User blog comment:The Flaming Pybro/A Whaler's Gaff Hand/@comment-16533050-20170102062136

In fishing, a gaff is a pole with a sharp hook on the end that is used to stab a large fish and then lift the fish into the boat or onto shore.

In whaling, there is a blubber gaff that is used to strip off the blubber from whales.

Usually these instruments are used while the whalers/fishermen are out at sea competing against the elements. To maintain a proper grip, most of the time the whaler's gaff hand is gloveless (although this isn't always the case). Therefore out in the frigid sea while using his gaff, a whaler's hand will get cold, often painfully so from the water, wind and other such elements.