timiacobucci Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 I gave a bit of a bending demonstration at work the other day. I work at a warehouse and there are allot of strong guys there, most of us do some type of physical work for a full 10 hour shift. I only told a few people about it at work but word got out and people starting asking questions and making fun. Anyways I didn't want to try anything crazy I might miss so I just brought a bunch of medium hard 60D's. Some of the guys were making fun before, the look on this one guy's face when I handed him the 60D was priceless, the guy had been making fun of me for days before that. Anyways I was wondering if there would be somebody that could get it but noone did. I was showing them DO and the same guy that was making fun of me before kept saying it was the technique and it gave me allot of leverage. I was only showing this way to show people how to do it so they would have the best chance at it. So I started doing it reverse and he shut up again. Also priceless. I then bent some to 90 degrees and let some of them have a shot at it. I figured this was mostly chest power and most of them could take it down from there. Nope. 2 guys moved it a bit, this old skinny mechanic took it about 5 degrees and scared everyone with his red face and intensity. They said I was responsible if he had a heart attack. The other guy was a selector who used to power lift, he's not big but he is way strong for his size. He hit it for about 5 seconds and it moved like 10 degrees then he yelled ow and grabbed his shoulders. He liked it though and said it took some serious power and he was going to the hardware store on his next day off to get some easier stuff to practice with. I told him what to get. So all in all I think I impressed everyone and that one guy has been much nicer to me since then, and I got one guy hooked I think. Also a 60D is still a standard for strength as in a warehouse full of strong guys I was the only one that could bend it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ox3782 Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 Thats a great show it was fun hearing your story and great job!!! Brendan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cunny Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 Good stuff .I could never do anything like that at work.,not confident enough I'm sure I would get a G5 out or something and somone would destroy it and say whats the big deal. I'd expect something along the lines "You think your tough cos you can bend a nail" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonL Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 I only weigh 170 and I gave the yellow nail to my friend who is 6 foot 250pds, big football type strong guy and he could not do it. He could not believe how hard it was to bend it. With training, of course he can bend it, the guy is strong like an ox, but people don't understand the biomechanics behind bending and what it actually consists of and why one does it. At least I get respect now anyways. I only mess with the biggest strongest guys in my gym, which are only 3 of them in there and they have my respect and they respect me, so thats a good thing I just wish I can get some of them to do some Finger Lifting with me, that seems to even make the biggest guys run Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricMilfeld Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 Sounds like a very educational day for your coworkers! You never know, the next Gazza could have got the bug at your demo. The evil side of me likes messing with the occasional coworker every now and then. One day I bent an Edgin to just under two inches and I told Octavio if he could move it even another 1/16" I'd give him $100. I kept the money and had a good laugh at his expense. Of course at that point I had to prove to him that it could be moved further by taking it down to 1 3/4". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarytheDino Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 This all reminds me of some recent episodes of mine. In fact I just finished up an impromto demo. A few weeks ago some talking started at work, so I brought in some stuff and did a demo. I was then presented with a 6" adjustable strait out of the tool box. After everyone tried it, I bent it, and put to rest any doubt about the caliber of my bends. Some co-works that watched my videos tonight wanted to see some tearing live. They presented me with a deck of bicycles. I showed them my busted hand and said not today. Well they kept on so I tried it and got it. Then I offered 10 bucks to anyone that could quarter it. Of course no one could. So I had to do that too. I really enjoy seeing the look on their faces Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Beatty Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 Great work on the display! That's fun stuff. My favorite here was a slow day at work & one of the guys wanted me to teach him phone books. Next thing we had 4-5 guys trying phone books, bending & one even did a St Croix shoe. Luke (the shoe guy) will be competing at the BBB, so hooked one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim71 Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 Good stuff .I could never do anything like that at work.,not confident enough I'm sure I would get a G5 out or something and somone would destroy it and say whats the big deal.I'd expect something along the lines "You think your tough cos you can bend a nail" Ha ha! I used to feel the same way. I figured no matter what I could bend I'd happen to run into that one freak who would run my day. Odds are though it won't happen and even if it does you just have to grin and bear it. And actually that did happen to me with long bars at work. I did have to close it for him and made a fish so I still came out on top. My experiences are much the same. I've never had anyone bend a medium hard 60d nail. One guy at a hardware store is really stout naturally and he's really close. He did do a 265 lb nail the other day. I took a whole progression to work one day and I think where you lose most guys is around 1/4 HRS to maybe a G2 bolt. Now I will say I never wrap a nail to give the person a huge advantage. Small wraps but still ones I'd been thrilled to have when I started and I show them the 3 techniques. Not all the tricks but just the basic styles. I didn't have any instruction or leather when I started so I figure thin leather and medium instruction is about right. My last demo at work was a 15 inch pry-bar and to be honest I had a heck of a time with it. Got it but it was close. Slick footing and I think this one was a freak of the bunch. I thought about letting some guys try to finish a nail like you did but I was afraid they'd get offended. May have to do that next time. Great story. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timiacobucci Posted October 8, 2007 Author Share Posted October 8, 2007 Good stuff .I could never do anything like that at work.,not confident enough I'm sure I would get a G5 out or something and somone would destroy it and say whats the big deal.I'd expect something along the lines "You think your tough cos you can bend a nail" Noone normal will get a g5 without some kind of training. And even if somehow someone did, that is just really cool and you should try and get them to train because imagine what they could acomplish. The major thing is how you present it, if you include everyone and try and show them how to do it right instead of just acting like you are a badass because they can't do it then they aren't going to be defensive about it. I think most people that aren't total dicks, if they see something done they think is impossible they normally won't be defensive and stupid about it. Sounds like a very educational day for your coworkers! You never know, the next Gazza could have got the bug at your demo.The evil side of me likes messing with the occasional coworker every now and then. One day I bent an Edgin to just under two inches and I told Octavio if he could move it even another 1/16" I'd give him $100. I kept the money and had a good laugh at his expense. Of course at that point I had to prove to him that it could be moved further by taking it down to 1 3/4". An edgin, that is just evil. Here I felt bad I didn't bring some timber ties or something so they would have had a good shot at. Honestly I thought at least a few of the strong guys I work with were gonna get a 60D otherwise I would have tried to bring some easier stuff. Great work on the display! That's fun stuff. My favorite here was a slow day at work & one of the guys wanted me to teach him phone books. Next thing we had 4-5 guys trying phone books, bending & one even did a St Croix shoe. Luke (the shoe guy) will be competing at the BBB, so hooked one. Man I don't know where you find these guys, I don't think anyone at my work could do any of that, maybe the phone book, that is allot different than bending and more in line with the grabbing and pinch grip strength you get from selecting. I remeber thinking some of the guys were nuts when I started but after a while I too could pinch grip a 9 pack of tomato sauce in big 5"x6" cans in each hand. They are pretty damn heavy and totally off balance and covered in shiny plastic too. I know that probably sounds weird but it is a very functional from of grip strength for that job when you are payed by how fast you go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timiacobucci Posted October 8, 2007 Author Share Posted October 8, 2007 (edited) Tim, I would love to do a pry bar, they would freak out. They kept saying how huge the 60D was and what the hell you would use it for, I kept thinking wait till I bring a spike in and show some braced stuff. I need to be more consistant with it but the 1/2" by 2 ' around the neck will really get them I think too. I'm pretty sure to the uninitiated the bigger the bar the more impressive it is, they don't know what the styles and leverage really mean. When I did the 90 degrees thing I told them the kink is the hardest and takes the most flexibility and training to get good at but you have much better leverage at this angle so it is all strengh. So I kind of explained and gave them an out and I suppose they could save face a bit by crushing it. It didn't happen though. I also gave them big ass leather pads so the pain wasn't really a factor, I really wanted to see if they were strong enough rather than tough enough at that point. They wanted me to do it bare handed, I thought that was funny, they couldn't budge it with big pads and wanted me to do it with nothing. I crushed them down well under 1 inch bare handed and showed them the big dents and said I need to come to work again and not rip holes in my palms so I'm not gonna do that. Actually it was funny they were even trying braced ways over the knee and on their side or stomach (the fat guy), they weren't getting anywhere so I didn't bother to correct them, but even if they had got it that way it would be hard to explain so I just figured I would bring in a spike and show them how silly a braced 60D is. It is really too small to get leverage on that way anyway though. One guy even tried to bend it over the railing and it didn't happen. Edited October 8, 2007 by timiacobucci Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Lipinski Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 Ha, I have went through all the old phonebooks at work. With only women mostly at work, I guess I can't feel too macho- Know what I mean John? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbjr Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 Sounds like a nice demo, I think a lot of people think what we are doing is a trick or all technique. My reply is that all strength feats require speicialized tech, things like bench press, squat and DL. no difference if you want to be good at something you practice technique. As far as someone 1 upping you at a demo......I have been involved in over a hundred strength show/demos over the last 3yrs, we typically start with a 5 - 5.5in grade 8 and allow people to try and bend it anyway they can, including over an anvil horn. Have only had 2-3 people put a kink in it to date. My co-horts always pick the biggest guy they can find in the crowd, this used to make me very nervous, but so far no super freaks have come out of the woods. I have had people bend 60d's and even grade 5 first time out without any demo, but even this is very rare. Occasionally someone will bend the 12 timber spikes, so I am switching to the 10's next show. Anyhow keep up the good work........Brett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim71 Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Kerjr, Man you've run into some strong guys. At my workplace nobody could even finish 3/8 by 12 inch HRS. Yeah, it's possible but like you say, someone getting a tought 60d or G5 is pretty rare. Even braced, I've had some really big guys try keystone 60d nails and all they've got is red faces for their efforts. Only guy to kink one was comparitively small. Later, Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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