Piercing Question

[kpgraci]

Not sure what made me think of this, but although I’ve been married 27 years I haven’t worn my wedding ring in at least 20 unless I’m dressing up for some formal occasion with the wife. When I worked around machinery we were told to remove all rings and we all heard horror stories of guys getting their fingers ripped off because of a ring. Sailboats have plenty of hazards and in this day and age there are not only rings and but various piercings, something I simply don’t comprehend, but to each his/her own. I don’t know how authenticate the image of the pirate with ear piercings is but it sounds like a good way to lose an ear, either on a boat or in a bar fight.
So, do you remove you rings and/or piercings while on a sailboat?

 

[shemandr]

I used to sail with a skipper who insisted that I take my rings off. He claims he knew someone who lost their finger in a sailing accident due to a ring.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Yup, I'll bet folks get bonked by having rings in all sorts of situations, including moving machinery and boating related stuff.

Nope, I've been sailing for 35 years and don't take my rings off. Not only that, they won't come off anymore either.

 

[Rick D]

Well, a lot of years ago we had a club member who had a sex change from male to female. A good crew racer. Aside from initial bathroom issues at the club, it went without drama. However, this crew started wearing jewelry of a variety of sorts when racing and the gals were all over him and insisted he remove them explaining in gory detail what can happen. He quit wearing accessories when sailing, saving them for the club. A whole other story.

 

[tkanzler]

A guy I used to work with, back in my truck driving and heavy equipment days, stripped his ring finger off like a chicken leg off the bone when he jumped down from a truck and his ring got caught. Not something I'll ever forget.

 

[ghost]

I always wear sailing/racing gloves while sailing so they cover my wedding ring. Horror story of sailors without gloves having a sheet rip through their hands and burning skin. Sailing without gloves for me is like driving without a seat belt.

 

[Johnb]

People should pay attention at all times to avoiding tangles of lines, especially but not limited to, jib sheets and anchor rodes.

When my wife was doing basic cruising classes you failed if you did not follow proper procedures with regard to tailing winches, not leaving winch handles in, cleating sheets, tidiness etc.

This has been beaten to death in other discussions.......

 

[Nom De Guerre]

I remove my ring in the shoulder seasons when it's looser due to the cool weather and prone to snagging on hooks n things.

In the summertime it's snug enough that I don't worry about it.

 

[justsomeguy]

A guy I used to work with, back in my truck driving and heavy equipment days, stripped his ring finger off like a chicken leg off the bone when he jumped down from a truck and his ring got caught. Not something I'll ever forget.

Eww, a degloving. Can happen when you're wearing gloves, too.

 

[All U Get]

I cut a few rings off swollen fingers with a ring cutter tool. I suppose a Dremmel Tool would work in a pinch.

My wife wears hers and we've decided not to discuss it. I haven't worn mine in 42 years because it snagged once while I was working. Besides, it would leave a spot on my butt that wouldn't get scratched.

All U Get

 

[Doc_holiday]

I would lose more than my finger if I took my ring off !!!

 

[fred1diver]

has anyone seen a pic of what can happen if your ring gets crushed and yanked off?
I have, it's not pretty

 

[patrickfarley]

When I worked my way through college as a mechanic the boss told everyone to take off their rings during work. He was afraid that the ring could create a direct short and burn your finger off.
When I worked as a police officer I saw piercings in almost every part of the body. Ouch! If you create a direct short there you were doing something you shouldn't have been doing.
I have never seen a ring ripped off a person. I saw many piercings pulled out with great force. Lots of pain but not a lot of damage.

 

[AnchorDragger]

A high school classmate vaulted over a wood porch railing onto the ground a few feet lower. His ring snagged on a nail and yanked his finger off. He brought it to school in a bottle of formaldehyde. I have rarely worn any ring since.

 

[justsomeguy]

And stay away from those titanium rings, too.

 

[thinwater]

My first boss had 9 fingers; degloved when the ring caught on a ladder rung.

The yard manager for the neighboring company had 9 fingers; caught it on a nail sticking out of a stake body truck.

Our company (large multi-national) has a strict no-ring policy. Grounds for dismissal, first offence, like many other safety practices.

My grandfather had a very serious burn when he got the ring between the terminals on a starter. They cut the ring off and he never wore one again.

I bruised tendons several times getting a ring stuck when working or even just scrambling around (caught it once on the fog horn at Portland Head Light on my honeymoon). Finally lost it whe I removed it before a rock climb (finger crack) way up Boulder Canyon. Haven't considered wearing one since and my wife COMPLETELY supports that decision.

If you wear a ring while working, you're and idiot, plain and simple.

 

[Chris Patterson]

Hmm. Another thought provoking question, at least it made me think. Strange things do. And it is not strange whether people choose to wear trinkets at all, but the insistence. And yes, I have seen these scenarios many times. My dad had a ring cut off of him, just short of losing the finger. My number one partner lost a finger completely. He was very miffed about it because it was one of the very few "real" jobs we ever took. Our life expectancies weren't good at all in our usual occupations and we accepted that as business as usual. But when he lost that finger over some piddly job he about went berserk. The 16 words that he ever muttered during the year was all used up..
I electrically burnt a Saint Christopher medallion off of me one time. Unnerved me, but not enough to stop wearing it. I'm no more Catholic than I am Arch Druid, but I think I got attached to it because the military said I could keep it.
I remember years ago a cartoon of a cowboy, and what he would look like after O.S.H.A. I've never forgotten that, and I would like the same thinking applied to a sailboat. By the time we got it safe enough to leave the harbor, it would weigh 40 tons, and the occupants strapped on deck immobile.
So it's probably not a great idea. Nor is imminent death there either.
Discretion. Common sense. Sail.

One more thing. These face "adornments" that look like somebody fell face first into a tackle box? In a "close situation", that is going to be the very first thing I start snatching out of their face.
"So you like pain, huh? Here, let me help"..

 

[WayneH]

I wear my rings under gloves while sailing and yeah, I know about degloving. My wedding band is not all that stout, tho. I've had to repair it when it cracked on the side and I've had it re-rounded several times. If I know I'm going to abuse my hands, I will remove it before starting.

The story I have is a co-worker who was replacing his car battery. Attached the negative cable first and then started attaching the positive cable. He made contact with the car body and shorted the battery with the wrench, ring and car body. The hospital cut off his ring and now he has a permanent ring on his finger.

 

[Roadking Larry]

Had a shipmate lose his ring finger when the ring got caught on some hydraulic hoist while moving torpedos.

My wedding band had been resized to a smaller size so it had been cut and resoldered/brazed/whatever they do with gold. Apperently it was a weak spot.
I was moving crates in a Navy supply depot and the ring had rolled over on my finger puting the weak spot on top. The ring snagged on a crate and opened the weak spot. when it splipped off the snag it closed back up piercing the top of my finger. I had to get a co-worker to help me pull it apart to get it off my finger, but he fainted at the sight of all the blood, fell and hit his head on the concrete floor suffering a concusion.

 

[Ray Bowles]

My dock partners wife lost her ring and finger when she jumped off the bow to stop the boat. Her ring caught on the bow pulpit when she jumped and the pull reversed her direction and threw her around the bow to the otherside of the boat in the water. Very nasty and messy wound. Enough said.
Ray