Flexible Grabber Tool
By Sean O'Hara
Whether you admit it or not, we know that you know what we’re talking about – that brief second where things all go wrong and that little bit of metal something falls into a space that by all calculations it shouldn’t have been possible for it to fall in. Yet there you are jamming your fingers down a hole altogether to small for them, trying to reach that little whatsit.
Hasn’t happened to you yet? You’re not trying hard enough. For those unhappy occasions, it’ll help to have a flexible grabber. The design is simple yet effective; Just slide the grabber end into the offending space. Once you’ve found your target, push the claw open by squeezing the handles together and then release them and pull the wayward object free.
Grabbers come in varied sizes and can be found for a few dollars on the net or at your local auto center. The one pictured came from a local dollar store. (Guess how much it cost.) Trust us: You want one of these. Really.
Flexible Grabbers [Froogle]
July 29th, 2006 at 12:24 pm
Yes, I have a bunch of them, and without them I’d be insane by now. I also have some magnetic ones, and just picked up one with a flashlight bulb at the end with the magnet that seems like it might be handy…
August 14th, 2006 at 6:48 am
Easily one of those cheap tools that gets glanced over in the dollar stores, it would be wise to invest at least a dollar and pick up one of these things. The ability to retrieve a small part in a hard place could be the determining factor of whether one successfully completes a project or not. Like the previous commenter has shared, I too have found great use for the flexible grabber tool. It falls into those batch of tools I classify as hardly used but glad I have it when I need it.
September 16th, 2006 at 8:04 am
Somewhere recently, I saw an improved version. Instead of the snap-straight spring design, these would stay curved if you bent them, so reaching around corners didn’t require a second or third hand. If I remember where, I’ll post again, but the stiff variety’s worth looking into if you already know and love the spring variety.
December 25th, 2006 at 8:00 am
flexible cable
I am all for it. I wonder how many folks actually use these. I built a small store that grew into over 100 thousands items. Its crazy how fast it grows!. Anyway. I agree!
August 2nd, 2007 at 2:37 pm
[…] As we dug into Project Yukon, we began writing about a number of tools that aided in our journey, including a harmonic balancer puller and one of the most handy tools you can own: a flexible grabber tool. […]
November 1st, 2007 at 10:58 am
DO YOU MAKE THE FLEXIBLE GRABBERS IN OTHER LENGTHS MAY UP TO 50 TO 60 INCHES AND IF NOT CAN THEY BE MADE UNDER A SPECIAL ORDER
November 1st, 2007 at 12:03 pm
I got one of these after dropping the little straw off a can of throttle body cleaner into the throttle body.