How do you protect your rings ?

[Astrid]

Personally I like rings, but I do not wear them in the surgery nor when working on anything mechanical. For me they are more of an accessory when dressed up to go ashore or spend an evening out.

[Target9000]

Sobering advice all around.

[mikefossl]

I guess this thread has drifted from how to protect rings to how to protect fingers from rings!

We've both replaced our wedding bands with ones made of cobalt steel. Now we worry more about protecting things we're holding from the rings (and now our fingers as well).

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by Hannah on 'Rita T'

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

I would have to agree. I have some "legacy" rings, including a rather ancient signet ring, that would all too easily either slide off, break a finger or get severely damaged in fairly average situations aboard.

I believe a I.D. bracelet is fine, or even a stud earring for the stylish shellback, but rings? They have no place aboard. I'll leave them with relatives for the duration. That includes my wife, who has lost a diamond in a shoreside sink....

[stevensc]

Years ago my father-in-law worked as a welder, one day a tiny bit, a BB, of welding spatter found a hole in his welding glove unfortunately right over his wedding band the spatter wedged against the ring and gold being a good conductor heated and burned his finger so bad they had to cut the ring off. I imagine causing a short with a ring would have the same effect.
Like many others I have had a ring get caught on something and cut my finger, never wore a ring since that day. I have two friends who lost their ring finger the same way.
Best way to protect your rings and other jewelry is to leave it at home, they are "thief magnets" especially gold watches.
Steve W.

[casual]

Watched a Newly married friend jump off the back of a truck.Ring caught on a bolt NO FINGER left to wear the ring on.Jewelry does't belong on around mechancial things

[roverhi]

I wore my wedding ring until I started building our W32 a long long time ago. Caught the ring on something and severely bruised my finger. Took it off and it's been in my wife's jewelry box ever since. Rings are dangerous if you are doing physical labor.

[Starbuck]

Give it to her to hold for you in a safe place.

[bobconnie]

Having been a fisherman, mechanic, machinest, all my life. I have never worn rings, braclets, watchs, ect in fact the last watch I owned I tossed to the ground crew when I came back from Viet in 1969. Never needed one so far ! still have all 10 fingers but Ive seen a lot of 9 fingerd sailors and mechanics! Just my 2 cents Bob and Connie

[Doodles]

Neither my wife nor I wear rings and haven't since we bought our first boat. They are just too dangerous. Necklaces, bracelets, etc. are o.k. as long as they will break away easy enough if caught in something; otherwise, they are verboten as well. If we are going out for some special occasion well sure we may then but that's about it.

[maxingout]

I have been married for nearly 40 years, and I have not worn my wedding ring because I had to take it off to scrub in surgery, and because it is dangerous when working on mechanical things. With the increase in the price of gold, the wedding ring my have actually gone up in value in the past 40 years.

Wedding rings serve many different purposes. When I was in New Zealand, I met a single handing sailor who was not married, but had an active social life. He didn't want any permanent attachments with ladies, but he wanted to have fun without any strings. He wore a wedding band, and when girls objected to him wearing the wedding band, that was his signal that things had gotten too serious, and he broke off the relationship. He was an unusual dude.

[sv Winterlude]

Rings & other jewelry = safety deposit box ... while we're cruising out of the country.

We bought handcrafted silver bands while traveling in Peru that we wear the rest of the time, but NOT while sailing or working on the boat.

Not a good idea to wear jewelry while cruising out of the country anyway.

Cheers -- Jan

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by stevensc

Best way to protect your rings and other jewelry is to leave it at home, they are "thief magnets" especially gold watches.
Steve W.

So my scratched bezel, cracked watchband Suunto Vector is probably OK?

Rings aside, I feel fairly strongly from the point of view of protective colouration that one should not personally wear flashy gear or have a flashy boat in harbours with known thieving issues, and from the point of view of not rubbing one's (relative) wealth in the faces of your hosts, you should reduce the bling to near zero when ashore.

But rings are just plain dangerous given all the interactions with small levers, line, halyards, chain, (often moving) belts and gears sailors have every day. Throw in battery cables and certain chemicals, and the freakin' last thing I want on my already somewhat chewed-up hands is a ring, because it would have to be tight in the first place to not go sailing into the sea like a number of cellphones, MP3 players and the odd camera have already.

Hell, it's a good season when I don't shed a finger or a toe nail due to boat fixing or sneaky cleats.

[jackdale]

Somewhere I have a photo of a ring being cut off with a hacksaw after the finger was crushed. (BTW - not my ring)

I have a very nice gold anchor on a gold chain that I keep in my jewelry box. It gets snagged on lifelines. I took it off one day while perched over a battery with the anchor about an inch away from a terminal. Gold is a great conductor.

I wear a Casio ProTek watch while sailing, not other adornments.

[red_sky]

Rats! I thought this thread was about engines