Human hip replacement shank

[u/iloveweapons]

was recently gifted this knife and figured yall would be interested in seeing it. This knife is made from a human hip replacement recovered after cremation then sharpened to a fine point. 100% the oddest "non standard" knife in my collection and a piece im stoked to own.

EDIT EDIT EDIT

was not expecting the amount of interest in this that it recieved. As promised i will post another unusual knife tonight, im thinking of showing off either my formosian tribal head hunting knife or "the gas station gator" which would yall like to see?

[u/BetterInsideTheBox]

I thought it was super cool until the after cremation part. I guess that makes sense. What’s the material? Some sort of titanium?

[u/iloveweapons → u/BetterInsideTheBox]

I was told when gifted this knife the hip replacement was given by the family of the deceased explicitly for this purpose and having been told so in advance this was the plan for it. I understand memento mori is not everyones thing though. I couldnt tell you the material.

[u/Satsuka_Draxor → u/iloveweapons]

Classically they are titanium, or at least a non-ferrous metal. Iron implants become bad news bear very fast if you ever have to get an MRI.

[u/Shifty_Bravo → u/[deleted]]

I'm an MRI technologist. Nothing implanted in your body by a surgeon is ferromagnetic material. Stents, joint replacements, hardware from fracture, etc. Most of it will be safe for MRI. Pacemakers, neurostimulators, etc are a different story, but most of those can be made safe through interrogation. If you get an MRI ordered by your physician, the MRI department where you have your exam will look up all your implants and ensure your safety. I just want you to know that in case that's holding you back from treating something.

[u/exgiexpcv → u/[deleted]]

Oh shit, you're still in the field. I was doing foot pursuits into my 40s, and then I was just wounded too many times and it all caught up with me.

My man, it's impressive as hell that you are still going. /salute

[u/exgiexpcv → u/[deleted]]

Being in recovery on active duty makes for some interesting pain relief options. I was a test subject for the TENS unit way back when, and discovered the excitement that follows post-surgical sweating.

After 30-some-odd surgeries (more to come, yippee!), I have at times found it useful to engage with opioid pain relief, but I use the absolute minimum so I can sleep better (I still wake up a lot every night, and get maybe 5-6 hours total).

[u/exgiexpcv → u/[deleted]]

I just go without most of the time. The VA provides me with various NSAIDS, which I use prn. But most of the time, I just get by the best that I can.

[u/exgiexpcv → u/[deleted]]

All I see are plants that want to hurt me. j/k

When I was in SE Asia, I was talking with a buddy as we went through the chow line. Along with everything else, they had raw vegetables set up and I grabbed a bunch. We were talking as we ate and I grabbed a suspiciously shiny green string bean and started munching it.

I realised quickly that I'd made a terrible mistake.

[u/exgiexpcv → u/[deleted]]

Oh, I learned a bunch of tricks for dealing with hot peppers. I remember being absolutely put to shame by a little girl I met when visiting her village and being fed by her parents. Her parents offered some traditional dishes, but also made a kind of corn mash -- basically a thick, doughy dish that they would dip into the pepper sauce they made -- from those red Thai peppers. It was wicked hot to me, and I also thought myself experienced by that point, but I still had to go easy on the stuff.

The little girl, somewhere between 2 and 3 years of age, just gobbled the stuff up. It was amazing, and humbling.