# Can a human actually tear into an abdomen using bare hands? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 18, 2015, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-actually-tear-into-an-abdomen-using-bare-hands/715271 "2015-03-18T09:02:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-actually-tear-into-an-abdomen-using-bare-hands/715271/21 "2015-03-18T23:57:29Z")
Break an arm or leg bone, until it ruptures the skin. Then, pull. And remember–too much salt is bad for you. …what? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-actually-tear-into-an-abdomen-using-bare-hands/715271/22 "2015-03-19T00:14:00Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I can attest that _my_ skin has been broken through by the not-that-sharp fingernails of a toddler. Sharpened adult fingernails are going to be a lot worse than that. Breaking skin is one thing, muscle is another. Unless the kid is from Krypton maybe. You need some place to get the finger through skin and muscle and rip up and I’m not sure even around the hip you could find a place to get leverage. Or unless you find a rupture and use it to your advantage – maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-actually-tear-into-an-abdomen-using-bare-hands/715271/23 "2015-03-19T00:24:12Z")
Kopek has the right of it. There’s a reason folks invented hand axes and knives. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-actually-tear-into-an-abdomen-using-bare-hands/715271/24 "2015-03-19T00:44:49Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I can attest that _my_ skin has been broken through by the not-that-sharp fingernails of a toddler. Sharpened adult fingernails are going to be a lot worse than that. Breaking skin and breaking \*through \*skin are vastly different things. Broken skin just means that t you’ve scratched the epidermis enough for a few capillaries to be torn. Breaking through skin means that and the deeper layers connective tissue of the hypodermis have all been torn through. I can assure you that a toddler did not do that with a fingernail. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-actually-tear-into-an-abdomen-using-bare-hands/715271/25 "2015-03-19T00:56:43Z")
> [@Heracles](#): > > Hmm, I did as you asked, and now they’ve locked me in a cell. Darn you! :mad: MMHMM…and, if he asked you to jump off of a bridge??? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-actually-tear-into-an-abdomen-using-bare-hands/715271/26 "2015-03-19T00:59:15Z")
Is the belly button a point of weakness that can be exploited to do this? Start there and rip the flesh, after you get through the flesh start ripping the muscles. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-actually-tear-into-an-abdomen-using-bare-hands/715271/27 "2015-03-19T05:43:00Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > I can assure you that a toddler did not do that with a fingernail. I can assure you they did. They opened my skin on my hand to the bone. As in, needed stitches. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-actually-tear-into-an-abdomen-using-bare-hands/715271/28 "2015-03-19T05:47:06Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Is the belly button a point of weakness that can be exploited to do this? Start there and rip the flesh, after you get through the flesh start ripping the muscles. Predators often start at the anus… ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-actually-tear-into-an-abdomen-using-bare-hands/715271/29 "2015-03-19T08:00:13Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I can assure you they did. They opened my skin on my hand to the bone. As in, needed stitches. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-actually-tear-into-an-abdomen-using-bare-hands/715271/30 "2015-03-19T09:07:45Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > :eek: It might be that it’s because there’s no real fascia or anything under the skin on the hands? Doctor did characterise it as a “tear” not a “cut”, although it’s healed up nicely in the ensuing 8 years - the scar is near-invisible. Kids, man, they’re the worst. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-actually-tear-into-an-abdomen-using-bare-hands/715271/31 "2015-03-19T10:58:00Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > I will add that the only zombie scene i can think of where someone was rapidly disemboweled was in the Walking Dead, and IIRC the zombie in that case had a jagged bone stump for one arm, and used that to make a hole which it then ripped open. That’s a little more plausible. Dylan Moran gets gutted disgustingly in _Shaun of the Dead_ and I’m pretty sure I remember a similarly gross scene in Charlie Brooker’s _Dead Set_ but both were dark comedies. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-actually-tear-into-an-abdomen-using-bare-hands/715271/32 "2015-03-19T11:16:06Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > I will add that the only zombie scene i can think of where someone was rapidly disemboweled was in the Walking Dead, and IIRC the zombie in that case had a jagged bone stump for one arm, and used that to make a hole which it then ripped open. That’s a little more plausible. > [@Oly](#): > > Bare hands at1:05. Concur: Unpossible for the unundead. Also Day of the Dead. I’m sure there are others I can’t think of as a lot of zombie media tend to put in a disemboweling scene as a homage to the Romero films. I assume it’s probably pretty difficult. Try tearing a raw steak in half with your bare hands. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-actually-tear-into-an-abdomen-using-bare-hands/715271/33 "2015-03-19T13:42:35Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > There was a case of a human thief in Chicago awhile back who, while snatching a ring off an elderly lady, inadvertently took her finger as well. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-actually-tear-into-an-abdomen-using-bare-hands/715271/34 "2015-03-19T19:57:03Z")
The skin would be the hardest part, after that, the muscle would be comparatively easy. In my experience most people have a kind of governor on how much strength they actually put into tearing flesh. I’m not sure if its a natural reaction to tearing flesh or more of a case of them not trusting their hands on a slippery surface, or if it tears quickly they don’t want to go flying or ruin the meat. > [@Scumpup](#): > > Try tearing a raw chicken apart. It’s a surprisingly difficult thing to do. They are more lightly put together than a human and have bits its easy to get a good hold on. In my experience, it seems surprisingly difficult until you finally say “fuck it” and then they come apart in pieces pretty easily. Most people don’t want nasty crappy chicken and all the mess, so they don’t put all their strength into it. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-actually-tear-into-an-abdomen-using-bare-hands/715271/35 "2015-03-20T00:01:59Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > Cite? Happened back in the 1980’s or early '90’s before everything was on line, but I’ll try to find the report for you. Give me a bit of time to hunt. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-actually-tear-into-an-abdomen-using-bare-hands/715271/36 "2015-03-20T02:13:27Z")
I’ve heard of people _biting_ someone’s finger off, but tearing it? Dislocate or break the bones, yes. I heard about a soccer player who had his ring wedding ring get caught in a fence and THAT tore it off. But another person? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![SJL4041](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@SJL4041](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SJL4041)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-actually-tear-into-an-abdomen-using-bare-hands/715271/37 "2015-03-20T02:24:36Z")
A man famously got his finger stripped to the bone by a thief snatching his iPad shopping bag. He later had to have it amputated so the finger was strong enough to stay attached with just with the bones left. And that was with the shopping bag string wrapped around the fingers. To me it sounds way too hard to just rip off a finger cleanly. > **[American man loses Apple iPad and pinky finger during bag snatching](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/7619232/American-man-loses-his-Apple-iPad-and-pinky-finger-during-bag-snatching.html)** > > An American man, Bill Jordan, lost most of his little finger after the brazen thief snatched his brand new Apple iPad from his hands. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-actually-tear-into-an-abdomen-using-bare-hands/715271/38 "2015-03-20T02:36:09Z")
And that’s not even bare hands – it was the string that was wrapped around the guy’s hand that wouldn’t give. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-actually-tear-into-an-abdomen-using-bare-hands/715271/39 "2015-03-20T03:48:39Z")
It was an unusual situation - a very elderly and frail old woman. Perhaps she slipped and fell as he yanked, putting her body weight into the equation (sort of like the soccer player situation). It was over 20 years ago at this point so my memory isn’t entirely clear but I distinctly recall the news reports about the old lady losing her finger in the robbery. Can’t find it on line, I’d have to go to a physical library to dig through news archives to find it at this point. I swear to Og, the internet thinks the world began after Jan 1, 2000. I’ve heard of a few other instances of rings getting caught on something and a finger being lost as a result, it usually does seem to involve the ring as a fixed point and the person’s body weight helping to exert force on the digit. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-actually-tear-into-an-abdomen-using-bare-hands/715271/40 "2015-03-20T05:38:43Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I’ve heard of a few other instances of rings getting caught on something and a finger being lost as a result, it usually does seem to involve the ring as a fixed point and the person’s body weight helping to exert force on the digit. [Yep](http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/world/2004-12-08-euro-roundup_x.htm) I still say it’s impossible though to physically do it with one’s bare hands. Hell, I don’t even think there are any instances cited of it happening when people were tortured on the rack. Muscle tissue and ligaments torn? Hell yeah. Limbs actually physically separated from the body? No. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-actually-tear-into-an-abdomen-using-bare-hands/715271.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-human-actually-tear-into-an-abdomen-using-bare-hands/715271.md?page=3)