Water and abrasive water jets have been developed as efficient tools for different purposes in industrial manufacturing, cleaning and dismantling, and--experimentally--in drilling and milling. In contrast to other high pressure techniques, these machines produce power densities up to 250 kW/mm2. In order to assess the range of destruction caused by water as well as abrasive water jets in human hands, cadaveric forelegs of pigs were targeted with constant nozzle geometry and working distance between cadaver and nozzle. Variable parameters investigated included pressure and time of exposure. Reproducible injury patterns were found in the forefoot of the pig, allowing for conclusions to be drawn with respect to damage assessment in the human hand.