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Which Sex Doll Hands Are Best? Articulated Vs Wired Hands Compared
The hands are a detail that nobody thinks about before acquiring and that nobody can ignore within weeks of owning the doll. Purchasers order, wait, unbox, admire, and then discover when they try to pose the hands that the fingers are stiff, floppy, or prone to breaking. It's invariably the same. Totally avoidable, and yet the most usual complaint among first-time owners: learn the two chief types of hands before you order and it never happens to you.
 
How Wire Hands Are Built
Cheaper and more widespread, standard wire hands are the default choice. The construction is a thin metal wire through each finger, embedded in supple TPE or silicone, made to bend easily for posing. The supple material around the wire gives a natural look, and the wire itself is thin enough to be flexible, so the fingers go into a variety of shapes. They're fine on a light doll and perfectly sufficient when the hands get little use. When the doll is weighty, though, they're a difficulty.
 
A Few Months or a Year or Two
The trouble with standard wire hands is a wire that has only a limited lifespan. Once the wire has bent as many times as it can, it snaps, the finger goes floppy, and there's no easy way to fix it. A pose held under constant pressure, the arm's weight, or just normal handling over time can break the thin wire inside the finger. Some buyers report fingers breaking within a few months, while others get a year or two before the wires fail. Either way, the failure is inevitable, and it's a matter of when rather than if.
 
Fifty to a Hundred Pounds Extra
Next up is the upgrade: articulated hands. A small pivot in each joint lets the finger bend at multiple points, and the joints are individual stainless steel ones rather than a single wire. Strength is far greater than a wire's, and the joints hold a pose without straining the material around them. Articulated hands are more costly, normally by fifty to a hundred pounds depending on the manufacturer, but they're worth the upgrade for almost every purchaser. The improvement in durability and poseability is vast.
 
Each Joint Is Designed to Hold
Articulated hands' first advantage is that they hold poses. Over time a wire hand tends to sag, the wire being unable to maintain tension; an articulated hand stays put, with each joint designed to hold. She can hold objects, put a hand on her hip, or keep a photography pose without her fingers drooping. It's a massive upside if you photograph your doll, hands being one of the most expressive parts of a pose.
 
Snapping Risk Dramatically Lower
A second upside is durability. Articulated hands don't have the same wire fatigue complication, because the joints are made of stainless steel and the pivots are designed to last. A finger is dramatically less likely to snap, because the joints themselves are much more long-lasting than wire, although the material around them can still wear over time. Because wire hands on a 45kg doll are under constant strain and break faster than they would on a lighter doll, this matters even more on a heavy doll.
 
Visual Advantages of Articulated Hands
One more upside, the third, is a more realistic look in poses. Bent wire hands tend to look a little rubbery because the wire fails to support the material properly. Fingers look more defined, and less like they've been squashed into position, because articulated hands hold the finger shape more crisply. It's in photographs that you notice it most; wire hand versus articulated hand is an obvious difference if you know what to look for.
 
Complete Rather Than Compromised
Making the doll feel more complete is the fourth upside of articulated hands. Hands are one of the most expressive parts of the body, so a doll with articulated ones can gesture, point, hold and grip in ways that wire-handed dolls simply can't. This adds a totally new dimension to posing, because the doll can interact with props, hold objects, and produce dynamic compositions that wouldn't be possible otherwise. A significant benefit awaits photographers and roleplay enthusiasts.
 
Pushing the Total Out of Your Range
First among the disadvantages of articulated hands is cost. The more pricey hands add fifty to a hundred pounds, which on a tight budget might push the total out of your range. Weigh it up, though: replacing a non-working wire hand, or living with floppy fingers, is usually worse than paying upfront, so in the long run it's almost invariably worth upgrading.
 
Drawback Two: Marginally Stiffer Fingers
Some additional stiffness compared to wire hands is the second downside. More resistance to movement than wire is what you get from joints designed to hold a pose. On the plus side the hand stays where you put it, which is solid for posing; on the minus side, positioning the fingers takes a bit more effort. Some purchasers, particularly those used to readily bent wire hands, find this irritating. A slight trade-off, this: most purchasers adjust within a few days.
 
What to Know Before You Buy
The third drawback involves articulated hands being a little more delicate in a distinct way than wire hands. A finger that's wrenched out of position can have its joint pop out and need to be reinserted, and the connections between joint and material can occasionally come loose, even though the joints are strong. It occurs, although less often than wire breakage, and you should know about it before purchasing. If a finger doesn't want to go into a position, don't force it; and when you move the hand, support it properly.
 
Disadvantage Four: Somewhat Larger Hands
The fourth disadvantage is that articulated hands are frequently a little larger than wire hands. Chunkier-looking fingers can result from the space the extra joints take up. If you're acquiring a petite doll with delicate proportions, articulated hands might look slightly out of place, as the difference, usually trivial and unnoticed by most purchasers, can be visible on smaller dolls. Do ask the vendor whether a specific doll's articulated hands are scaled proportionally, because some manufacturers do this better than others.
 
Think About the Replacement Cost
If wire and articulated hands are your two options, acquire articulated; the sensible advice couldn't be more simple. Damaged fingers and drooping poses become someone else's issue with articulated hands, the single best upgrade to the doll's functionality, albeit a more expensive one. The one case for wire hands is an extremely tight budget with no hand posing planned, and even there you should weigh the savings against the inevitable replacement cost.
 
Fingers Likely to Break Again
You might also wonder what to do if the fingers break on a doll you already have with wire hands. Some cases are repairable, which is the great news; you push a new wire through the finger, or use a small amount of TPE repair compound to reinforce the joint. What lets it down is quality, since repairs rarely equal the original, and a few months is about all you should expect before the finger goes again. Owners committed to keeping the doll long-term should usually invest in a replacement pair of articulated hands instead of attempting to repair wire ones.
 
Water and Cleaning Products: What to Watch For
If you're acquiring a doll with articulated hands, there's a maintenance consideration worth knowing about. Keep the joints clean and dry, as moisture can make the metal corrode and the joints seize up. Hands should be wiped down and dried thoroughly after every use, with special attention if water or cleaning goods have been involved. Grinding of metal against the surrounding material is stopped, and the joints move smoothly, when a small amount of silicone-based lubricant goes on every few months.
 
Silky and Soft vs Visible Joint Lines
A few words are worth spending on the visual difference between the two hand types. Wire hands tend to look slightly smoother and softer, because the material around the wire is continuous. Less aesthetically pleasing, to some customers, are the visible joint lines of articulated hands. The joints are typically hidden under a thin layer of material, but they can be visible when the fingers are bent, and this is a trade-off worth knowing about if you care about visual realism. On the other hand, articulated hands look more like real hands in complex poses, so the trade-off is regularly worth it.
 
Specify Articulated Hands in Your Order
Articulated hands win almost every time; that's the bottom line. The additional cost is small compared to the frustration of faulty fingers, and they're more durable, more poseable and more realistic in photos. If the doll is new, specify articulated hands when you order. Whether a used doll has articulated hands should be checked and factored into the cost. Either way it's an upgrade that more than pays for itself, countless times over in fact. More info at this A Straight-Up Guide to Sex Dolls- The Stuff That Matters (https://thesolowargamer.com/showthread.php?tid=17187) de0c3d6  together with A Candid Breakdown of Sex Dolls- What Nobody Tells You (https://forum.oldgrumpydog.com/index.php?topic=7868.new#new) bearing in mind A No-BS Primer on Sex Dolls- Read Before You Buy (https://test.virtualworldsitalia.com/index.php?topic=788.new#new) bearing in mind The Full Deep Dive Into Sex Dolls- The Truth (https://bloodhunterviktor.com/bhforums/showthread.php?tid=1764) together with The Definitive Word on Sex Dolls- What You Need to Know (https://gwtpservers.com/showthread.php?tid=1055) and don't forget An Honest Overview of Sex Dolls Right Now- Before You Spend a Penny (https://prepperforum.se/showthread.php?tid=109292) together with An Honest Word on Modern Sex Dolls- The Stuff That Matters (https://www.fiorinofunclub.com/showthread.php?tid=8533) as well as An Honest Word on Sex Dolls- No Hype Just Facts (https://gbill.ru/forums/topic/1256/an-honest-word-on-sex-dolls-no-hype-just-facts/view/post_id/1260) bearing in mind The Ultimate Word on Modern Sex Dolls- The Honest Breakdown (http://rc.zeitup.hera-software.de/thread-22382.html) and The Complete Overview of Sex Dolls Right Now- The Real Talk (https://prepperforum.se/showthread.php?tid=108954). Also check out  check my blog (https://forum.makethemmove.com/showthread.php?tid=90402) for more.