Remember when...

Mike

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Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Messages
12
Location
Lee's Summit, MO
I remember fishing when I was kid and always biting split shot onto the line. Back then we didn't realize or know the dangers of lead. I bet I probably clamped a million split shot with my teeth growing up. It makes me sick when I think about it now. All this talk about lead safety, warning labels, etc. I'm surprised I'm not dead. Did you ever do that? I know I don't do it anymore. I hope lead was healthier back then.
 

Kdog

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Apr 26, 2013
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1,809
Location
SW Ohio
Swallowing sinkers is what would make you sick, Yes, I chomped a lot of sinkers as well. Ice fishing cured me of chomping sinkers. Froze one between my lips. Needle nose pliers have many many uses...........
 

Jay Wirth

Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2013
Messages
396
Location
Vestal, NY
Swallowing sinkers wont hurt you either. Along with manufacturing jigs 2/3rds of my life I have also been involved with manufacturing lead toy soldiers. I used to get a blood test every 5 years with no difference in blood levels. I had many discussions with my doctor who needed to justify the constant blood requests for the insurance. He assured me my contact with lead was safe as long as I ventilate when melting and wash my hands when I eat. He commented that I could swallow a lead soldier (25mm tall) and it would pass through without any danger to lead poison. Lead dust may pose some risk, hence wash your hands. The problem with ingesting lead (with children) is mainly from lead paint where digestion may be increased with the lead content of the paint (originally liquid) being so fine. Its been an additional 20 years in the two industries since then and Im still healthy (though I could loose 25 lbs). Pewter is the new go to metal for jigs. Pewter is not 100% lead free, nor is it completely safe - its reputation just isn't at the level of lead. Maybe we will return to the early days of angling in the US (16th century) where gold beads where used to add weight to a fly.

IMHO: Lead is one of those useful materials where its reputation has grown to a point where fear and panic has taken over toward its use. Lead is the pitbull of the soft metal world. Im sure we will find that during the next 20 years our current concerns of plastics and water bottles will raise to the point where those who continue will be condemned for drinking bottled water.
 

jiggerjohn

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Mar 23, 2010
Messages
547
Seems I know lots of very active older jig anglers who have chomped on lead& poured it most of their lives. The "experts" also warm against inhaling any fumes from pouring molten soft plastics, yet just recently I fished with the son of the man who invented plastic worms, and that grand old man passed away exactly one year ago - at 95 !!
 

Fatman

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May 1, 2011
Messages
10,524
Location
Northfield, Vermont
I'm with Jay on this one - can't even remember how many lead split shot I clamped on with my teeth and tube jig heads sticking them in your mouth so they'd slide into the tube easier. I've been around molding jigs and sinkers since I was 9 yrs old and back when we were kids we had lead water pipes in the house.

The VA and my regular Doc have tested for lead levels and I don't have any level of it in me.

Good ventilation and washing hands.
 

StumpHunter

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May 16, 2010
Messages
5,990
Location
Piedmont, S.C.
Like y'all I have put many many many on a line when I was a kid and up into my teens. I can remember putting a few in my mouth to hold onto until I needed them :beat-up:
 

hookup

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May 22, 2012
Messages
2,714
Location
VA
Remember When… Mom’s Arm Was Your Seatbelt?

We'd ride in the back of a pick up

Smoking was endorsed by a former president ....

I wouldn't worry much about bit'n split shots. We've all done things in the past that would be looked down on today.
 

JSC

New member
Joined
Mar 31, 2010
Messages
1,242
Location
Freeport FL
I would like to see a list of all those things that are now a "No - NO' that was OK when I was growing up (SHucks I am still growing Up :) )
Same thing as "Political Correct" ..... Lead back when - was every where ... maybe thats whats wrong with me now :) ...
 

Jay Wirth

Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2013
Messages
396
Location
Vestal, NY
Like playing with Mercury in science class and learning how to shoot 22LR and archery in PE? Im starting to feel old
 

Fatman

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May 1, 2011
Messages
10,524
Location
Northfield, Vermont
This is one I always enjoyed!!!

People Over 45 Should be Dead

People over 35 should be dead. Here's why. According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 40's, 50's, 60's, or even maybe the early 70's probably shouldn't have survived.

Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets. (Not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking.)

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat!

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. Horrors! We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the street lights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. NO CELL PHONES!!!!! Unthinkable!

We did not have Play-stations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, video tape movies, surround sound, personal cell phones, personal computers, or Internet chat rooms.

We had friends! We went outside and found them. We played dodge ball, and sometimes, the ball would really hurt.

We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. They were accidents. No one was to blame but us. Remember accidents?

We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue and learned to get over it.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate worms, and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes, nor did the worms live inside us forever.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's home and knocked on the door, or rang the bell or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.
Some students weren't as smart as others, so they failed a grade and were held back to repeat the same grade.

Horrors! Tests were not adjusted for any reason.

Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law. Imagine that!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

And you're one of them!

Congratulations!
 

JUNGLEJIM1

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Joined
Mar 23, 2010
Messages
3,177
Location
Saint Louis,Mo
Confession, I still bite small split shot and grab the pliers for the big ones. I get a blood test every three months and always request a test for lead ever since I started pouring and there has been no increase in that time. Still wonder about the trucks that drove through fogging the neighborhood with mosquito repellent and who knows what else into the air. I'm sure it's banned now, can't remember when they stopped doing it.
 

AtticaFish

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Mar 22, 2010
Messages
5,445
Location
Attica, OH
Still bite my splits on as well. :blush: I fear the dust and shavings from lead more than anything.

Bite my line (mono) to cut it as well. That one used to drive my Dad nuts. He just looks the other way now. Actually have one tooth i chipped by biting my line. :-/

Can remember being pretty young and getting in a moderate fender bender while riding in the 'way back' of our wood panel station wagon. When the car rear-ended us, i ended up flying up and over the seat, landing in the middle seats. None the worse for wear. Seat belts......... ha!! Good thing we were not moving any faster i spose.

Lived off of hot dogs, twinkies and ice cream as a youngster. Never stopped moving though and was always outside from sun-up till sun-down during the summer. Me and a best friend would walk miles each day up and down the creek.

I wrestled 85lbs. in Jr. High....... and made it all the way up to 135lbs by my senior year. I was ALWAYS under weight at weigh-ins too. :p

Up to 180lbs now and spend way more time than i ever did in front of an electronic display...... sitting on my keester drinking beers and tying jigs. :beer:
 

JUNGLEJIM1

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
Messages
3,177
Location
Saint Louis,Mo
I still bite line and can relate to chipping teeth as well. I think I wasn't allowed in the house until dinner time growing up even in the winter.
 
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