this post was submitted on 08 Jun 2026
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[–] DrBob@lemmy.ca 12 points 1 day ago (2 children)
[–] Chronographs@lemmy.zip 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You can just tear the excess off when they get too long

[–] blarghly@lemmy.world 4 points 23 hours ago
[–] BurgerBaron@quokk.au 4 points 1 day ago

A rough porous rock to sand 'em down might work too?

[–] schwim@piefed.zip 11 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I imagine our ancestors didn't have to worry about that too much since if they weren't working at something every waking moment, they'd starve to death. The nails would have been kept in check just through constant contact with abrasive surfaces of some type.

[–] BloodMuffin@lemmy.ca 8 points 23 hours ago

just like dogs. many domesticated dogs need nail trims, but if they're outside digging and running a lot, the nails just wear themselves down

[–] Asetru@feddit.org 2 points 21 hours ago

I imagine our ancestors didn't have to worry about that too much since if they weren't working at something ~~every waking moment~~ for a few hours per day , they'd starve to death.

FTFY

[–] AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 1 points 16 hours ago

You can peel your nails. I haven't used a clipper in decades

[–] Widdershins@lemmy.world 2 points 19 hours ago

Sandpaper has been around for a while

[–] rumschlumpel@feddit.org 7 points 1 day ago

When I was younger I just used my teeth. Not particularly good for your teeth AFAIK, but it's very effective.

If mine get too long they start chipping and I don’t even work with my hands too much. I imagine it was just a steady state of broken nails.