Customer Reviews

Folding Helping Hand Long-Reach Pick-Up Gripper - Light Weight Aluminum Body

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

I purchased two of these Grabbers and both had serious problems. In the middle of the bar there is a mechanism to lock the length in place. On one of the units the button that you push to lock it was rolling around in the box and had to be repaired, which I did. When you squeeze the trigger on the other one the suction cups close and won't release the item you picked up. This happens each time you use the grabber without sliding the lock that allows you to hold an item without continuing to squeeze the trigger. I would not advise anyone to purchase this grabber.

I found the product to work just fine for my purposes. I don't use it to lift heavy items. (I have an upper back injury and can't lift much anyway, even by arm.) Have used it to pick up items as small as a dropped pill. My 13-yr-old used it to pick up trash on a clean-up expedition, and it worked fine. Had mine a year and one of the rubber "feet" popped off. I could probably reattach it, but can't find it! So, I'm picking up another one (or two). For the price of a couple of Starbucks, it was worth the money for me. Oh, yeah, folds easily for travel.

I bought these grabbers because they looked like the Gopher Grabber by Ontel that I bought in Walgreens Drugstore. The Gopher Grabber is the best... easy to grip and the business end (the grabber part) is made of rubber which is flexible and pliable and can pick up pieces of flat paper off the floor. The gripper pictured here have grabbers that are made of hard plastic and can't "grip" anything. They are frustrating to use because whatever you are trying to grab keeps slipping out... save your money and the the Ontel version.

This grabber is flimsy and cheaply made.

Other similar products are much better made than this one and cost only $5 more.

I actually ordered and received two of these, one being held in reserve. I need to use a grabber frequently, as I'm not allowed to bend over - "hip precautions". I had had a couple of good ones which eventually wore out, which my wife had found at Wal-Mart. I couldn't find any foldable ones in local retail stores any more. So I searched the internet and came up with the ones pictured here. When they arrived they seemed very flimsy. I'm still using the first one and haven't yet needed the one in reserve. It's very light weight, when opened doesn't lock sucurely into position, the gripper cups won't close too firmly and so on. Next time I need to buy such a thing (and they all wear out eventually) I'll go to a different source I found on the internet. On that site such items are more expensive but I'm sure much better.

After less than 2 weeks, the folding mechenism gave out, resulting in the use of tape to keep the gripper from collapsing while in use. Less than 1 week later, the handle control for the gripper broke while picking up a piece of paper. As a vital and more than useful item for a person who cannot bend down to pick up dropped items, our gripper was yet again subject to home repair and now has been wired and drilled and taped together in order for it to fit it's function. I would not buy another of this brand nor recommend it to a friend. No fault to the distributor, the overall design of the item does not stand up to its needed function.

DawnMarie Twiggs

We're seniors and reaching, bending, etc. isn't as easy as it once was. We bought several to have in handy locations. Glad we did!

This product came apart after a couple of minutes of use.
After we taped it with package tape so that it won't fold any more, it works very well to pick up not too heavy of objects.

Just about every weekend I pick up trash on my rural country road. It leads to an ORV park, so there are LOTS of beer bottles, fast food wrappers, pop cans, etc. This grabber is awesome! I can pick up bigger/heavier stuff like partially full beer bottles, and small items like the straws from to-go cups, cigarette packages, and condiment packages. I may not get as much exercise (no bending to pick up), but it takes less time to do the chore and I like that.

I recently had hip surgery and will not be able to bend very far for quite a while. I purchased this gripper and two others of a different brand. A friend also lent one to me. I have found them all very useful and effective, except this one. The button that is supposed to lock the bar when extended did not work, and as I reached for something, the bottom half of the gripper would come lose. Also, within a week, one of the suction cups came off, and the whole thing became totally worthless. I was disappointed because I really need one that folds up for when I go shopping, but I'll have to find a different brand. I wouldn't waste my money on this model again.