Snow and Avalanche Glossary

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Hardness

Also:

Resistance to penetration.

Commonly recorded in the field using the Hand Test:

Fist hard: A gloved fist can penetrate at least 5cm with a 5-10 N force.

Four-finger hard: Four gloved fingers can penetrate at least 5cm with a 5-10 N force.

One-finger hard: One finger can penetrate at least 5cm with a 5-10 N force.

Pencil hard: A hand held pencil can penetrate at least 5cm with a 5-10 N force.

Knife hard: A hand held knife can penetrate at least Scm with a 5-10 cm N force.

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