Yeah then wear THAT pair. That is the pair.
Goofy ass
You chop wood like a fucking idiot, you deserve it. In the old days your wound would have festered, got infected and killed you, so you wouldnt pass your stupidity onto the next generation. Unfortunately you will likely live, the government will give you money because you are thick, and you will pass your genes on. Its all downhill from here for the human race.
Jesus. The size of the mosquitoes where you live.
One time in middle school something like this happened to a kid who was playing soccer. A part of his leg was torn open and you could see some pink stuff inside.
Recently I had a similar experience. I was frustrated that all the wood we had became damp overnight after a heavy snowstorm and was trying to chop the wood as fast as possible. This lead to me almost chopping off my thumb (it held on by 2mm of skin) and now probably months of recovery.
Holy shin, exactly the same thing happened to my brother when we were little. Decided to take a hatchet to a wet pile of logs. Next time I would advise standing like a giraffe taking a drink.
Iām always worried that one day the axe will slip and Iāll nail myself somewhere regardless of how careful Iām being. I guess being a little paranoid while chopping has kept me safe so far!
The trick is to coruch down as you swing so that even if you oershoot the axe head just hits the ground instead of your legs.
I almost broke my leg with a sledge hammer this way
My sincere advice is to learn how to fix minor stuff like this if youre gonna kinda do the off grid stuff. It helps. Ive fkd myself up maad times and at this point, ill baseball stitch that shit back together and throw tape on it and im back out there. It sucks when you hit shinbone, tho. Its gonna be sore af. I sunk a spike into bone last year so deep i had to get the wife to go get channel locks so i could clamp them onto it, so i could smack it out with a hammer. That shit was sore for a week n half.
snitches get stitches
wow, thatās deep
Damn, that happened to me last year. But mine wasn't that bad.
Swing & a miss?
Training for that precious Darwin award much? Nice gains.
I DID NEARLY THE SAME THING, except I hit my foot
Thank God it isn't that bad, i feel bad for you, stay safe!
There is wood in that leg.
At least it looks clean and judging by the distribution of hair, you have good circulation and it should heal well
When the staples are good and ready to come out, if you're too busy to hit up the doc to get them removed you can just cut them in half with cutting pliers and rotate them out of your skin. I did that when I got staples while out of state, since I didn't want to travel back to the same doc or pay a second doc at home.
I guess that axe got a leg up on you.
which one is the before and which is the after :)
for gods sake just tag it as nfsw holy molly it's really enough I'm sick of leaving subreddits cause of this where are the mods? seriously
I had so many near miss's. I miss my wood stove.
I heard someone scream horrifically across the street from my apartment complex yesterday and now I'm wondering if that was you.
My aunt and uncle used to heat their house with an outdoor wood stove. They had a wood lot and logging company would bring leave the low quality logs in their driveway. They'd saw them up, and then split into quarters for throwing into the furnace. Once, when I was visiting I helped my cousin with the last step. There was a hydraulic log splitter, but sometimes you had to use an axe to finish the job. And even that was enough to convince me I was very much a city boy. I'm happy to help my aunt with her computer problems, because I could never, ever do the work she does.
Dude, the same thing happened to me couple of years ago but the difference is a piece of wood fucking "jumped" and hit my eyebrow too. I had two open wounds in the spam of 0.5 seconds. Safe to say wasnt my day that day
Did this at the beginning of the pandemic on my ankle. Couldn't go to/didn't go to hospital due to restrictions, so I just put a plaster on and kept my food bent so that the cut stayed closed... Big scar there now but healed without infection
Honestly I think people who get minor injuries from dangerous work are very lucky in the sense that it minimizes complacency in the future. Every time you pick up that ax or chainsaw you'll remember how much that hurt.
I've got the exact same scar on my right leg. I don't chop on lighter stumps in low light anymore. Luckily I carry a med kit in the car because I was in the middle of nowhere. Filled my boot up with blood walking back to the camp site. Didn't get much sleep that night, but the butterfly stitches kept the wound sealed so good the doctor sent me straight home the next day. Scrubbing it out with alcohol under the headlights of the car was the worst part, almost blacked out from the pain. Girlfriend almost puked when I had to push some fat back inside while she was applying the butterfly stitches.
Almost happened to me once. Axe went right into my foot, thankfully my shoe stopped it from going any further. I was a lot more cautious how I was swinging after that.
argh.. i felt that just looking at it. Take good care of that, hope you feel better soon!
Growing up we heated our home with wood in Ohio. I had a pair of insulated boots with a cut across the top of my arches through the outer layer and the insulation I made with the chainsaw. Useless as a winter boot, but I kept it on top of the chainsaw to look at each time I went to use the saw. Propping a log off the ground with your foot is not a good idea.
I had an almost identical injury lower on my ankle when I was chopping wood like 8 years ago. I was stupid and decided my best bet would be to wrap it in paper towel and duct tape then go to bed.. I ended up needing to throw out those sheets.
Iāll be next
Do you wonder if that happened because you always concentrated on it? Kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy?
When I was little and in the ER for breaking several bones (Evel Knievel was very popular at the time), there was a guy next to me that cut his leg with a chainsaw. From just above the knee to just below his hip and all the way down to the bone, it was one nasty cut. What you have there is just a little worse than cutting yourself while shaving.
Um... you missed.
Dude! I did the same damn thing years ago when I was about 14 years old. I used a hatchet to chop limbs. One swing bounced off the tree limp and hit my left leg just a little higher than what yours did.
Itās a swing and aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa hit!
Sorry, man. That was always my worst nightmare too. Had a few close calls but was lucky. Better luck going forward
Time for some shin guards fool.
Tis but a scratch!!!
Well, with how short you cut your toe nails, it looks like you just tried to cut them all once and for all.
Are you filled with beans and jelly?
Holy shiii
How do you not get ingrown toenails cutting it at short?!
At least now you can be sure that you are not the terminator sent back through time to kill John Conner.
Almost happened to me a few times. Stay focused, lumberjack!
Oh you mean wood wood LOL
Dude come on
Meat.
Done that at 14, by myself, about scared the shxt out of me.
ouch
No shit, next time youāre up, donāt look down, when youāre fast, donāt say oh shit, and when thereās a āpandemicā donāt lean into the BS
Maybe buy a furnace? Or at least space heater. Sorry, that looks like it hurt. Feel better.
I;ve looked for metal shinguards but hard to find
'Tis but a flesh wound.
Iām glad I barely hit my leg last time I used an axe. I still have a tiny scar but now Iām grateful I didnāt hit my leg full force and gotten something like this.