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Selling customizing grippers


LABZSTS

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Since there's no one else selling them, doing it myself is hard without the right equipment, and you guys sell and make your own grippers, I have one question for you guys: Would you guys ever consider your own line of colored grippers or just having an option to have a color for your grippers? I know It'd probably be unrealistic to make and sell considering how it's not high in demand and can wear down the knurling, but I just wanna know if it's possible. I know Grip Genie has done them before and already have a good line up of strength and variety, but I mean multiple colors like the GG4 or just fulfilling color requests. Idk. Just a thought. It may also bring in just a bit of variety and even bring more people into grip. 

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4 hours ago, LABZSTS said:

Would you guys ever consider your own line of colored grippers or just having an option to have a color for your grippers?

We DID sell a line of custom colored grippers. It was called SPECTRUM. They were made by Robert Baraban and came in many different colors. Like at every level you could select the color AND rating you desired.

I don’t think the economics of this line would work out any more. Baraban offered the color options to us at a very good price at the time. This really made the project possible at all. 

Second, managing this inventory was a nightmare. The slightest scuff would take the color off the tiny tips of knurling. Between shipping the grippers to us, rating and storing them, then shipping them again, it was next to impossible to keep the color pristine. For as pretty as the anodizing made the grippers, they were that much less durable. 

Grip Genie has found a nice balance where both the knurling and color is pretty durable. They did a good job there. 

(GHP also briefly offered green and red grippers. I don’t believe they still sell them but not sure.)

Theoretically we might dabble in color again some day, but right now I couldn’t say when or why. 🤗 It would most likely be another collab with Grip Genie. 

 

 

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We have looked into injection molded nylon polymer handles. I actually believe they would be more durable than aluminum and offer better, more resilient knurling. These could be made in any color and since the color is throughout the material, scuffs and damage would not change the appearance.

Standard was originally going to have these handles due to rising costs of aluminum. One hurdle is the mold would have cost more than a new SUV and we didn’t even know if the market would accept “plastic” handles even if they were the same or better than aluminum. 

Advances in 3D printing would be another way to still offer this as an option in the future. 

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2 hours ago, Cannon said:

We have looked into injection molded nylon polymer handles. I actually believe they would be more durable than aluminum and offer better, more resilient knurling. These could be made in any color and since the color is throughout the material, scuffs and damage would not change the appearance.

Standard was originally going to have these handles due to rising costs of aluminum. One hurdle is the mold would have cost more than a new SUV and we didn’t even know if the market would accept “plastic” handles even if they were the same or better than aluminum. 

Advances in 3D printing would be another way to still offer this as an option in the future. 

Hell yeah. If the durability of the grippers and the feel was better than aluminum, then I don't any of us would mind it being plastic, especially if there's a possibility for color. Unfortunately, the mold beings so expensive does put quite the damper on things. 

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4 hours ago, Cannon said:

We have looked into injection molded nylon polymer handles. I actually believe they would be more durable than aluminum and offer better, more resilient knurling. These could be made in any color and since the color is throughout the material, scuffs and damage would not change the appearance.

Standard was originally going to have these handles due to rising costs of aluminum. One hurdle is the mold would have cost more than a new SUV and we didn’t even know if the market would accept “plastic” handles even if they were the same or better than aluminum. 

Advances in 3D printing would be another way to still offer this as an option in the future. 

Nylon is super slippery. Has anyone tried handles like this?

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First thought, yeah different color should be OK if you really need that , whatever. Sat here thinking about plastic handles on A Gripper. I don't think I would like them, I like the feel of cold metal in my hands, After talking to a couple people in the grip gym we all agree metal or aluminum handles is far better, the tougher the knurl the better it is. We all like the weight and feel of metal.

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2 minutes ago, John Knowlton said:

First thought, yeah different color should be OK if you really need that , whatever. Sat here thinking about plastic handles on A Gripper. I don't think I would like them, I like the feel of cold metal in my hands, After talking to a couple people in the grip gym we all agree metal or aluminum handles is far better, the tougher the knurl the better it is. We all like the weight and feel of metal.

Personally I prefer grippers with steel handles over aluminum. I like the feel of the extra weight. Worst thing I know is hard grippers that are very light. I had a Tetting Elite that was like that. Hard, 177 RGC and it felt extremely light for some reason, even lighter than usual for some reason. I hated the feel of it.

My favourite gripper was a FBBC X4 with steel handles, felt amazing. Also had a Baraban with steel handles which felt much nicer than the regular aluminum grippers from the same series. 

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yes I agree with what you are saying:

I like the feel of the extra weight .

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I don't much care which metal is used, but personally I would never buy a gripper with plastic handles. 

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I would buy a gripper with wooden handles though. I have wanted to do some wooden handles for a while but never got time for it. Some "exotic" wood would be cool to use. Part of the challenge would be to use no chalk :) 

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Yeah, I don't believe I would ever buy a gripper with polymer handles either, regardless of durability. We are already overly exposed to carcinogenic microplastics on a mass scale worldwide. 'Natural' materials such as wood, metal, and stone stand the test of time both in value and appeal, without the harmful effects of chemicals and synthetic materials (though there are chemical processes often involved in the manufacturing and production of natural material products as well). It is impossible to avoid all of these things completely, but where there is a choice present, I'll always choose natural, raw, and real. Wood, metal, and stone just feel good in the hand, on the skin, in your direct environment, and all around you. Plastics feel cheap, fake, and artificially sterile. Plastics are a marvel of modern technology and obviously have critical importance to every aspect of modern society in every conceivable way - I just wouldn't want them on my grippers. I would even go as far as saying the primary reason that I even like grippers at all is that they are made of metal.

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3 hours ago, Fist of Fury said:

Nylon is super slippery. Has anyone tried handles like this?

Aluminum is super slippery as well. It’s the knurling that would give grip or whatever texture you put on the polymer that could have some bite or hold chalk. 

if you have any black Rubbermaid kitchen utensils that is the reinforced nylon polymer I’m talking about. It’s incredibly durable and resilient. And I would not call it slippery. 

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13 minutes ago, Cannon said:

This is all good feedback.

Lol glad I asked. I love learning about this stuff from you guys. 

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1 hour ago, John Knowlton said:

First thought, yeah different color should be OK if you really need that , whatever. Sat here thinking about plastic handles on A Gripper. I don't think I would like them, I like the feel of cold metal in my hands, After talking to a couple people in the grip gym we all agree metal or aluminum handles is far better, the tougher the knurl the better it is. We all like the weight and feel of metal.

Very true. I love the feel and weight of metal grippers as well and never considered that. I guess the nylon would matter in weird feeling of strength. But Cannon is right. As they said, it's the knurling that matters for nonslip feelings. Just using chalk would help. Although the more I think about it, i agree that metal will probably be better. But it is good to consider.

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18 minutes ago, Cannon said:

Aluminum is super slippery as well. It’s the knurling that would give grip or whatever texture you put on the polymer that could have some bite or hold chalk. 

if you have any black Rubbermaid kitchen utensils that is the reinforced nylon polymer I’m talking about. It’s incredibly durable and resilient. And I would not call it slippery. 

So almost like the rolling thunder texture as well right? If that's the case, then moisture would even help in closing some

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25 minutes ago, Jared P said:

Yeah, I don't believe I would ever buy a gripper with polymer handles either, regardless of durability. We are already overly exposed to carcinogenic microplastics on a mass scale worldwide. 'Natural' materials such as wood, metal, and stone stand the test of time both in value and appeal, without the harmful effects of chemicals and synthetic materials (though there are chemical processes often involved in the manufacturing and production of natural material products as well). It is impossible to avoid all of these things completely, but where there is a choice present, I'll always choose natural, raw, and real. Wood, metal, and stone just feel good in the hand, on the skin, in your direct environment, and all around you. Plastics feel cheap, fake, and artificially sterile. Plastics are a marvel of modern technology and obviously have critical importance to every aspect of modern society in every conceivable way - I just wouldn't want them on my grippers. I would even go as far as saying the primary reason that I even like grippers at all is that they are made of metal.

Wait, there's stone grippers?!? I've seen some really nice wood ones on this website and all the metal ones, we've seen. That's pretty cool. I need to look that up. 

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stone grippers, I would like to them (way cool)

when you do look then up post a picture

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5 hours ago, LABZSTS said:

Wait, there's stone grippers?!? I've seen some really nice wood ones on this website and all the metal ones, we've seen. That's pretty cool. I need to look that up. 

Haha, no idea, but that sounds cool. I was just speaking about the materials in general.

Now that it's been mentioned though, both wood and stone handles would be fascinating - if even possible. Stone doesn't sound possible, but I'm no engineer.

Edited by Jared P
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2 hours ago, Jared P said:

Haha, no idea, but that sounds cool. I was just speaking about the materials in general.

Now that it's been mentioned though, both wood and stone handles would be fascinating - if even possible. Stone doesn't sound possible, but I'm no engineer.

You would probably have to get them to a rough shape and sand that sh*t to the proper size. Knurling is impossible but the texture would be amazing

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7 hours ago, John Knowlton said:

stone grippers, I would like to them (way cool)

when you do look then up post a picture

I couldn't find any unfortunately. Probably don't exist, yet

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43 minutes ago, Cannon said:

Here is an example of the colored GHPs. 

DC4F7AE1-458A-4297-86BA-9B2B31621F80.jpeg

If i'm honest those standards to me are more attractive than the coloured GHPs, Black springs do something for me

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I think the standard Gripper from Cannon is one of the best things on the market right now.

It looks old-school but it’s got knurling that digs in like GHP best of both worlds.

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  • 2 months later...
On 5/12/2022 at 2:04 AM, LABZSTS said:

Since there's no one else selling them, doing it myself is hard without the right equipment, and you guys sell and make your own grippers, I have one question for you guys: Would you guys ever consider your own line of colored grippers or just having an option to have a color for your grippers? I know It'd probably be unrealistic to make and sell considering how it's not high in demand and can wear down the knurling, but I just wanna know if it's possible. I know Grip Genie has done them before and already have a good line up of strength and variety, but I mean multiple colors like the GG4 or just fulfilling color requests. Idk. Just a thought. It may also bring in just a bit of variety and even bring more people into grip. 

Make one planet-themed. If I saw a cool concept of Neptune on a gripper, I’d buy in a heart-beat. 
 

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