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Comment by jacquesm | Hacker News Reader

Scene of an emergency: hold still while I figure out how to improvise a ring cracker that can crack a solid tungsten ring without further injury to your finger.

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EMTs aren't amputating your finger either. You'd go to the ER and they'd call the surgeon.

They'd also know that you can crack a tungsten ring, so they wouldn't need to do that in the first place.

If your finger is broken it will swell up so fast you may not even be able to get to the ring with something that can crack it. This is not something that I would risk for any price.

Just confirmed with my wife (ER doctor) that there is no situation where an EMT amputates your finger because they can’t get a ring off.

I don't think I ever said that an EMT would amputate your finger. I said that you might get further injuries. For instance: embedded Tungsten fragments or in case of a prolonged problem removing the ring further tissue damage.

The main point of the person you were replying to was that the finger amputation thing is an urban legend because you can shatter a tungsten ring. And the point of my reply was that an EMT won’t amputate your finger. I just assumed that your reply was refuting that point.

Ring crackers and vice grips would both work just fine.

EMTs and firefighters usually carry basic tools in their ambulances and trucks. The tools will certainly be at an ER or trauma center.

There's videos showing exactly how to do it using vice grip pliers available in any hardware store, it's very easy and takes 20 seconds.

Yes, it is. If you have vice grips handy. Emergencies tend to happen 'just like that', you don't get to prepare ahead of time unless you want to accessorize your tungsten ring with a pair of vice grips in your pocket.

There are many emergencies where innocent bystanders won't have the tools or knowledge to extricate me. I would expect ambulance and/or fire brigade services to have such tools at the ready though, just as how they have the fancy hydraulic press-metal-apart-with-extreme-force tools to get people out of car wrecks.

Vice grip pliers capable of breaking a tungsten ring is cheaper and easier to purchase than the bolt cutters needed to remove a titanium ring

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