Bending Barehanded

[David_wigren]

Just a 7x1/4 crs. I've done alot harder stuff before. But this is my first barehand bend since I injured my wrist doing some sledgehammer leverings. This time I think I'm shooting for a 300+lbs 7" bend

[bencrush]

Very fast barehand bend David! Congrats on that man.

[climber511]

I'm too big a sissy for this one - but enjoy watching you guys do it - looking strong there!

[Anthony151]

Am I the only one who thinks barehanded bending hurts or do you guys get used to it?

[Tom Horn]

It hurts. That's what makes it worthwhile. Mind over body. Very nice bend.

[David_wigren]

The painfactor does go down after a while when your body knows what to expect from a barehand bend. But you never really get used to it. It always hurt. I always get a little nervous before a barehand bend. Because most often it doesn't hurt so much if it bends when you hit it. But when you hit it with close to everything you got and that sucker doesn't move, that usually stings a bit.

[unseenbeat]

I was always interested in barehanded bending since when i got the IM bag of nails years ago and my father bent a yellow nail barehanded (well he didnt finish the crush, but he also didn't know that was part of the bend). Awesome bend

[David_wigren]

I was always interested in barehanded bending since when i got the IM bag of nails years ago and my father bent a yellow nail barehanded (well he didnt finish the crush, but he also didn't know that was part of the bend). Awesome bend

Holy crap a kink in a yellow nail is impressive enough to be able to pull off straight of the bat like that. What kind of work does he do?

[gazza]

Nice barehanding david.

[David_wigren]

Nice barehanding david.

Thanks Gaz! You're still one of my biggest sources for inspiration and motivation. I can only hope to one day accomplish half of the stuff you have.

[GatorGrip]

As a bender from the past I have bent a few things bare handed but the pain factor usually starts to put a damper on the shorter thicker stuff. It always seemed to me the meaty part of my hands gave the steel to much cushion and of course there is where the pain comes in.

Just wanted to say Great Bend my friend and I can't wait to see your future bends.

I remember old Gazza doing some mind boggling stuff bare handed but I do believe he was part animal and the rest madman.

[bencrush]

As a bender from the past I have bent a few things bare handed but the pain factor usually starts to put a damper on the shorter thicker stuff. It always seemed to me the meaty part of my hands gave the steel to much cushion and of course there is where the pain comes in.

Just wanted to say Great Bend my friend and I can't wait to see your future bends.

I remember old Gazza doing some mind boggling stuff bare handed but I do believe he was part animal and the rest madman.

Really great to see you back to posting Kel! Been a long time man. You have many friends here that have wondered where you went during that time. I need to send you some things. Would you PM me your address?

[wolfguard]

I was always interested in barehanded bending since when i got the IM bag of nails years ago and my father bent a yellow nail barehanded (well he didnt finish the crush, but he also didn't know that was part of the bend). Awesome bend

Reminds of my dad. He was one of those guys that had the local strongman rep around his community all growing up. When I looked in his year book everyone commented on that. 5'8 or 9 and 165lbs growing up. I believe he was 51 or 52 when I first got into bending I brought my nails home and I was working on greens, he picked it up and barehanded it. He asked for something harder and put a pair of lifting gloves (slick ones) smashed it and said you have a long way to go. It's funny I used to think he was an idiot in lifting, he gave me a bob hoffman original course when I was 14 (I cant believe I lost it) and didnt listen to a word he said. Now I regret it. Hes 57-58 now fat and really doesn't care much about lifting anymore, but that guy has a grip that is deadly.

[David_wigren]

As a bender from the past I have bent a few things bare handed but the pain factor usually starts to put a damper on the shorter thicker stuff. It always seemed to me the meaty part of my hands gave the steel to much cushion and of course there is where the pain comes in.

Just wanted to say Great Bend my friend and I can't wait to see your future bends.

I remember old Gazza doing some mind boggling stuff bare handed but I do believe he was part animal and the rest madman.

Hey thanks Walter! I've seen your videos in the past and gotten plenty of motivation from them.

You know Gazza is pretty much back bending barehanded now. I've seen some of his workouts and the stuff he is able to barehand is just incredible.

[Scott Styles]

Not sure what if you care what type of metal you hit that 300lbs with, but you might try some 6063 1/2" aluminum from McMaster Carr. When I was trying to learn to do brace bending, I found it is slightly tougher than the 5/16" CRS.

Here's a pic of how it compared for me:

http://www.gripfaq.com/videos/20070721BracedBendsLabeled.jpg

The large diameter could be less painful. That looks like it hurts.

[David_wigren]

Not sure what if you care what type of metal you hit that 300lbs with, but you might try some 6063 1/2" aluminum from McMaster Carr. When I was trying to learn to do brace bending, I found it is slightly tougher than the 5/16" CRS.

Here's a pic of how it compared for me:

http://www.gripfaq.com/videos/20070721BracedBendsLabeled.jpg

The large diameter could be less painful. That looks like it hurts.

Thanks for the idea. My main goal is to bend a 7" O-1 drillrod calibrated 300+ by Mike Krahling. So for that I need to be able to take the stress from the small surface area it would put on my hands. But I also do alot of wrapped bending of course, to build strength. Typically I only do 1 barehand bend in every 2 workouts. The 1/2 aluminum might serve as a good iso bar between wrapped bars and barehanded bars.