I could have been safer with kids

[Fishman]

I'm a fairly experienced water guys but i wasn't safe enough when it came to teaching youngsters to surf.

I've made many yearly trips with our Church youth to the beach. Each year i would bring a couple of boards with me to let the kids have fun trying surf. I reviewed basic safety with the kids as i gave them one on one coaching pushing them into waves. 

Well a couple of years ago one of our smaller kids about 85 lbs caught a wave and got a good little ride, but when he fell off he didn't pay attention to the fact he had  the board between him and the oncoming waves. I tried to get his attention shouting at him, but he was paying attention to something on the shore.  I rush toward the board as the next wave was coming. I got to the board at the same time the wave did. I tried to pull the board away form him but failed. I could feel the board hit him while we were underwater. When we came up his eyes were now glued on me as he knew he got hit by the board.  So yeah, worst case scenario... happened. I saw blood squirting behind the little guy! It was coming from his left upper arm/ armpit area. It was pulsing out of him going almost 2 feet into the air. I told him to look at me as i didn't want him to panic seeing his blood shooting out of his little body.  Praying to God as i picked him up and got him to shore as fast as i could, I grabbed someones towel and wrapped it while applying direct pressure. Paramedics on the way.
 
In the middle of this darma something very cool happened, his 5" gash from being harpooned from one of my quad fins stopped bleeding. Yep the fin wound that came centimeters from going completely through his arm stopped bleeding sometime before the paramedics showed up and wanting to see the wound. Thank you Lord. 70 stitches later and no long lasting damage the kid was fine.

Lesson here is I should have had soft fins in my boards and you can never prey too much. Protek flex or power flex fins would have prevented the wound in the first place. There maybe other brands but i know Protek's are pretty good.
So yeah that's it, I guess we all know that fins can be dangerous, i wanted everyone to be aware just how dangerous it can get.  Be safe

Lesson

[TallDude]

Soft boards and dull flexible fins (wavestorms) are the best for beginners. Even experienced surfers can and have been caught with a fin to a major artery, and that was it. It's rare, but it happens.

[OUTSIDEWAVE]

Heck  yes seemed like when i was starting every time i wiped out the board chaesd me  not sure why it was like that tbut idid get finned a couple of times once with my wetsuit on just left a bruise  the other time in my arm got 3 stiches   then something happened and i didnot get finned aby more   knock on wood

[Ichabod Spoonbill]

Yeah, you have to be super safe when you're with kids. I don't surf with kids, but whenever I have a kid on my board, I put a leash on him/her and attach it to the front. A PFD is mandatory too. That leash is great because kids also like to jump off the board and swim. This gives the kid a safe radius to swim in, and you can haul the kid in when you're ready to move on.

[Fishman]

Soft boards and dull flexible fins (wavestorms) are the best for beginners. Even experienced surfers can and have been caught with a fin to a major artery, and that was it. It's rare, but it happens.

I've seen a fin slices before, but never a puncture wound, it was so crazy scary. Still scary to even to think about, I couldn't get pressure above the artery because where of the wound was, the kid was so small. 

  I've used Wavestorm boards with their plastic fins, id say flex fins would be much safer.  A soft board with flex fins would be perfect.

[socalgremmy]

Speaking of "finjuries".....
I took a stock Sonova Creek side fin to my left calf in April.
It was a small wave; I took off late and was about to pearl; as I fell backward the board came up, tail first and harpooned me as I was going down.
Lesson learned: when falling in, get as far away from the board as possible.
To top it off, I lost the fin and my fin box sustained damage.

[addapost]

Arteries on young kids can clamp down on a slice really nicely. If that happened to me (54) the stupid vessel would just stay open while everything pumped out.

[FRP]

Speaking of "finjuries".....
I took a stock Sonova Creek side fin to my left calf in April.
It was a small wave; I took off late and was about to pearl; as I fell backward the board came up, tail first and harpooned me as I was going down.
Lesson learned: when falling in, get as far away from the board as possible.
To top it off, I lost the fin and my fin box sustained damage.

SoCal

Nasty fin slash. Many new fins are very sharp especially the trailing edge. There are ways to mitigate the risk of a fin cut:

1. Sand the leading and trailing edge.
2. Tape the leading and trailing edge. (see attached picture)
3. Use a fin designed with a soft leading and trailing edge eg. Protec fins

At my level of surfing I notice no decrease in performance with any of these and I have used them all.

Bob

[Fishman]

Speaking of "finjuries".....
I took a stock Sonova Creek side fin to my left calf in April.
It was a small wave; I took off late and was about to pearl; as I fell backward the board came up, tail first and harpooned me as I was going down.
Lesson learned: when falling in, get as far away from the board as possible.
To top it off, I lost the fin and my fin box sustained damage.

SoCal

Nasty fin slash. Many new fins are very sharp especially the trailing edge. There are ways to mitigate the risk of a fin cut:

1. Sand the leading and trailing edge.
2. Tape the leading and trailing edge. (see attached picture)
3. Use a fin designed with a soft leading and trailing edge eg. Protec fins

.

Bob

Not at my level ether. I doubt the average sup surfer would notice a difference.  I used the Pro Teck power flex 9" single on a shortboard back in the late 70s and it was fun but a real handful at times. But that was because id turn hard and it was a small board, on a SUP a little more acceleration out of a turn might be more of a good thing.

[Weasels wake]

"Lesson here is I should have had soft fins in my boards and you can never prey too much. Protek flex or power flex fins would have prevented the wound in the first place. There maybe other brands but i know Protek's are pretty good."

Nope, there is a much better lesson here, something that I've taught several times, and I still see even adults breaking this rule all the time, always with unexpected results, ranging from your experience to just embarrassment.
Never turn your back to the waves.
Nobody is too young to learn that, and remember it.
Soft fins haven't been available as long as that basic lesson has.