Like I've said before, just because many people do it, doesn't make it the right move. People drink and drive, does that mean it's proper?

If it works for you, it works, but it is technically unsafe, and you can not, under any circumstances, retrain your instincts. That is contrary to any psychological study or belief on earth.

I, for one, will only cover my brakes if I plan on immediately using them. The reaction time is literally milliseconds different between a covered brake and hands off the brake lever. Not to mention if I'm on very rough terrain and have my finger over the lever and hit a bump, it is possible to mistakenly grab the brake and hurt myself by grabbing too much Saint brake at once. If my hands are just on the grips, then it isn't physically possible to mistakenly grab the brake. If I'm on a downhill stretch where I know I'll need to be feathering, then yeah of course the lever is covered. Again, if this doesn't work for you, you don't have to do it the way I say, but I have been instructed by many motorcycle instructors that you should only be grabbing your clutch, and that same philosophy applies to anything with brakes. Not going to use them? stay away from them.

It would seem odd to clairfy at this point in the conversation, but I do want to reiterate that I'm excluding DH and similar Monster Energy Drink styles of biking from my brake covering taboo rule. Reason being those guys are on the brakes so much it would take a lot of effort to actually take the hand off the brake.