Fastcap 3HANDCPACK 3rd Hand Contractor Poles, 4-Pack

by Fastcap

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

If you've ever wished for a helping hand on one of your home improvement projects, the FastCap 3rd Hand Contractor Pack is your dream come true. Featuring heavy-duty telescopic poles, this contractor pack includes dust-barrier feet, universal feet, articulating feet, and a carrying bag. All the help you've been looking for, the 3rd Hand Contractor Pack will help you brace, clamp, and support, so you can independently set up dust barriers, install crown molding, stabilize loads in your truck, secure flooring, put up shelves, and much, much more.

The FastCap 3rd Hand Contractor Pack: Never Shows Up Late for Work
The 3rd Hand HD is the help you have been looking for. It is rugged, built to last a lifetime, and it's never late for work! If you've ever wishedyou had an extra hand, here it is. The 3rd Hand HD can brace, clamp, or provide support wherever and whenever you might need it.

The Contractor Pack Applications: Hanging cabinets Trim molding Crown molding Dust barriers Drywall Load stabilizer Light fixtures Laser mounting ...and much more!

Perfect for hanging light fixtures and stabilizing loads.

The Contractor Pack Package Deal: Fit Everything You Need in One Bag!
To keep all of these handy tools organized, the 3rd Hand Contractor Pack comes with a ballistic nylon carrying bag. The bag carries all four 3rd Hand HD poles and all the accessories: four Mag Dust Barrier feet, four UniversalFOOT Feet (6x6 inch), eight Articulating Feet (3x3-inch).

A ballistic nylon bag organizes and protects the pack's tools. View larger.

Four Telescoping Poles Give You a Hand Wherever You Need It
If you're a contractor or do-it-yourselfer who needs reliable support, 3rd Hand HD poles are the perfect assistant--and they're never late for work! With a rugged 150-pound load capacity, the heavy-gauge steel poles are as useful as an extra set of hands, and with a neoprene grip, they are incredibly comfortable to use.

Designed for optimum versatility, 3rd Hand HD Poles telescope from 4.75 to 12.0 feet in length. This ample range means you can keep your poles on hand from job to job, whether you're working on high ceilings or in tight spaces.

A dual adjustment system gives you two options for quickly choosing your length: use the tightening knob for smaller adjustments or lock in your desired height with the ball detents, which are spaced 12 inches apart along each pole.

Once a pole is in position, simply use the easy-pump handle to get maximum stability for clamping, bracing, and support. Use one or two poles for light-duty projects--such as hanging shelves--or all four poles for larger jobs--such as stabilizing ceilings (four Hand HD poles are included in the Contractor Pack).

When the job is complete, the poles' quick-release levers make disassembly a snap.

Handy Accessories Provide Versatility on the Job
When you're bracing a workpiece, such as a wooden cabinet, you want to be sure it's going to remain stable. That's why each FastCap 3rd Hand HD Poles is equipped with a 360-degree fully articulating head and food (eight included in kit). These 3x3-inch textured pads will solidly grip surfaces at virtually any angle, and they can be micro adjusted for the right fit.

When you want a larger grip area at the base of your poles, swap in the 6x6-inch 3rd Hand Universal Feet (four included), which are ideal for just about any job. Or if you're planning to seal off your work area to minimize dust transfer, attach the magnetic Mag Dust Barrier feet (four included) for a 100% seal and 0% dust.

To keep all of these handy feet organized, the 3rd Hand Contractor Pack comes with a ballistic nylon carrying bag. The bag carries all four 3rd Hand HD poles and all the accessories.

What's in the Box
Four 3rd Hand HD poles, four Mag Dust Barrier feet, four Universal Feet (6x6 inch), eight Articulating Feet (3x3-inch), and ballistic nylon carrying bag.

Create dust barriers, brace crown molding, and support drywall, all with one handy tool--it even supports cabinetry!

Product Description

If you've ever wished for a helping hand on one of your home improvement projects, the FastCap 3rd Hand Contractor Pack is your dream come true. Featuring heavy-duty telescopic poles, this contractor pack includes dust-barrier feet, universal feet, articulating feet, and a carrying bag. All the help you've been looking for, the 3rd Hand Contractor Pack will help you brace, clamp, and support, so you can independently set up dust barriers, install crown molding, stabilize loads in your truck, secure flooring, put up shelves, and much, much more.

See all Product Description

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 66 x 8 x 8 inches ; 36 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 36 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B00020JO9Q
• California residents: Click here for Proposition 65 warning.
• Item model number: 3HANDCPACK
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,810 in Home Improvement (See Top 100 in Home Improvement)
  • #1 in Home Improvement > Hardware > Nails, Screws & Fasteners > Braces

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not a happy camper with this purchase, August 7, 2006

By 

S. Paxson "Cool Tool Guy" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fastcap 3HANDCPACK 3rd Hand Contractor Poles, 4-Pack (Tools & Home Improvement)

I, like many others liked the price. I own 8 Zip Wall poles and figured the 3rd Hand product would come in handy should I need more poles to create a barrier. I must state that my main reason for purchasing the 3rd Hand contractor pack was to aid me in a crown-molding job. I liked what I read about these units and it seemed like they would fit the bill with the square feet and all.

I will start by saying that the company must have had many complaints with the poles being used to put up plastic barriers. The box that mine came in show several different uses for the poles in line drawing form. The picture of the poles being used for plastic barriers was covered up suggesting the possibility that they received some grief from Zip Wall, or customers frustrated by the attempt to use them in place of Zip Walls.

Personally I find the 3rd hand product quite heavy and cumbersome to use for supporting plastic sheets. Especially when trying to get them up to 9 & ½ foot ceilings! I had to use duct tape to get the plastic that high. Second, after I jacked the pole up onto the main tee and moved onto the second pole, the first pole came crashing down behind me as I jacked the second pole a little too much causing loss of tension on the first. OK so the 3rd Hand failed to please me on plastic barriers on tall metal grid ceilings. Onto the next project.

For crown molding, the 3rd Hand is just that. They performed as expected. The slanting feet and square top plate kept the poles where I placed them. Laying the crown molding on top of the poles was a learning experience. When installing a 16' length of crown, you must place your ladder in the middle of the length so that you don't tip the center pole over or as in my first attempt, the 2 middle poles. Very noisy when they hit the floor. Once that lesson was behind me the rest of my 3rd Hand experience was non eventful.
Back to grid ceilings, the poles are nice for jacking up the grids to help in leveling and also holding fluorescent fixtures while replacing grid work on wall relocations. I also used all four poles to raise the ceiling enough to slide a completely dry walled section to a new location 4 feet away without getting hung up on the ceiling grid. Just had to be careful the all the poles had the same tension on them.

I agree with most other posters about the button problem. Very difficult to get them pushed in to raise or lower the pole. Raise the pole too high and you can't reach the jack handle. The solution there was to turn to pole upside down just to avoid readjustment with those button locks.

The weight of all four poles in the bag is amazingly heavy. 8 Zip Wall poles are half the weight and being all aluminum well balanced. The tension mechanism on the Zip Wall units is a pleasure to use over the 3rd Hand unit. In all fairness, Zip Wall poles are not very good to use for crown molding and too light to use for holding grid ceilings up. Each of these poles has their place. Used on a regular basis it is best to use what each one was designed for, or be aggravated by the lack of compatibility that each system exhibits.

I too have the same complaints about the storage bag being a few inches too small and lastly, would somebody please tell me what all the different bushings on the large plates are for? I'm still trying to figure out how the large feet attach. O NO! Not the directions!!! Still confused, I love my Zip Wall poles.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New Updates to product, February 19, 2008

By 

munzzzzzzz - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fastcap 3HANDCPACK 3rd Hand Contractor Poles, 4-Pack (Tools & Home Improvement)

There are already many positive reviews out there so I'll focus on some of the issues from the bad ones.

1) These poles supposedly didn't work for dust barriers. They now come with a "magnetic dust foot" that should make hanging plastic sheeting a breeze. Stand the pole up (see below), attach the sheeting to the pole with the magnetic feet while on the ground, then raise the poles up. Pretty easy.

2) These poles supposedly tipped over easily. The kit now comes with "universal feet" that allow the poles to stand up on their own. Tipping shouldn't be a problem.

3) The poles are supposedly too long for cabinets. My poles came marked with a location to cut them at if you want them short enough for cabinets. No need to worry about voiding the warranty.

4) Some people find the poles too heavy. Unless all you want to use them for is plastic sheeting, in my opinion, the heavier they are, the heavier-duty they are, and I'll take heavy duty over light weight any day of the week.

5) The poles supposedly don't fit in the bag. They do fit if you take the feet off, and the feet (including the universal feet and the magnetic dust feet) will all fit in the bag with the poles. I would guess you could probably get a couple more poles in there too. It would be nice if there was a bag for the feet or something so they didn't end up all over the inside of the bag, but just about anything would do for that.

6) The Zipwall system is supposedly better because it comes with the foam rails. Rip a 2x4 down into four 1x2's and attach some cheap weatherstripping available at any home improvement store. You now have your foam rails.

The only things I can see that's better about the Zipwall is that a) it's lighter, which is only better if ALL you're going to use it for is plastic sheeting, and b) the telescoping feature is probably a little faster than the design of the 3rd hand.

I can't see spending over $100 more for the Zipwall when you lose so much functionality.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great tool set at an excellent price, May 4, 2005

By 

A Reader (Upstate New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fastcap 3HANDCPACK 3rd Hand Contractor Poles, 4-Pack (Tools & Home Improvement)

Excellent tool. I was able to fit all four 3rd Hand Poles, four Universal Feet, four Dust Clips, eight head/foot pads, and a 30 page catalog from Fastcap into the bag supplied with the unit. The secret is to make the poles as small as possible (remove the Universal Feet, screw the bottom support all the way up into each pole and alternate the way the poles are placed into the bag), then place the Universal Feet into the bag.

The 3rd Hand Poles are very sturdy, and are easily elongated or shortened. They perform as advertised and are a great help when installing long runs of crown molding.