Among the most widely recognised feats of the Oldetime Strongman is the bending of a steel spike. There are many different sizes of spikes, the ones I am going to mention here are from left to right the 60d, 70d, and 8 inch log spike.
The standard strongman bend - the 60d. This spike has the dimensions of 1/4" thick by 6" long. It is the spike normally performed with both by the strongmen of old and the modern strongmen as well. The head and the point are wrapped in a piece of cloth, handkerchief, bandanna, small piece of supple suede, something to protect the hand without adding any additional leverage. The spike is then grasped tightly in the grip and bent with the strength of the hands and wrists. The hands do not make contact with the legs, abdomen, ground, floor, wall, or anything else that would aid in the bend. This is a demonstration of hand and wrist strength.
The 70d is a considerably larger spike that measures 5/16" thick by 7" long. The increase in length makes this spike more awkward than the 60d while the increased thickness makes it substantially harder to bend as well. Again, this is performed with a small but adequate amount of hand padding and UN-braced.
The 8" log spike shown is 5/16" thick twisted square stock measuring of course 8" long. Not only is this spike extremely strong it is quite a challenge to have enough flexibility coupled with enough strength to bend it in an UN-braced manner.
There are several other large spikes that are used in the strongman demonstrations as well, they typically measure 3/8" thick by 10" or 12" in length and are bent by pushing down over the thigh or hip. That is a style known as braced and will be a topic for another day.
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