Little Injuries

[EX121]

so I have been out playing in the woods a bunch this summer & have a chance to practice old & new skills. While do this I have had a couple of small injuries beyond the normal bumps, nicks & bruises.
I slightly twisted an ankle stepping out of a door in the dark. while it didn't disable me it was painful enough to limit my walking for the next day. I don't know if this would have been preventable (I was born clumsy). But in a PAW it could have been more serious.

I was practicing primitive fire starting, specifically the hand drill method and developed a blister on my right palm, & slight bruising on the left hand. When I used to work with my hands all of the time I had calluses that prevented this. I hadn't realized how soft my hands had become in retirement. Again I'm not sure how this could have been prevented other than wearing gloves or doing work to build up the calluses again.

My point for the post is we think we are prepared for all contingencies but sometimes it's the little, unseen things that may trip us up.
This is a good reason to get out there and practice & try stuff to see if your plans will really work.

[Not_Yet_Prepped]

sometimes it's the little, unseen things that may trip us up

What was the old saying, something like:
"Those who reach for the stars, aften stumble and fall from a simple straw"

On June 11th I was playing in the park. One miss step and I broke my ankle in 3 spots. That in this market will cost me 2 surgeries, 2 months of crutches, Metal detectors going off for life, payments to hospital for life, and major loss of muscle (which I will regain).

I am expected to make a full recovery and have the "great benefit" of being able to tell when the weather is about to change. But in PAW what would that have cost me? A leg? My life maybe? (Due to lack of ability to "sustain" myself) What would it have cost my family? Without the main "Bread earner" able to plant/work the fields/crop/live stock (not that I have that yet) what would it have cost them in PAW?

Kind of an EYE OPENING event. My life is currently totally different than it was in May, but due to Modern Trauma Medicine it will return to normal by end of the summer. But in PAW I would guess my injury would have started a count down clock on my life. Just as simple as a few broken bones that never would have "healed" without some "plates, pins & screws". Makes me think when a horse breaks its leg?

[Matt In Oklahoma]

I feel the same things when I hunt. Last year I was injured and had to watch Sharpshooter take his from about 800yds because I couldnt make that last stretch at the time. I did manage to gimp down there and help bring it back to camp after he shot it but it was hard. My knees were bleeding and then when i stopped they would dry to the inside of my pants or thermals and then when i moved again they would tear and bleed more. It made the hunt uncomfortable but in PAW that injury would be life threatening because it hampered the ablility to hunt for food with risk of infection. It also hampered my ability to run distances if needed and had i run the blood loss would have made me more trackable.
Moving slower but with defined motivation was something i learned especially when operating at night because them small injuries add up quick.
It always good to practice and better to live it, good thread

[benjaminblake]

Have you seen an ant climbing up a wall. It goes up 3 steps, slips 2, but finally reaches the top. Moral of the story: Never give up!

[WILL]

I notice how I get cuts, scrapes, burns, blisters and other small injuries all the time from bush crafting and doing manual labor outside. I've thought about how in a SHTF the sanitary conditions will be bad, you'll be run down from worry and work, probably not eating right or taking good care of yourself. I have all these preparations and mental training in place, but an infected foot blister could be the end of me. Great thread.

[EX121]

Will, the bad sanitation thing brings up the need for keeping all of those small cuts clean. Now we can kinda slide on washing our hands and such, but in a PAW it will be doubly important especially without antibiotics. There is a difference between comsetic dirt and unsanitary dirty.