Without question, a body can manipulate a good-sized kitchen towel into a sufficient buffer between the heat and your hand. But answer this, do you really want your hand exposed over a 450 degree grill? You don't. Not even certain grill master celebrities from famed food-related cable television programs enjoy superficial burns on their hands and arms, and your degree of toughness, no matter how high, shouldn't dictate otherwise. Any old kitchen rag can feel dry, look dry, but when folded up and used to grab some food, or worse, a hot grate, you'll see that somebody has moistened it with cola, pineapple juice, or barbecue sauce, making it a fine heat conductor. People generally don't clean spills with BBQ mitts, so you'll be safer with this.