James Smith: Red Nail Victory

James Smith is the latest guy to fully bend an IronMind Red nail under official conditions.

For years, John Brookfield stood alone in having done this extremely tough short bend, and John did it in the traditional overhand style with his hands down at about waist level. Last summer, Gavin Holle absolutely demolished a Red nail and in so doing popularized a new style which involved holding the nail at about chin height. In fairly short order, two of Gavin's brothers, Craig and Jay, also officially bent an IronMind red nail, as did Pat Povilaitis.

Now, James Smith has succeeded, and in he uses yet another technique—holding the nail with a double underhand grip—which he learned from Steve McGranahan. Steve, incidentally, said this bending technique has added great power to his ability to close grippers, so guys who enjoy both bending and crushing grippers might want to give this a try.

James, not being content to "just" bend a full-length Red Nail, is knocking on the door of bending one with an inch cut off it—which would put him in even rarer company in the world of short bending.

Congratulations, James—your name as been added to the Red Nail Roster, the official list of men certified for bending the IronMind Red Nail.

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