Bare Handed

[foggymountainmuscle]

Yesterday I had some guys come around my dorm asking me if I was the guy who bent stuff, and if I really do it. I showed them some of the stuff I have bent, including my 120d spikes, along with my goal bends of some G5s and G8s. Well I showed them some different bending techniques and bent a 60d timber tie for them with one layer of cordura (no wrapping, just placed over the nail). Feeling ambisious after this I attempted one bare handed, and I did it! I had been working on my hand toughness for this feet over the summer, bending an easy batch of timber ties I got with less and less padding. Now these were pretty easy nails (probably an IM white or green) but it's still a bare handed bend.

Now that I've done it, I don't really plan on doing it all to often, if ever again. I poked a little whole in my hand with the tip (barely bled, nothing really) and I put some of the nastiest looking dents in my right palm with the nail head with some red marks still marking the spot. I remember bare handed bending was a huge topic when IM said that the Holles were bending all bare handed now, and maybe it's all been forgotten on these boards but I from my experience I can say:

1. It is not that glamorous.

and

2. I do not believe it is the most productive training for strength gains.

If nothing else though I can say I have bent a nail bare handed when people ask me about why I use padding...

[GatorGrip]

I bent my first and only Timber Tie bare handed when it was handed to me by Titan's (a fellow board member) wife when they visited me while on vacation in Alaska. To my surprise it wasn't hard at all but then again pain is muted to some degree when you are showing off. When I first started bending it was suggested to me to buy a sack of 6" x 1/4" Grade 2 Carriage Bolts . I did purchase them but I quickly found they were way to easy with padding so I used to bend a couple every once in a while to toughen my hands. They were not pleasant to bend but I managed to empty that bag although I really don't think it helped toughen my hands at all just inflicted some senseless pain on them.

[jad]

Cool story Foggy. I witnessed Kerbjr bend one barehanded like it was a straw. My brother's friend asked him if he could bend that, pointing to the TT, and Kerb said something like, "oh these are easy, you can do these barehanded" and then proceeded to smoke it. I wouldn't even know what style to call it,he just grabbed it and U'd it.

[Dude]

Yesterday I had some guys come around my dorm asking me if I was the guy who bent stuff, and if I really do it. 

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I continually go thru this at college too, bending/grippers/soda cans/pinching/phonebooks/ etc....

I'm going to make a video of me doing everything so I dont have to continually show people, gets old after awhile.

Nice job on the bend though, I'm gonna try that

[honk]

A friend of mine who does no bending or grip bend one of my 180mm x 6mm nails after I showed hím rev. style bare handed! He has very tough hand from years and years of handball playing.

[bencrush]

Very impressive Foggy...but it sounds like a sure recipe for disaster, injury-wise. Be careful man.

[carusom1]

I tried this last night

i did it slim style though and tried to keep the point away from my hand

(I can't believe you risked doing it that way)

I was way to scared of the point going through my hand

this is manly, but definately seems like a way to get hurt.

[Soilworker]

I have never seen a Timber Tie before but I have bent some small bolts that are 6" by 1/4" bare handed. They hurt a good bit. I also did a 6" piece of HRS 1/4" bar handed. That was pretty painful. I don't usually use pads on 3/16" stock; the pads I made don't fit good and I bend better without them. Those are very easy bends though. The first real bend I ever did (at the GGC this year) was bar handed.