Close call with a drain snake today, almost lost a finger

Me and the boys was clearing a main line clog in this old apartment building, using the Ridgid K-4000 snake like always. I got the head stuck on some roots deep in the pipe, and when I went to crank it back, the cable whipped around wild and nearly sliced my glove open. TBH, I was shook for a minute, heart pounding like a jackhammer. Shoulda double-checked the tension on the auto-feed, that's on me. Anyone else had a snake bite back like that? FML, gonna be more careful next time.

Man, that sucks. Had a similar thing with a Milwaukee drain cleaner last job, cable snapped and tagged my arm pretty good.

Proud to say I've snaked hundreds of lines without a hitch. Key is always having a spotter.

Yeah, spotter makes all the difference. I've been at this 20 years and never had a close call thanks to that routine.

Damn, close one brother. Snakes are no joke, especially in tight crawlspaces.

These damn tools are gonna get someone killed one day. Inspectors don't care about safety half the time.

Get yourself some cut-resistant sleeves, the ones from Grainger. They're thin but stop the cable from shredding you.

Watched a Roger Wakefield vid on safe snaking techniques last week, he swears by slowing down the feed speed. Might save your digits next time.