A hand protection system for use by individuals involved in de-mining operations to locate and identify buried anti-personnel mines is designed to provide a degree of protection to the hands of the operative while still enabling the hands to perform necessary operations such as manipulating a probe rod, clearing soil by use of the fingers, etc. In one form the hand protector is a trough-shaped shield which tapers to a rounded forward end and is adapted to fit over the back of the hand of the user, the shield being open on its underside so that the user's fingers can be manipulated. In another form the hand protecting shield is of conical shape having a hole through its narrow end through which a probe can be extended and manipulated by a hand received within the protector. The protector includes laminated layers of aramid fibers together with other tough blast resistant materials such as polycabonate.