How do you protect your rings ?

[Target9000]

So....

I just got married.

And I have a new good problem to have. I've never worn any jewelry before in my life. I don't like watches, rings, necklaces, etc... But now I have on this ring. And without thinking I rushed up to the deck to haul up the anchor and the ring goes click clank on my anchor chain. Oops. I don't want to scuff this perfect ring.

How do you protect your rings? Do you wear gloves? I thought about taking it off but on a honeymoon cruise that seems sacrilegious? Also what happens if your fingers are swollen and you just can't easily slide it on and off. I have big fingers and slim knuckles so the ring is sized such that it doesn't easily come on and off.

I'm thinking of wearing my mechanics gloves when doing rough stuff. How do you solve this problem?

[rebel heart]

I lost my first ring, and nearly lost it's replacement, all within the first year of marriage. Between scuba diving (wet hands, gloves, gear bags), motorcycles (gloves), strength training (barbells, gymnast rings), and boat work (electrical, machinery, etc) there is no place in my life to wear my ring all the time.

My friend broke his finger a few months ago because his wedding ring got caught in the ground tackle when he was trying to unfoul it from the bobstay/dolphin striker.

I leave my ring near my head in the vberth, and wear it when we go out on dates and the such. But other than that, it stays off my hand. It's not romantic, but I don't want to lose rings, get electrocuted, get my finger degloved, or anything else.

[Sabbatical II]

[QUOTE=Target9000;879213]So....

I just got married.

And I have a new good problem to have. I've never worn any jewelry before in my life. I don't like watches, rings, necklaces, etc... But now I have on this ring. And without thinking I rushed up to the deck to haul up the anchor and the ring goes click clank on my anchor chain. Oops. I don't want to scuff this perfect ring.

How do you protect your rings? Do you wear gloves? I thought about taking it off but on a honeymoon cruise that seems sacrilegious? Also what happens if your fingers are swollen and you just can't easily slide it on and off. I have big fingers and slim knuckles so the ring is sized such that it doesn't easily come on and off.

I'm thinking of wearing my mechanics gloves when doing rough stuff. How do you solve this problem?/QUOTE]






Some of the same reasons for not wearing a ring as a mechanic certainly exist on a sailboat. They can make an awful mess of a finger if they caught at the wrong time. I personally wear sailing gloves when I'm sailing even though it's not considered to be very cool because I've never got rope burn with them on. I guess they'd protect a ring finger as well.

[Rhapsody-NS27]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

get my finger degloved, or anything else.

This is a very good reason to keep it off if not needed. I had a high school class ring that got caught on something and sliced my finger pretty deep. The skin didn't come off completely so I was able to lay it back and heeled nicely and hardly a scar.

Afterwards I saw pictures of fingers where the skin around the whole finger came off or the finger completely removed and stopped wearing rings for a while.

Rebel's advice is good.

[rebel heart]

And when I say I leave it "by my head", I mean "by the head on my shoulders", as in on top of the eyelet on the gimbaled oil lamp that's in the v berth that I use for reading or what have you. I don't leave it next to the toilet. My wife puts up with a lot, but not that.

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by Dan_78

This is a very good reason to keep it off if not needed. I had a high school class ring that got caught on something and sliced my finger pretty deep. The skin didn't come off completely so I was able to lay it back and heeled nicely and hardly a scar.

I was in the Navy and they showed us videos of people getting degloved. At least on the submarines I was on you weren't allowed to wear rings when working on electronics or machinery. And the on-off-on-off process is where you can lose them, so they just stayed off.

It might be lame but when I see people who wear rings all the time I just imagine that they don't do anything with their hands.

[Rhapsody-NS27]

yeah, the last thing you need is to lose it to the holding tank.

and then having to "fish it out".

[David_Old_Jersey]

Nearly lost the wedding ring a few times over the years (in bilge and in the oggin!), mostly from fingers getting cold and it dropping off. I was aware of the chance of losing a finger, but for me wasn't so much of a concern.....the ring has however picked up a fair few bumps and marks......to be honest if Missus was still alive would probably have taken more care and removed it onboard (sailing or working) as a matter of course.

But last year I removed my wedding ring when doing some work onboard and never put it back on, wasn't a fully conscious decision, simply never got around to removing it from my wallet - might wear it around my neck one day. or as an earring .

FWIW, never been a Jewellery person, and was surprised that I liked wearing the ring so much......but then again, I was surprised that I liked being married so much as well .

[SteveT]

Don't have that problem as in my (small) part of the world it was never part of the male tradition to wear rings at all. My brothers do but thats because they married 'furriners' from at least 50 miles away. However my wife does have rings and more than a few, but she never wears them when we are actually sailing or doing work or skiing or anything else likely to damage the rings. When she was working all forms of jewellery were forbidden anyway so she got used to that idea from before we were married. Best answer though is not to wear them when either they or you can get damaged because of what you are doing.

[Hannah on 'Rita T']

We are in the no rings school: a bumped finger can become life threatening off shore.

[Mimsy]

Congrats on the wedding! I have a heavy chain I can slip mine on and wear them around my neck, tucked under my shirt. I am prone to lose things and bash my hands- this prevents both from happening.

[cfarrar]

We hide our rings away while cruising. A Navy buddy of mine got de-gloved to the bone, and the doc stitched it back on, but if that happens offshore or cruising in a remote location then you're probably out of luck.

Colin

[44'cruisingcat]

Regular oil changes.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Target9000

So....

I just got married.

...taking it off but on a honeymoon cruise that seems sacrilegious?

I'm going to be harsh.

* A co-worker has 9 fingers because he caught his band on a ladder (de-gloved, as a prior poster described).
* My grandfather had a crippled finger because he caught it in an electrical circuit and it got WAY hot.
* I bent a ring and slightly injured a finger, a month after my honeymoon, when touching a seal to see if it was hot; it was, I pulled my hand back HARD, and it caught a bolt head.

If you have ANY sense you will take the ring off when you get on the boat and store it in a safe place. We forbid all rings in my place of business; some don't like it, but the 9-fingered man supported the decision.

If your wife loves you, and she reads this, she won't give it another thought. Rings are a serious danger to the working man. Gather a group of contractors, ask them if they know of ring-related injuries, and then sit back. There will be many.

Be safe.

---

On a different note, every boat can use a safe for spare cash and such. Without giving away my favorite spots, it's not hard to come up with a place not even the most determined thief would look.

[Kettlewell]

I'm not a fan of rings for all the reasons listed above, and for one more. While working at a boatshow someone came running up to my booth to see if we had any tools. Someone walking down one of the ramps to the water had caught his ring in a small gap in the railing, and in twisting his hand to release it had bent the ring into a tourniquet which had cut off all circulation. Luckily I had a pair of cutters and we were able to cut the thing off his finger. There are just too many opportunities on a boat for a ring to be a liability. Even my wife, who is very active, has smashed, destroyed, and lost her wedding ring several times, which she therefore does not wear most of the time. The original (a family heirloom) is long gone. Oh, another thing, in certain waters you don't want to be wearing anything flashy on your fingers, which might look like bait to something like a barracuda. My wife found that out in the Florida Keys.