# My First Real Scar (gaff injury)



## soiset (Mar 22, 2010)

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I'd always read about gaff injuries to the opposite leg in the catalog listings of gaff guards. This one was so high that even those wouldn't have helped. I did this on a removal, when I had to move rather quickly to avoid a log on a pendulum. My route was planned, but I fudged it a bit. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt or bleed much.

The coolest part was that the doctor who stitched it up was a medic at the Battle of the Bulge (42nd Rainbow Div)!


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## Tree Pig (Mar 22, 2010)

soiset said:


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Man I would stick myself in the legs just to meet the guy, talk about a true silver lining


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## soiset (Mar 22, 2010)

Stihl-O-Matic said:


> Man I would stick myself in the legs just to meet the guy, talk about a true silver lining



It was TOTALLY worth it for that. I loved Band of Brothers, and have always been a bit of a WW2 buff. The doctor (Robert Spiegle) had some funny battle medic stories for me and was a great sport.


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## soiset (Mar 22, 2010)

inghamb87 said:


> Ohh man, that's quite an opening. Hope you are healing well



Seven mattress stitches with black thread, and I was back in the same tree the next day (with doc's approval)! If you ever have to pick a place to get stabbed, pick that spot. The anesthetic was far more painful than the injury. I was determined not to show it, though, in front of the WWII medic!


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## murphy4trees (Mar 25, 2010)

that hole looks like it is above the knee... How did you ever get up so high on yourself... you must practice yoga or something... I know some funny things happen in a tree, but still... that is mysterious to me..

AND be warned... sounds like you might be a bit more careful; with your rigging.. you shouldn't need to cut and run in all but the most extreme cases, if you rig right and pick a good tie in, have good groundman running ropes etc.. 
Small mistakes always precede big ones.. you might want to evaluate how you could have rigged that one differently and how you could change your rigging system to make it safer for yourself... I can count the times on one hand that I needed the groundman to let a piece run in order to avoid hitting me, last year...


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## soiset (Mar 26, 2010)

I was remarking on the height of the injury, myself. I even kept playing it back out, trying to figure out how I got the gaff that high.

As far as technique, well, I was in a compromised position - no groundman at all. This was a removal for a neighbor, and I was lowering the limb with a rescue 8 from my position. Back when my tree work was more of a full-time occupation, there were several times that I had to instruct my groundman to let it run (portawrap 1) so I'd be there to pay him later.


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## outofmytree (Mar 27, 2010)

Congrats on missing anything vital! I am also impressed with your yoga skills!

It is often on the "simple jobs for beer money" that injuries occur. Im with Daniel on keeping your guard up. 

I bought Band of Brothers on DVD and watched the entire series in 2 nights back to back. What an amazing group of brave men. I can understand how a few first hand stories would be worth any discomfort a gaff wound would cause.


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