Lost my first carboy yesterday.

icedmetal · Jan 31, 2011

Just finished bottling a batch of our cider, and was cleaning away in the kitchen sink. Put in some PBW, about a gallon of hot water, pick that sucker up, shake shake shake... slip! SHATTER! The sound of a carboy breaking is terrible in so many ways. This piece of glass was older than me; I know for a fact it was being used for home wine making in the late 70's.

And, of course, it couldn't go quietly, without a fight. Bit my finger real good! Four stitches internal to the wound, 14 external to sew it all up.

PBW is slick stuff, both at cleaning, and (literally) during handling. Let my trashed pinky be a cautionary tale for you all... be careful when handling your glassware, especially when cleaning.

Doc says I didn't hit any nerves or tendons, so there's that

Tannin Boy · Jan 31, 2011

icedmetal said:
Just finished bottling a batch of our cider, and was cleaning away in the kitchen sink. Put in some PBW, about a gallon of hot water, pick that sucker up, shake shake shake... slip! SHATTER! The sound of a carboy breaking is terrible in so many ways. This piece of glass was older than me; I know for a fact it was being used for home wine making in the late 70's.

And, of course, it couldn't go quietly, without a fight. Bit my finger real good! Four stitches internal to the wound, 14 external to sew it all up.

Doc says I didn't hit any nerves or tendons, so there's that

Ouch!

I will keep that one in mind...

Thank God it was empty or it would have really Pi$$ed you off....

TB

mmclean · Jan 31, 2011

For 5+ gallons, I'll only use these.

Medsen Fey · Jan 31, 2011

I'm sorry to hear about the accident and your injury, and I glad to hear nothing vital got severed. Your experience is a stark reminder that safety should always be a major concern for each of us. I hope you heal quickly.

Glass is a cruel mistress.
I loves me some stainless steel!

wayneb · Jan 31, 2011

Now along with MEAs (Mead Eruption Accidents), we have GCS (Glass Carboy Shattering) events. Sorry to hear that one of your oldest suffered the same fate as my "ole greenie." But at least greenie didn't bite back - although I did lose a full 5 gallons of mead in my GCS.

Tannin Boy · Jan 31, 2011

Medsen Fey said:
Glass is a cruel mistress.
I loves me some stainless steel!

I will be Sloooooowly changing over to full Stainless Steel.
I also like those Flextanks too..

TB

Braxton · Jan 31, 2011

Sorry to hear about your accident! Hope that everything heals quickly.
If it helps, I've heard about people putting strips of strong tape down the sides of their glass carboys, so that if it breaks it is relatively held together and no big chunks go flying towards you.

kudapucat · Jan 31, 2011

I know what it's like to sever or almost sever a digit (5 times now

) so I literally feel your pain! Damaging nerves and tendons is a PITA, so you're lucky there.
Take photos, I really regretted not having photos later.
Rest up, take it easy, put the thing in a splint if you can, it makes it HEAPS easier to get around.
And finally: good luck mate.

AToE · Jan 31, 2011

Yeah, as ugly as it would be this does make that idea seem like a good one, even the most careful of us can make mistakes.

I think putting duct tape both vertically and horizontally over the whole carboy would work best, with maybe 2" gaps between each strip so there'd still be plenty of "windows" to check clarity and such through.

icedmetal · Jan 31, 2011

wayneb said:
But at least greenie didn't bite back - although I did lose a full 5 gallons of mead in my GCS.

5 gallons of mead vs 18 stitches. Am I sick to actually need to mull that over some? I find myself wanting to side with the stitches! Losing 5 gallons of aged product would probably bring a tear to my eye.

And, yes, I got some pictures. I thought most were too graphic for FB but my wife was telling me to put them up anyway...

AToE · Jan 31, 2011

Do it! Not that I love gore, but some people could use the extra motivation to play it safe - I think a lot of people don't really understand just how badly you can be injured by breaking glass (especially if you try to catch it).

mccann51 · Jan 31, 2011

icedmetal said:
5 gallons of mead vs 18 stitches. Am I sick to actually need to mull that over some? I find myself wanting to side with the stitches! Losing 5 gallons of aged product would probably bring a tear to my eye.

I would definitely prefer the stitches; at least you end up with a nice scar and some mead to dull the pain.

I just last week dropped a gallon jug while cleaning it; I can't imagine how frustrating it must be to break a carboy, though, especially one with so much history. Sorry to hear it, man.

icedmetal · Jan 31, 2011

AToE said:
Do it! Not that I love gore, but some people could use the extra motivation to play it safe - I think a lot of people don't really understand just how badly you can be injured by breaking glass (especially if you try to catch it).

Ok, I'll put up the picture... note, there was no chance to even try to catch it in my case; I was shaking it over the sink, with perhaps 6" of clearance. If I had tried to catch it, well, let's just say I'm really REALLY glad I didn't.

CAUTION: freshly stitched finger shot below, it's a little messy. you've been warned.

And no, my finger isn't normally shaped like that!

icedmetal · Jan 31, 2011

And here's me when I found out there'd be no permanent damage:

I'm still workin' on my beard. <sigh>

Tannin Boy · Jan 31, 2011

icedmetal said:
And here's me when I found out there'd be no permanent damage:

I'm still workin' on my beard. <sigh>

Ah come on, show us the real deal...Take them bandages off!
Just kidding.

Me thinks these should be in your future old boy?

http://www.flextankusa.com/

TB

kudapucat · Jan 31, 2011

Wow, you did give that a good go didn't you?
Well done, and here's to a quick recovery!

Now you get to realise just how important the pinky is to grip... ;-) Have fun.

Nativepassion · Jan 31, 2011

So do you plan on switching away from glass? I am at the point where I am on the fence on how to best expand capacity.

Nativepassion · Jan 31, 2011

Oh, and it took three months for my husband to make friends with his beard, yours is looking good.

icedmetal · Jan 31, 2011

I'm definitely not switching away from glass; I've got 20+ carboys still

What I think I will do is experiment a bit, and try to find gloves that can grip a carboy slicked with PBW. Hopefully I can find a combination of better grip and a bit of hand protection to stave off any repeats.

PitBull · Jan 31, 2011

icedmetal said:
This piece of glass was older than me; I know for a fact it was being used for home wine making in the late 70's.

I have a carboy that is just as old, but it's not older then me. You "youngsters" will heal quickly!

icedmetal said:
And here's me when I found out there'd be no permanent damage:

And we are extremely glad to hear this! Best of luck getting better and getting back to the addiction!

Lost my first carboy yesterday.

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