User blog:The Flaming Pybro/A Whaler's Gaff Hand

So, this is a semi-often mentioned thing, at least in Dishonored 1. Presumably, this is the hand a Whaler uses for a certain activity making it die like a foot in a trench, considering it is actually reffered to as a cold thing. It does make me wonder though, which hand would this be, and what do they do with it, or is this some inside joke I'm not getting?