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I'm in that group of folks who have very little ridge detail on my fingers. I have completed all of my requirements for a CHL and all of my documentation has been received. I have been to L1 twice and twice I have received an e-mail that my fingerprints have been rejected. I understand from L1 that they don't do fingerprints a third time. I contacted CHL by phone and got very little information there. They said that they would look in to it. I would like to hear from some of you who have gone through this same thing and how yours was resolved. Wish I had heard about the Corn-huskers lotion trick and chug a lugging water before the second trip to L1.

I thought DPS gave a pass after the third set was rejected. If L1 won't do a third set that leaves you in limbo.

You may be right since there will be no opportunity for a third fingerprint set to be rejected since L1 won't do a third set. This morning I called DPS/CHL and asked what the next step was going to be. The lady checked my status and asked me to call again in a week. She did tell me that upon a second rejection they will usually give it a pass. That gave me a little hope. So, I went to the range and put a 100 rounds through my Nano. Anyone else have the same fingerprint problem?

Nano wrote:I'm in that group of folks who have very little ridge detail on my fingers. I have completed all of my requirements for a CHL and all of my documentation has been received. I have been to L1 twice and twice I have received an e-mail that my fingerprints have been rejected. I understand from L1 that they don't do fingerprints a third time. I contacted CHL by phone and got very little information there. They said that they would look in to it. I would like to hear from some of you who have gone through this same thing and how yours was resolved. Wish I had heard about the Corn-huskers lotion trick and chug a lugging water before the second trip to L1.

The L1 here has everyone to rub lotion on their hands while there to bring out the ridges better.

The L1 tech simply sprayed water on my fingers both times. Maybe she needs some additional training. Wish I had known about the lotion.

I guess I'm lucky. I pick at the skin on my fingers and was quite worried about getting kicked back for unreadable prints. I also used lotion during my L1 visit.

I have been to L1 4 times in the past 3 years(not counting my 18 mos in Iraq) and always used lotion

Several years ago after Mrs. Oldgringo's prints were rejected, we sent real letters to our State Senator, the Gov., Lt. Gov and head of CHL when we submitted the fourth set. Within a week, we received a letter from the Gov and the Lt. Gov saying they'd look into it and they'd both copied COl. somebody with THP. After about another four days, we received a phone call from our State Senator's office advising that her CH license was in the mail.

While back did a little work for a serious federal agency. Everybody had to be fingerprinted. One lady in my group had to be finger printed three or four times. Each time it got a little more serious. Started with a rookie at a remote location with a portable unit. Finally at the main office with the head guy. She apparently had no ridges. They finally gave up and let her come on board.

Only amusing thing to the whole event was the pointers we were given at the beginning. Please do not work on the project and come in to be finger printed if you have any reason you should not be finger printed. I had one person opt out. Please do not send any one over to be finger printed if they are in the country illegally. Several subcontractors sent over people who were immediately deported.

Nano wrote:The L1 tech simply sprayed water on my fingers both times. Maybe she needs some additional training. Wish I had known about the lotion.

The L1 tech I had didn't do anything, other than take my prints, of course. What's with the lotion and/or water?

Dave2 wrote:

Nano wrote:The L1 tech simply sprayed water on my fingers both times. Maybe she needs some additional training. Wish I had known about the lotion.

The L1 tech I had didn't do anything, other than take my prints, of course. What's with the lotion and/or water?

They told me the lotion would give the fingerprints more definition. He said that L1 told them they had the least rejection rate of any L1 in this region, which he credited to that.

Water or lotion is used to moisten the fingers and will cause the ridges to rise. I am surprised about lotion though as it will usually embed itself in the grooves between the ridges and make the prints less discernible.

I know Marty at our own Crossfire's L1 location uses water extensively, and he is one of the best print rollers I have seen, including some seasoned LEO's. I will tell you that water works well better than 90% of the time when you have dry fingers and need to get better definition.

Plain water will hydrate the fingertips enough to raise ridges in about 90% of people. For the others, we use CornHusker's Lotion. Not just any lotion - has to be CornHusker's. Don't know what magic ingredient is in there. Don't know why it works. We just know that it does. Like Keith said - other lotion just mucks up the prints.

And still, there are a very few people that just do not have classifiable prints. Age, occupation, and hydration level all play a part. We do all we can, but around 1% of you people just don't have fingerprints!

BTW - if you need it, best place to find CornHusker's is Walmart or Walgreens.

I forgot you guys used Cornhuskers on the stubborn ones. It is oil free, so that is probably why it will not stay in the grooves and soaks into the skin.

When I worked construction years ago and spent a lot of time outdoors during the winter, my hands would get cracked and dry. One of the old-timers recommended Cornhuskers and it worked great. It would burn a little in the areas that were cracked, but my hands would heal up really fast.

Crossfire wrote:Plain water will hydrate the fingertips enough to raise ridges in about 90% of people. For the others, we use CornHusker's Lotion. Not just any lotion - has to be CornHusker's. Don't know what magic ingredient is in there. Don't know why it works. We just know that it does. Like Keith said - other lotion just mucks up the prints.

And still, there are a very few people that just do not have classifiable prints. Age, occupation, and hydration level all play a part. We do all we can, but around 1% of you people just don't have fingerprints!

BTW - if you need it, best place to find CornHusker's is Walmart or Walgreens.

Great news! This morning I logged in to the CHL Status page https://txapps.texas.gov/txapp/txdps/chl/login.do" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and saw Fingerprints: Complete
Thanks for the help so many of you offered. Now I just sit back and wait for the plastic to come in.