Panzerfaust wrote:Brine/Vinegar ?
Ive read that the oldtimers used to wash their face in Brine or vinegar to toughen the skin.
anyone here know if it acctually works?
Nolan Ryan, a very good fastball pitcher in the Baseball Major leagues was known for using pickle brine on his fingers to toughen them up.
When he was a rookie pitcher for the Mets in mid 60's he developed blisters on his pitching hand for gripping the baseball for his fastballs. After 4 years the Mets released him.
He started using the pickle brine and after a trmendous career with a few other clubs went into the Hall of Fame - argueably one of baseball's best pitchers.
I never heard of pickle brine on the face. Cuts occur in white fighters because of the bone structure under the skin. Our ascension over time coming from white anglo areas of Europe and as far over as Russia have us with a pointed bone structure under our eyebrows. This will cause many cuts in this area. It would be interesting to see if any boxer had a operation to shave of bone under the brow for a smoother surface.
My father would never try to toughen the skin. Long time exposure out in sunny areas could cause this over a long time-probably out of boxing age range. But rather,slatherings by trainers and cut men with vaseline would cause slippage of the leather. Thats been used for a long time.I would think that a toughen skin would catch the leather and would make it rip easier. But its the bone structure of the faces that do the damage.
The smell aint great either 
