While I do believe this method is over hyped for its pain level, in a place where sucide methods are welcomed, It's beneficial to have as much information here, regardless of the how popular or effective the method may be.
With that being said, here is all the research I can find regarding cutting yourself.
Time: Minutes if major artery cut, eternity otherwise.
Available: You really need a razor sharp knife. Razors are pretty tricky to hold when they are covered with blood.
Certainty: possible if you cut an artery, improbable otherwise
Notes: Painful at first. Danger of discovery. This is a very common suicide 'gesture' and hardly ever results in anything other than a scar. A lot of will power required to cut deeply into groin or carotid arteries, which are the only ones likely to kill you. Don't bother with this method. Cutting your throat is difficult due to the fact that the carotid arteries are protected by your windpipe (feel where your arteries are with your fingertips, & slice from the side). I've seen photos of people who have used this method - the depth of the cut required is amazing. If you want to cut your wrists, cut along the blue line (vein) on the underside of your wrist, but cut deeply so that the artery underneath is exposed. Cut this lengthways with a razor or similar. The traditional hot bath does help, since it keeps the blood flowing quickly, slows down clotting, and is nice to lie back and relax in. Position yourself so that your wrists don't fall inwards against your body, blocking off blood flow.
Calle: A posting to A.S.H. suggests using the kind of equipment they use when you give blood to a blood bank, i.e., a needle in a blood vessel and a piece of tubing. It sounds like it would remove several of the disadvantages of the ordinary slitting-wrists method.
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The carotid, radial, ulnar or femoral arteries may be targeted. Death may occur directly as a result of the desanguination of the body or via hypovolemia, wherein the blood volume in the circulatory system becomes too low and results in the body shutting down
—
How long does death by exsanguination take? While the time can vary widely depending on the circumstances, the short side of it is pretty shocking. If cut in the right areas, such as in major arteries like the aorta, you can lose enough blood to die within seconds. Getting your throat slit is also relatively quick.
—
Just like your kidneys, the rest of your body will begin working overtime in an attempt to save your life as you bleed out. Your adrenaline and noradrenaline levels will rise, your blood vessels will constrict, and your heart will speed up but give a thready pulse to try to get oxygen to parts of the body that need it. You'll also begin producing more blood and fluids to try to make up for the lost volume. This won't always work, of course, but your body is certainly going to try.
—
Even without a huge blood transfusion, your body is able to create new blood to replace what you've lost. Your body can replace much of the missing volume within a day, your liver can get its protein back in days, and your red blood cell count can be replenished in weeks. So until you're fully gone, there's pretty much always chance of rescue. You need to be isolated for longer then you think.
—
As you bleed to death, your temperature really does drop drastically, often causing full-on hypothermia. So not only will you feel like you're freezing cold, you'll also be cold and clammy to the touch.
—
The actual loss of blood has no pain or sensation itself. The struggles come from what said blood loss can do to your body. There is a chance you will experience no symptoms at all, but due to amount of conflicting information, there is no way to know if death by blood loss is truly painless or not.
(Most adults have 6-8 pints of blood) You feel weak, woozy, and tired for the first 1-2 pints. You start feeling cold around 2-3 and have significant trouble functioning. Consciousness is lost soon after, and death happens somewhere around 3-4 pints lost unless some serious medical intervention happens. They basically feel as if they drifted off to sleep.
Keep in mind, bigger people do have more blood, and smaller people have less. Somewhere around 40-50% loss is fatal, 10-15% is negligible (think blood donation), the adverse issues are in the 25-40% range.
—
Depending upon the age, health, and fitness level of the individual, people can die from losing half to two-thirds of their blood; a loss of roughly one-third of the blood volume is considered very serious. Even a single deep cut can warrant suturing and hospitalization, especially if trauma, a vein or artery, or another comorbidity is involved.
—
These are all excerpts I've found during my research. They clearly come from both stand points that this is a easy method, and it's a hard method.
I've come to the conclusion, that there is no promise that this method is effective.
I used to support it, due to the fact a razor blades cut causes me NO pain...but the amount of conflicting information I've found on this method, makes me consider it to be on the lower range of options to choose.
If any cutters here can share their experiences with us, to shed light on what they found it was like to put metal to skin, it would be greatly appreciated.
I believe this forum should have information on every method possible, so let's try to make a this thread a one stop shop for everything you need to know about bleeding to death.
With that being said, here is all the research I can find regarding cutting yourself.
Time: Minutes if major artery cut, eternity otherwise.
Available: You really need a razor sharp knife. Razors are pretty tricky to hold when they are covered with blood.
Certainty: possible if you cut an artery, improbable otherwise
Notes: Painful at first. Danger of discovery. This is a very common suicide 'gesture' and hardly ever results in anything other than a scar. A lot of will power required to cut deeply into groin or carotid arteries, which are the only ones likely to kill you. Don't bother with this method. Cutting your throat is difficult due to the fact that the carotid arteries are protected by your windpipe (feel where your arteries are with your fingertips, & slice from the side). I've seen photos of people who have used this method - the depth of the cut required is amazing. If you want to cut your wrists, cut along the blue line (vein) on the underside of your wrist, but cut deeply so that the artery underneath is exposed. Cut this lengthways with a razor or similar. The traditional hot bath does help, since it keeps the blood flowing quickly, slows down clotting, and is nice to lie back and relax in. Position yourself so that your wrists don't fall inwards against your body, blocking off blood flow.
Calle: A posting to A.S.H. suggests using the kind of equipment they use when you give blood to a blood bank, i.e., a needle in a blood vessel and a piece of tubing. It sounds like it would remove several of the disadvantages of the ordinary slitting-wrists method.
—
The carotid, radial, ulnar or femoral arteries may be targeted. Death may occur directly as a result of the desanguination of the body or via hypovolemia, wherein the blood volume in the circulatory system becomes too low and results in the body shutting down
—
How long does death by exsanguination take? While the time can vary widely depending on the circumstances, the short side of it is pretty shocking. If cut in the right areas, such as in major arteries like the aorta, you can lose enough blood to die within seconds. Getting your throat slit is also relatively quick.
—
Just like your kidneys, the rest of your body will begin working overtime in an attempt to save your life as you bleed out. Your adrenaline and noradrenaline levels will rise, your blood vessels will constrict, and your heart will speed up but give a thready pulse to try to get oxygen to parts of the body that need it. You'll also begin producing more blood and fluids to try to make up for the lost volume. This won't always work, of course, but your body is certainly going to try.
—
Even without a huge blood transfusion, your body is able to create new blood to replace what you've lost. Your body can replace much of the missing volume within a day, your liver can get its protein back in days, and your red blood cell count can be replenished in weeks. So until you're fully gone, there's pretty much always chance of rescue. You need to be isolated for longer then you think.
—
As you bleed to death, your temperature really does drop drastically, often causing full-on hypothermia. So not only will you feel like you're freezing cold, you'll also be cold and clammy to the touch.
—
The actual loss of blood has no pain or sensation itself. The struggles come from what said blood loss can do to your body. There is a chance you will experience no symptoms at all, but due to amount of conflicting information, there is no way to know if death by blood loss is truly painless or not.
(Most adults have 6-8 pints of blood) You feel weak, woozy, and tired for the first 1-2 pints. You start feeling cold around 2-3 and have significant trouble functioning. Consciousness is lost soon after, and death happens somewhere around 3-4 pints lost unless some serious medical intervention happens. They basically feel as if they drifted off to sleep.
Keep in mind, bigger people do have more blood, and smaller people have less. Somewhere around 40-50% loss is fatal, 10-15% is negligible (think blood donation), the adverse issues are in the 25-40% range.
—
Depending upon the age, health, and fitness level of the individual, people can die from losing half to two-thirds of their blood; a loss of roughly one-third of the blood volume is considered very serious. Even a single deep cut can warrant suturing and hospitalization, especially if trauma, a vein or artery, or another comorbidity is involved.
—
These are all excerpts I've found during my research. They clearly come from both stand points that this is a easy method, and it's a hard method.
I've come to the conclusion, that there is no promise that this method is effective.
I used to support it, due to the fact a razor blades cut causes me NO pain...but the amount of conflicting information I've found on this method, makes me consider it to be on the lower range of options to choose.
If any cutters here can share their experiences with us, to shed light on what they found it was like to put metal to skin, it would be greatly appreciated.
I believe this forum should have information on every method possible, so let's try to make a this thread a one stop shop for everything you need to know about bleeding to death.
