Just wanted to share my experience this past weekend in the hope that it will help someone else avoid a similar mishap.
While winterizing the boat this past weekend, I started taking down the bimini. When enough of the zippers had been undone, the frame relaxed and some of the bows flopped down flat to the coaming. Unfortunately, my left hand was not in a good place, and the closing "jaws" of one of the hinges caught the tip of my left index finger and nearly severed it. I knew there was a "pinch" danger, but I never imagined that those lightweight bows represented an amputation danger. But they do!
The bone was broken, and the tissue severed most of the way through. The only thing that kept it from being a complete amputation was the fact that there was still a 1/4" gap when the hinge was all the way closed.
I was lucky. The small flap that was not severed contained the artery, so there was still blood flow to the fingertip. The hospital was able to reattach it, and they thought there is a good chance of saving it.
So respect those hinges! Keep your fingers well away from them when deploying or removing the bimini!
