I'll come in when the blood loss makes me woozy...

faradroka1 · Joined: 14 May 2001 Posts: 216 Location: East Bay

Slice your thumb from nail to knuckle at Pt. Isabel? Rocket back to the truck, slap some duct tape on it and yer good to go.

Caught some weeds on the fin, jumped in pulled them off. Reached around the fin to check for any stragglers, OUCH! Got back on board, but attempting to clot blood flow by pressing against boom merely makes the boom grip mushy. Several reaches back and forth did nothing but sprinkle my new Hansen sail with splats of blood. Waiting for it to clot, but it would just pop back open and start oozing all over everything. So headed in and effected truck side repair.

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

Kendall "Wet-Pruf" waterproof tape is in a class by itself for use on skin subjected to water and abrasion. It will stay on feet, even toes, for many days of sailing barefooted. It used to be available OTC, but I had to buy my last box of it online (your veterinarian may have a roll to sell you). I have used it for many years to close or cover cuts, buddy tape sprained fingers, cover areas from which the skin has been scraped off down to meat, etc.

The only problem is its extreme adhesion; when I remove it after a few days, it takes serious pulling. It will feel like it's removing it. On a major cut or raw meat, it can easily reopen the wound when removed ... which beats not sailing.

\m/

rigatoni · Joined: 25 Feb 1999 Posts: 498

New Skin Liquid Bandage-kind of like crazy glue with a little antiseptic but keeps the thing closed and the would clean.

geffert · Joined: 09 Oct 2007 Posts: 123

I love duct tape. Even if it is not the hygienic product, sometime you just can't help yourself from using it.

With finger wounds that won't stop bleeding it tough...How was it taking off the tape?? I had a slice on my foot last year that I resolved with duct tape. It was a b**ch getting it off.

Hope you heal soon!
-Rebecca
Boardsports School & Shop
SF, Alameda, San Mateo

geffert · Joined: 09 Oct 2007 Posts: 123

I love duct tape. Even if it is not the hygienic product, sometime you just can't help yourself from using it.

With finger wounds that won't stop bleeding it tough...How was it taking off the tape?? I had a slice on my foot last year that I resolved with duct tape. It was a b**ch getting it off.

Hope you heal soon!
-Rebecca
Boardsports School & Shop
SF, Alameda, San Mateo

beallmd · Joined: 10 May 1998 Posts: 1154

duct tape for sure. Stays on in the water better than anything I've seen. Most windsurfers have it with them at all times. Acts as "new skin" perfectly, so here is the SECRET! Don't take it off till it is falling off, usually 5-7 days, by then the wound or hole from booms or whatever is all healed. Kind of grosses out my wife though.

carl · Joined: 25 Feb 1997 Posts: 2674 Location: SF bay area

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

My last taped cut included a flap of skin. I was careful to pull the Wet-Pruf tape off in the correct direction to minimize lifting after a couple of days of sailing then apply the oval "bandaid" that uses no antibiotic. A non-sailing nurse would have blanched at the tape, but I was watching carefully for signs of infectlon. Radioactive water is a plus in some ways.

Legend has it that super glue began life as Dermabond, a surgical cement. Krzy Glue is just the non-FDA-approved commercial version.

I've used both duct tape and Kendall Wet-Pruf tape. I haven't even considered going back to duct tape since discovering the latter a decade ago. It conforms better, sticks better, and provides grip rather than slip. None of the many off-the-shelf "waterproof" medical tapes I've tried from drugstore shelves will stay on for two minutes in fog, five in high humidity. They're all a joke.

\m/