Hardening Fixer with an Expert Drum?

I always use hardening fixer with film simply because I am a clumsy lout and have scratched negatives on more than one occasion. I have a pile of film in the darkroom that I am itching to develop right now but I ran out of fixer. I put an order in at Henry's in Ottawa two weeks ago and it still has not arrived. Times have changed.

So, my question: since the hardening fixer matters only when the negs are wet, it seems to me that I would not want to drag an 8x10 neg out of an expert drum without using hardening fixer. I can almost hear the scratching sound. Am I wrong? Is there something I am missing?

If this fear is justified, I will just get some fixer somewhere else (and not today), but it is raining today. Pouring. Can't shoot. Can't swim. Can't sit on a patio with a beer...and I am twitching to develop that film.

Hardening fixers are only recommended for some films. I don't think they do anything for films like TMAX. What film are you using?

I believe that PE and others have stated on numerous occasions that all modern, "mainline" (Kodak, Ilford, Fuji and ???) black and white films are pre-hardened as part of the manufacturing process.

Ilford fixers (Rapid Fix, Hypam) aren't hardened, and I would guess that very few add the accessory hardener that can be used with one, but not both of them.

This is sad. If modern films are already pre-hardened, it means that I am even more clumsy than I thought! The film, btw, is FP4.

On the other hand, it is still raining, so I am headed for the darkroom, but with greater determination to curb my sloppy film handling.

Thanks, folks.

You should be putting the negatives in the drum with the emulsion inward; not touching anything.