If you're reading this post, odds are you have at least one five-gallon bucket in your house, garage, or shed. Over 400 million of them are produced each year to handle a myriad of different products. In fact, the five-gallon bucket became so popular that big box retailers started selling new ones to their customers. They are an essential modern tool because they are both useful and ubiquitous.
About the only problem with these buckets is they are an absolute pain to carry! (Especially when loaded down with supplies or tools). At least they USED to be until I stumbled across these “weird” orange plastic grips.
The Snappy Grip
A couple of years ago, I was at a prepper show in Phoenix and saw something that caught my eye. It was a set of orange plastic handles that were attached to some nondescript five-gallon bucket. The manufacturer was selling them at the show and was demonstrating how they were used.
He was a local guy and I talked to him for a few minutes about his product. I decided to buy a pair and try them out at home. If memory serves, I think I only spent $2 for two of them because he wanted to unload his inventory at the show. I put them in my goodie bag and took them home.
I have a half dozen five-gallon buckets in my garage that I use somewhat regularly. Some were used ones that I repurposed for around the house, and others were new ones I got at my local big box retailer. All of them had the same small diameter white plastic handle that millions of other buckets have. This means after a short time, they become a real pain to carry. Since a couple of these handles were beginning to crack, I decided to remove them and replace them with the Snappy Grips that I purchased at the prepper show.
Projected Costs
MSRP on these are about $1.50 per grip, but cost less when you buy in bulk.
Observations
To install them, you take one half and put the wire bale in it so that the round end faces down. Two plastic prongs stick up and two pairs of slots are exposed from the top. Then, take the other half and orient the plastic prongs so they face down and go into the two open slots. Make sure everything is lined-up, then press them together until they snap into place. It only takes a few seconds, and the hardest part is getting everything properly aligned.
Then I picked the bucket up…and noticed the difference immediately. The grips have a much wider diameter than the regular ones, meaning the weight of the bucket is distributed over a wider area. They felt much more solid, too, I didn’t feel like they were going to break when I filled the bucket up with water or rocks. It’s amazing what a difference they made, I was impressed by these simple yet effective replacement handles.
In fact, I went online and got a baker’s dozen of them, so I could replace all my handles with them plus have a few left over. Later, I got another baker’s dozen and gave them out as gifts to family members. Guess you could say I like the Snappy Grip and use them, which is the ultimate compliment.
Besides five-gallon buckets, you can use Snappy Grips in other applications. I’ve seen pictures of them being used as handles for pull starters (i.e., for lawnmower engines), wire cages, firewood bundles, auto battery, jump rope, dog leash, and others. It seems the Snappy Grip has a lot of uses, limited only by one’s imagination.
Pros
Solid construction, simple installation, and a drastic reduction in hand fatigue!
Cons
Not widely available at this time. Also, aligning everything, so the grip snaps together properly, is important for proper assembly.
Bottom Line
This is a simple and inexpensive product that I am glad I found. It makes the standard five-gallon bucket easier to carry and is so easy to install, even an information technologies professional can assemble it. Your hands will thank you for getting these.
Overall Rating 9/10
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That’s on my Bucket list…………