Dumbest (most unsafe) thing you've ever done?

[turnkey4099]

That one reminded me of an inmate in my jail. Did someone say that criminals are dumb?

Was out on a work crew cleaning up fairgrounds. They gathered a good pile of brush, etc. Handed this guy a small can of gas to start the fire. He climbed on top of the pile, poured the gas and then lit it -while still standing on the pile-!!! Fortunately he was tackled and got off with only 1st and 2nd degree burns.

Harry K

 

[shane]

When I was an early teen me and my cousins would run down a hillside with our shotguns at our hips and shoot tall-boy beer cans standing on the ground at the bottom of the hill. We were pretend soldiers and the beer cans were the enemy. CHARGE!


All these tales reminds me of someones signature line: If you're gonna be stupid you gotta be tough.

 

[dieselsmoke1]

Like a lot of others here, far too many to recount. This particular one was not really dumb or unsafe, but it is a good story and visual.

About 25 yrs. ago I helped a cousin move to Florida from NC. Seems we just could not quite get everything in the 24' box truck he rented. Went back to U-Haul and got one of those little 4 x 8 trailers and hooked behind the truck, good to go!

My cousin went ahead, no sweat, I've got it. Truck's got a big diesel tank, push the pedal and drive for 400 miles. No traffic, no problems. I can't see any of the little trailer in the mirrors behind the truck, but what's to worry?

Left NC near midnight that night, I95 south, started getting light light around Jax. Started noticing folks in the northbound lane were turning their heads to look as I met them, wonder what up with that? Deciding it was time for a break anyway, I pulled into the next rest area.

I don't know what happened, only a forensic reconstruction. Must have blown a tire at some point, trailer began swaying and blew the other tire, tires burned off the rims, rims wore down to the spindles. When I got out and looked, the 2" angle on the back of the trailer was dragging the road. Must have looked like a rolling roman candle on the road.

Dropped the trailer, not like somebody's gonna steal it, drove on to the cousins house, unloaded, went back and emptied the trailer.

Luckily, he took out the $4.00 "insurance policy" on the trailer. Called U-Haul, told them the trailer was at the rest area with a "tire problem". Never heard from it again.

 

[KYErik]

1. When I was 11 or 12 I took the outer housing off a go cart centrifugal clutch so I could see how the weights moved outward when the engine was revved up. I didn't have to rev very much until the springs gave way and those 2 weights flew off the clutch- thankfully I wasn't in the way.

2. I once removed the carb bowl off my honda dirt bike when it died after riding it awhile one summer. I don't know what the flash point for gasoline is but, I accidently dumped the full bowl of gas on the hot engine and it boiled instantly (but didn't catch fire)

3. I was trying to pass a semi on the interstatate in my little honda car with bald front tires during a rainstorm. I had to try to pass him several times because as I got about even with him, the wind coming off the semi would slow me down even though the cruise control was set and the engine speed was constant and speedometer stayed at 65 mph. My bald front tires were actually slipping on all the water and that's why had troble keeping road speed...

 

[czechsonofagun]

WOW! What a great thread! It feels good not to be alone

Well, where do I start?

1. Setting military rocket - the one used for light - on gas stove to set it on fire (after it refused to be lit by match)

2. Home made black powder in a bottle. I tossed a match in it and my buddy Michael screw on the lid. Got hit by a piece of glass - three stitches on the back of my bean. Hey, i dont use it too much anyway. 10 years or so later Michael overdose himself, life is a b!tch sometimes.

3. Cleaning some willows after a flood with an axe - almost chopped my right heel of with that axe - more stittches

4. In summer camp building and testing zip line on very steep hill - just a lot off scratches, didnt realise you need some kind of a stop before the end, especially if the line goes to a tree. Watch out for that tree, George of the jungle!!

5. Same place as 4. - jumping from the top of one pine tree to another - 60 feet above the ground, still dont feel well when remembering this.

6. Riding in a tractor tire - do you know this one? You have to be a kid to fit in - and to be stupid enough to try it - but you sit in a bog tractor tire in the place of the tube and go down the hill in it. Thrilling, but when the tire jumps in the river, you will have some good memories, trust me.

 

[knute_m]

I grew up on a dairy farm. In my younger days we used DDT by the barrel to spray everything, especially the diary cows. There were hand sprayers everwhere around the barns and sheds.

Anyway, when we were probably about 12 years old, my cousin got the bright idea to make flame throwers using the sprayers. We filled the tanks with gasoline. We'd squeeze a little gasoline out, and light it. When we pumped the sprayer, we'd get this massive blow-torch type flame. Wow. We were amazed at what we could scorch.

What fun.

How we didn't get blown to bits, or burn the barns down is beyond me.

Knute

(Nostalgic, and scary, link to farming in the 1940s using DDT http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe40s/pests_02.html )

I've also attached a photo, borrowed from ebay, that shows what the old hand sprayers looked like.

 

[John47]

A week ago I did something real stupid!!! We have a new 34cc 4 cycle weedeater, instead of line it has two thick plastic inserts, nearly as thick as me!!

I was clearing some weeds with it when it caught some old telephone wire, which got would around the shaft. Stupid as it seems now, I put the machine down, left it running and thought I could unwind the wire safely...................................
WRONG!!!! Jeeze, I have never had so much pain that lasted so long, I nearly passed out! I am lucky I didn't seriously damage the fingers on my left hand! I still have the blood blister marks across my fingers!!

 

[czechsonofagun]

My jeep emergency brake sometimes pops up - now every morning I drive the jeep through the gate, put it on mentioned brake and close the gate. There were quite few times I was holding the jeep and running for the brake.

The brake needs cleaning to work well, but you know how it goes - there is always something else to do

Also dumb thing was to put my finger in the circular saw - it was not on purpose, but it was stupid to try to cut this little piece of plywood. No fingers lost, but according to Xrays I got a nice grove in my middle finger

 

[rickmacheske]

Put up a decrative fence for the wife. Took a circular saw to trim the tops perfectly. The very small pieces of trim apparently stuck the guard up because when I lowered it and it hit my thigh I ended up with 34 stitches....

 

[czechsonofagun]

On our back porch - which is screened small area - was this little kitten from a stray cat. Our dogs - airedale and great pyreneese - were trying to get it and the kitten was going balistic. Well,being an idiot as always I attempted to catch it with my bare hands. It bit me well - and I had to get on antibiotics b/c of infection from the bite.

Yeah, if i always used the common sense, life would be pretty borring