# What can you do with your hands? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 6, 2005, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-your-hands/320316 "2005-09-06T08:01:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-your-hands/320316/1 "2005-09-06T08:01:20Z")
I’ve always been a fan of manipulating simple objects with my hands and I decided over the weekend that I would master at least 1 useless skill over the next 5 years so I’m learning how to do the [Coin Walk](http://www.coinmanipulation.com/Coin/Tricks/CoinWalk_WalkDown.html). Right now, I’m pretty okay with my right hand and just starting out with my left. I can probably get at least 10 medium speed walks without dropping the coin. So what other cool manipulations can dopers do with their hands? Coin tricks? Pen spinning? card tricks? ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-your-hands/320316/2 "2005-09-06T08:32:35Z")
Many South Africans called up for national service under the Apartheid government used to wile away the hours until “_klaar_-ing _uit_” (passing out) by attempting to touch their index and baby fingers of the same hand together on the knuckle side of the hand - the closer your fingers got, the closer you were to being finshed. I spent a summer holiday several years ago practicing (thankfully I managed to avoid actual call-up byt staying at University for as long as possible) and could do it with my left hand and almost manage with the right, but can’t any more… I can however alternate between the Vulcan salute and an anti-Vulcan (middle two fingers together, index and baby fingers spread out) fairly rapidly which took me a while to get right - I’m now working on alternating them on both hands, but in opposite time to each other. I’ve never been able to get the coin roll working… Grim ---
**Author:** ![Giant\_Spongess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@Giant\_Spongess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giant_Spongess)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-your-hands/320316/3 "2005-09-06T16:10:03Z")
I don’t know about hands, but I can tie knots with my [toes.](http://upl.silentwhisper.net/uplfolders/upload0/Toes.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-your-hands/320316/4 "2005-09-06T16:19:16Z")
I can paint and draw and sculpt, does that count as doing stuff with my hands? 😉 I used to know a guy who could play any song on his hands - you know, the little hand-fart noises. He could hit every note. It was great. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-your-hands/320316/5 "2005-09-06T18:23:50Z")
I can make little wooden animals with simple gouges and chisels. I can spell out your name in copper wire. Using origami, not brute strength, I can crush a beer can. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-your-hands/320316/6 "2005-09-06T22:04:55Z")
I can slip out of handcuffs, (and no, I’m not telling you how I discovered this talent.) I have very slim hands, and can tuck the base of my thumb completely into my palm, basically making my hand as narrow as my wrist. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-your-hands/320316/7 "2005-09-06T22:06:35Z")
Why don’t you ask **Hal Briston**? ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-your-hands/320316/8 "2005-09-06T22:16:07Z")
I can turn a dollar bill into an [origami crane](http://www.mortalwombat.com/Image/Moneygami.jpg) that flaps its wings when you pull its tail. (Yep, I know that lots of people can do this. But it’s pretty neat anyway, even if I didn’t invent it.) ---
**Author:** ![Pixisis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@Pixisis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixisis)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-your-hands/320316/9 "2005-09-06T22:36:14Z")
i can make some men weep and other men beg. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-your-hands/320316/10 "2005-09-07T02:21:45Z")
I can detach them from my arms and re-attach them to the wrong ones. Not really, but I was feeling left out of this and wanted to say something. Anything. ---
**Author:** ![EnderWay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d26b3c/32.png) [@EnderWay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnderWay)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-your-hands/320316/11 "2005-09-07T02:59:50Z")
- > [@grimpixie](#): > > by attempting to touch their index and baby fingers of the same hand together on the knuckle side of the hand - When you say “baby finger” do you mean “pinky finger”? Am I missings something? Touch your index finnger over the back/top of the middle and ring finger … to touch your pinky finger! This is not hard? Or is it me? ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-your-hands/320316/12 "2005-09-07T03:16:54Z")
I can play piano – does that count? And a little form of pen spinning picked up from watching a friend in college who did it. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-your-hands/320316/13 "2005-09-07T03:38:37Z")
I can do a weird thing with my arms that no one else (so far) can do. I made it up when I was a kid. Before doing this, remove eyeglasses, hair clips, and any bulky earrings, watch, bracelets, etc. 1. Hold your arms out in front of you, palms facing out, thumbs pointing down. 2. Cross your right wrist over your left and clasp your hands together. 3. Rotate your forearms down and back up toward yourself, 270 degrees, so that now your clasped fingers are just below your chin. Your upper arms are now against your torso. 4. From this point forward you may loosen the clasping of your fingers as necessary, as long as they are still intertwined and touching. 5. Move your right elbow through and on top of your left, bending your arms as needed. Your forearms are now pointing slightly to your right, and your left wrist is bent downward so that your left fingers can meet the right. 6. This is where you will really need to loosen your fingers, but don’t let go! Now lift your arms up over your head and put your head through the opening between you forearms so that your arms are now around your neck, elbows in front, fingers clasped at the back. If you did it without letting go, congratulations! Yes, I am very strange, and I freely admit that this is possibly the dumbest Stupid Human Trick ever devised. ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-your-hands/320316/14 "2005-09-07T04:14:56Z")
I can… -Coin roll, with both hands. Either index-to-pinky or pinky-to-index. -Hambone. -Juggle three items (cascade and figure-eight) and four items (two each hand) -Bend a penny. -Throw a playing card hard enough to imbed itself into a cardboard box. -Drive my right index finger into an unopened soda can. -Play hand drums. -Throw a boomerang. -Spin a football on my index finger. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-your-hands/320316/15 "2005-09-07T04:59:23Z")
I can’t do the Vulcan finger-salute thing, and I can only really snap with my right hand, but I can crack my knuckles! I figure when I’m a world-famous gangster (on the mean, mean streets of Toronto) the whole “Live long and prosper” fiasco will be forgotten. 😉 Also, my hands are long enough to play octaves on the piano (people with smaller hands need a special exemption if they’re doing an exam at the Royal Conservatory of Music). That’s something. ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-your-hands/320316/16 "2005-09-07T05:57:13Z")
I can cross both the index/middle and ring/pinky fingers of both hands, simultaniously, without having to push any into place. I can also touch both my thumbs to my wrists, but I have to push them, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Trillionaire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@Trillionaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trillionaire)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-your-hands/320316/17 "2005-09-07T06:17:40Z")
> [@EnderWay](#): > > \*\* > > When you say “baby finger” do you mean “pinky finger”? > > Am I missings something? Touch your index finnger over the back/top of the > middle and ring finger … to touch your pinky finger! This is not hard? > Or is it me? have never tried it before, but can do the right hand easily but not the left (about 3mm away). The idea of anyone passing time by practicing this seems a little strange. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-your-hands/320316/18 "2005-09-07T06:53:44Z")
I sleight well prestadigitally. I diddle expertly. ::Heart’s Magic Man playing in the background:: ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-your-hands/320316/19 "2005-09-07T07:10:40Z")
Put your palms together behind your back, with your fingers pointing towards your head (some people can’t even get their palms together!) Now, keeping your palms together, move your hands up towards your head as high as you can without separating your hands. I can get them up between my shoulder blades. This is nearly useless, although occasionally fun for mildly grossing people out. ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-your-hands/320316/20 "2005-09-07T07:18:11Z")
> [@grimpixie](#): > > Many South Africans called up for national service under the Apartheid government used to wile away the hours until “_klaar_-ing _uit_” (passing out) […] I could do it with my left hand and almost manage with the right, but can’t any more… > > I can however alternate between the Vulcan salute and an anti-Vulcan (middle two fingers together, index and baby fingers spread out) fairly rapidly which took me a while to get right - I’m now working on alternating them on both hands, but in opposite time to each other. > > I’ve never been able to get the coin roll working… > > Grim Interesting. I’m right handed, but like you, can only _klaar uit_ with my left hand. This may be the only activity I’ve ever heard of which is easier with the non-dominant hand than with the dominant one. If so, I wonder why. This warrants further study. I’m pretty good with the Vulcan thing too. **Scarlett67** , if I’m reading the instructions correctly, I can’t do it, but I bet I could with some practice. As far as piano, I read music very slowly, especially if both hands are involved, but I can play a ninth (an octave plus one more note) or a tenth if I absolutely have to. I got one more thing, but I can’t even figure out how to describe it, so I’ll try to get a picture uploaded later. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-your-hands/320316.md?page=2)