Now y'all have got me scared. My Vater Bomber has served me well for 3 years but the thought of the shaft going thru my 26" calf head is terrifying. Let me know your opinion on the Repercussions beaters please.
Don't get scared yet. It may have really been a fluke. I'm also notoriously hard on equipment. This occurred after say 15 hours of collective use. Let's see if anyone else has lost their beater top before we blow our tops...
Here's the skinny on how I think it went down;
The shaft of the Bomber is threaded and attaches to the beater via a t-nut in the top under the fake wool fuzz. I think it may have come unthreaded from vibration, The shaft stabbed through the side of the beater and then into my Leedy calf. It was a stomach wrenching experience. I wish I had known about the Willoughcraft fuzzies. They look so much nicer and the price is unbeatable. Anyway, I will dissect the beater and post a photo.
On a side note, I patched my head with an X of clear packing tape and one piece of duct over that. I didn't bother turning the head because the striking surface is exactly on the radius. It has held with collectively 35 hours of use. The tape hasn't come loose from the hide at all. So it looks crappy but it works with very minimal effect to the sound.