Yesterday I was working on finishing up a batch of arrows before work in anticipation of archery season opening up on the 23rd.
My fletching jig was on top of my rolling toolbox to get it up closer to eye level and my Young feather burner was on top of the workbench with a lower height about two steps to the right so I could look down at the burning wire and get the shaft close but not touching. I've been working on a 2.5 dozen batch of carbons for a while from tuning, to indexing spines, to custom cresting, to splicing feathers, and fletching and then burning them down to shape. It has been really enjoyable.
Well Friday before work I had one shaft fletched with drops of glue at the fronts of the fletching that were still tacky but not wet that I didn't really care to sit down because I didn't want the glue to pick up dust from the garage or run while I burned the fletching down to size. I had a second arrow in my fletching jig getting a feather glued up. I noticed that my feather/clamp in my Bitz jig was a tiny bit off and needed pushed down flush. So, I popped the first arrow by the insert into my teeth for a second and fixed the fletching jig.
As I turned from my jig on my toolbox to take two steps to the workbench I started to reach up and grab the arrow out of my mouth that still had a few drops of tacky glue on the feather fronts so I could burn them down to size. I don't know how but I managed to trip and wasn't fast enough to get the arrow out of my mouth. The shaft got shoved down my throat off the concrete floor and punctured the back of my throat. As I pulled the shaft out of my throat/neck I started laying down the first blood trail of the season from the garage to the kitchen sink. I bled like crazy for about an hour and continued to slowly bleed for 3-4 hours after that. I also got to go to the ER and get a tetanus shot and CT scan. All is OK and I didn't hit anything vital but I did get a whopper scrape and hole in the back of my mouth and throat. Im on pain pills now but have high hopes that this won't be the only blood trail laid down this fall.
Keep safe everyone and best of luck this fall in all your endeavors. I for one have an awesome batch of arrows ready for my adventures this fall and they already have a little blood, sweat, heart, and soul into them.
Topic: First blood trail of the season! (Read 616 times)
