I have heard this, though I have never tried it. I think your best bet is hard work.

 

With 10 years construction experience, the best thing to "toughen" your hand is to just keep using them. Trust me. Work with your hands every day and they will callous. I would imagine soaking them in brine would not toughen them, just dry them out.

 

i was told that climbers use sand paper on there hands, and even though my hands are tough i thought i'd give it a go, you can never be too tough,

well the sand paper is very easy to go to far

don't do.it just build or work the land

Mark

 

Lifting rough things roughens your hands. Your skin thickens as a response to protect itself. That means it needs a stimulus.

Soaking in brine would really only dry your skin out, in my opinion.

I have gotten good calluses from lifting weights, and using hand grippers (Captains of Crush)

 

One of my past company CEO's used the hand grippers all the time, he ended up with carpal tunnel surgeries on both wrists. Be sure not to over do it.

 

No need for a brine, just use them. I have been using my hands to build, and work since I was a kid. My hands are as tough as rawhide now.

 

Handling wood (firewood, lumber, etc) for hours a day will roughen your hands. The downside, though, is you have less "feeling" in them, too.

 

I agree with the other, just use your hands or get a good set of gloves. You can tell a lot from someones hands because of the caluses on them.

 

I've done enough work and supervised enough people that I'm a true believer in work gloves.

 

Perhaps a sandpaper ball to toss around

Baring that a hands on hobby.
Or somthing a bit more exotic

Ahh
Here's what you do

Step 1 buy a rodeo outfit

Step 2, go to a minority neighborhood

Step 3. Yell out a derogatory name for that particular neighborhood

Step 4. Wrassle the first one who comes out.

Step 5. Enjoy the bruises and super rough hands

 

I heard to soak your hands in epsom salt brine. That can help hands heal and toughen after a day of doing hard work with your hands. Helps with hand pain caused by the work too.

 

Thanks everyone. I was asking mainly because of the book, but was wondering if it would really work.

 

Brining your hands canactually have bad long-term effects on your fingernails. I had a professor in college who was a marine biologist, and after years of exposure to saltwater and "briney" conditions, his fingernails were raised and brittle, and although his palms were slightly tougher, his fingernails were a constant problem due to the brine's effect on their thickness/brittleness.

 

Enjoyed Lando immensely!
This helps. It not only alleviates pain but toughens the skin & underlying muscular/skeletal system.

 

When I was in sail training on the Texas Tall Ship ELISSA, and preparing to handle a lot of lines, I was told to take an ordinary hand-towel, and practice wringing it several times every day. Not only will you toughen the skin on your hands, but your hand, wrists, and lower arm muscles as well.

If you are right-handed, and tend to wring toward the right, reverse that, and go toward the left side every so often. Lefties, do the same thing, in reverse.

The people doing the training did not want us to use gloves, because they give you a false sense of security, and can fail (slip) at a critical time when you are handling a line.

 

My boys and I like to make a 10 ft bull ring to train wrestling and judo in the sand. We have noticed our knees, shoulders and elbows seem to get really thick skinned for lack of a better term. Not so much calluses but just rough. perhaps punching or knife hand strikes into sand would have similar results.

 

Sound Advice

 

Work is the best way to toughen your hands.