Darkroom injury (minor): anybody else hurt themself in a dark darkroom?

[cliveh]

Leader retrievers work well, but some better than others.

 

[logan2z]

BTW, I've only managed to retrieve a leader once using another piece of film, though I haven't tried it with a dedicated tool.

A piece of film with two-sided tape attached works but a dedicated tool like the one from AP Photo is more reliable. I've found that the best way is to simply leave the leader out when rewinding.

 

[Donald Qualls]

Maybe I should wear my bike helmet in the darkroom

Or maybe you should adjust your darkroom to be safe for tall people. Just a suggestion...

 

[Donald Qualls]

A piece of film with two-sided tape attached works but a dedicated tool like the one from AP Photo is more reliable. I've found that the best way is to simply leave the leader out when rewinding.

Two-sided tape isn't normally found in my house/darkroom, either. I've used the "wet the emulsion" method with success once, and I do generally just leave the leader out -- but sometimes (especially before I'm used to a "new to me" camera) it'll get pulled back in.

I normally just open the cassette (I keep a bottle opener on a keyring in my pocket), but I still have to separate the tail from the spool and the factory tape is a bit stubborn...

 

[Vaughn]

A piece of film with two-sided tape attached works but a dedicated tool like the one from AP Photo is more reliable. I've found that the best way is to simply leave the leader out when rewinding.

Worked well for me for years pulling the leader out for students -- I put the tape on a piece of cut 4x5 film. Always had the tape and film around.

I had a high cupboard in my office/stockroom that if I left open for too long, I was bound to whack my head on it hard enough to put me on the ground.

 

[mshchem]

I'm 6'4", same problem. The vent hood over the stove in our kitchen is my nemesis.

I'm a big fellow, 250 lbs, aircraft seats. What a nightmare. It's not my girth but my height, knees get smooshed.

 

[mshchem]

Or maybe you should adjust your darkroom to be safe for tall people. Just a suggestion...

My mom always said when I was a toddler that she could sit me in the middle of an empty room and I would bump into something

 

[mshchem]

I use a Nikor cassette opener. Back in my youth I would just stick my thumb into the cassette and pull it open.

 

[VinceInMT]

Guilty of what the New York Times describes as heightism, I sometime bump my head at the bottom of the stairs on the way to my darkroom. Incidentally, the NYT’s solution to marry a short person didn’t work for me. My wife’s height was 5ft, but our daughter is very tall.

It's funny how that stuff works. I thought "regression to the norm" would take place but I'm 5'-10" and my wife is 5'-9" and both of our boys are over 6', one of them is 6'-7". That tall one tells me that ceilings aren't too low, the floor is too high.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Some LED lights dim slowly. The ones in my bedroom are visible for 30 seconds. (Gives me time to get into bed without tripping)

In my darkroom I use a single Philips LED light bulb that is almost instant off. You have to just try until you get a lamp that turns off quick.

Flourescent lights can also dim slowly and also have an after glow.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I'm 6'1" I bump my head constantly. Maybe I should wear my bike helmet in the darkroom

I'm 6'4", same problem. The vent hood over the stove in our kitchen is my nemesis.

Finally an advantage for being height challenged!

 

[Sirius Glass]

It's funny how that stuff works. I thought "regression to the norm" would take place but I'm 5'-10" and my wife is 5'-9" and both of our boys are over 6', one of them is 6'-7". That tall one tells me that ceilings aren't too low, the floor is too high.

There is help in the future. As one becomes older, there is a tendency to loose a bit of height.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I'm a big fellow, 250 lbs, aircraft seats. What a nightmare. It's not my girth but my height, knees get smooshed.

I'm not tall like you. But it's still worth it to me to pay a little more for the extra leg room. Or get a seat up by the bulkhead of the plane that has no seats in front of you.

 

[mshchem]

Finally an advantage for being height challenged!

I would love to be 5'8 and 140 lbs. Then I could buy another sports car. My feet are too big for the pedals. I had a MGA when I was a kid, that was a challenge.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

There is help in the future. As one becomes older, there is a tendency to loose a bit of height.

A bit. I'm shrinking. My feet finally reach the floor.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I would love to be 5'8 and 140 lbs. Then I could buy another sports car. My feet are too big for the pedals. I had a MGA when I was a kid, that was a challenge.

Would you kindly send over a few centimeters or inches of height?

 

[Donald Qualls]

Would you kindly send over a few centimeters or inches of height?

Careful, Sirius. Centimeters aren't fully compatible with inches...

 

[Sirius Glass]

Careful, Sirius. Centimeters aren't fully compatible with inches...

At this point I will not quibble. I will take donations of either or both, especially since I am short for my weight.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

I've bashed my head on enlargers more times than I can count. I put a little dot of glow in the dark tape on the corners now and that seems to help.

I once went to bleach the back off a Fujiroid negative and was going to tape it to a piece of glass I snagged out of a frame. I went to clean the glass and caught a knuckle on the edge while I was sweeping my hand over the glass. That wasn't fun. Shaved it right off.

 

[mshchem]

At this point I will not quibble. I will take donations of either or both, especially since I am short for my weight.

I'm short for my weight too.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I'm short for my weight too.

Why does weight tend to increase for those of shorter stature?

 

[Donald Qualls]

Why does weight tend to increase for those of shorter stature?

Weight tends to increase with age for most of us. It's just more noticeable with less height to spread it over.

 

[VinceInMT]

I would love to be 5'8 and 140 lbs. Then I could buy another sports car. My feet are too big for the pedals. I had a MGA when I was a kid, that was a challenge.

I’m 5‘-10” and fit in my Triumph TR4 just fine. I wouldn’t want to be shorter as I can just flat foot it when sitting on my motorcycle, a Yamaha FJR.

 

[Agulliver]

I'm sure there was at least one time when I spilled a bit of fixer on a finger that I'd cut the day before, and the wound wasn't 100% closed...that stung. It was back when I was a kid.

I have a memory of managing to cut myself while loading 35mm film onto a spiral, possibly the edge was sharp where I cut it off. I know it wasn't the scissors, it was the film. Only a few drops of blood but not exactly fun.

I'm weird. I'm 6'2, with a very long torso and short legs. A chiropractor and a GP have told me that my spine is about 10 inches longer than it should be for the length of my legs. Used to weigh almost 400lb but have reduced to about 250-255. Still big but something clicked with my metabolism in my late 40s, as in it started working properly. Probably was damaged badly by crash diets I suffered as a child.

 

[guangong]

Flourescent lights can also dim slowly and also have an after glow.

There is help in the future. As one becomes older, there is a tendency to loose a bit of height.

Unfortunately I haven’t lost any height and I’m on the gentle slope towards exiting the eighties. After all, the world is made for short people.
I put on a little weight right after marriage from my wife’s home cooking Cantonese meals but remained more or less the same afterwards. I knew I made the right decision when we stayed at my father-in-law’s house and discovered he didn’t own a can opener.