Captains of Crush Hand Gripper Sport :: Education by Design Store

Customer Reviews

A Great Starter Gripper

2008-03-16
The Captains of Crush Sport Gripper is a very high quality trainer that is excellent for someone starting to work on improving his/her grip strength.

It is probably too light for one who has done a lot of weight or grip work. That is ok though as there is a COC model that is right for everyone. There are ten different models ranging from 60-365 lbs.

Although I have been into weight training for 20+ years, I had never specifically focused on grip strength until the last few months. One of the reasons that I never used grippers is that the only ones that I had seen were the junky kind sold in sporting goods stores. I thought (and think) that those are pretty much a joke. These Captains of Crush grippers are nothing like that.

I have been very strong for a long time. The closest that I had ever done to grip training is forearm work such as reverse curls and wrist curls. In addition to those, I have done a lot of work that hit the forearms with exercises such as deadlifts, etc. These are an excellent tool for focusing on this often ignored part of the body.

I would recommend that anyone who has not done a lot of gripper training not try to start off with too challenging of a model. The Sport will likely be quite a workout for many people. It is also a good one for warmups even for stronger people. It is probably a good idea to get at least three different strength levels so that one can do warmups with one, higher repetition sets with another, and have one for doing low repetition sets that really work the muscles hard.

These grippers are all very high quality. They are made with aircraft grade aluminum handles. The springs are also top notch. They do tend to squeak at times so keep a can of WD 40 close by for the occasional spray.

If you want to improve your forearm and grip power, these are a great tool. I also recommend the Ivanko Super Gripper IVANKO Super Hand Gripper Hand Strength Forearm.

BEST ON THE MARKET

2008-02-29
The Captains of Crush Hand Grips are the best on the market. If you want to make progress this is the product to own. The manufacturer,Iron Mind, is a leader in real strength development products.

A good starting point for beginners

2007-11-24
The COC Sport is a good starting point for beginners with "white collar job" type hand strength. It doesn't provide extreme resistance, but in the very early phases of grip strength training, it allows people with weaker hands to move up the ladder properly. Don't let your ego get in the way and buy a stiffer gripper if you really aren't ready for it. The Sport allows beginners to generally familiarize their body mechanics with the muscular requirements called on by grippers, without excessive strain and the potential for injury.

Two warnings about the Sport:

1) for those who don't have calloused hands from other activities (golf, baseball, etc) the grip surface on the COC grippers *will* open raspberries and blisters on the hands of beginners, but don't worry. After a month or so of training, your hands will toughen up and you will actually want a more aggressive knurling.

2) Grip strength training is addicting as heck. You will progress past the "Sport" fairly quickly and find yourself buying the Trainer and even the #1 before you know it. When I first started, I could barely rep the COC Sport for 10. Now, I can just about close it using only my thumb and forefinger!

The Best!

2007-11-02
Simply put, Captains of Crush is *the* standard in grippers. The quality is always top notch (I own several). Most other grippers have smooth (or slightly grooved) grips, but when you're trying to close a gripper of upwards of 140 pounds, the knurling on these grippers is a live saver!

GREAT! IronMind Captains of Crush

2006-04-20
For me, a product review starts with the purchasing experience. Being in Japan with the high shipping costs, I am cautious about ordering items that I cannot see first simply because a money-back guarantee for a $20 item that costs $15 to ship is not very useful or appealing to me.

So I sent an email asking about shipping charges and which models they would recommend. TEN hours later I received a clear, helpful response from Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D., President of IronMind. I placed my order on Aril 13th at 3 PM. I quickly received a confirmation of my order and was told they would ship the next day. I am in Japan and I received my Captains of Crush Grippers on the afternoon of April 19th!

How could it get better than that?? Well, it did! When I opened the parcel I was surprised by the quality of the Captains of Crush Grippers. They are a first class product. They are guaranteed for one year but based on the high quality, they will last MUCH longer than that. If I have any complaint it would be that they are hard to close! LOL. I strongly recommend the Captains of Crush Grippers with NO reservations. The customer service from IronMind was first class and the Captains of Crush Grippers are first class!

About the Sport Gripper: It is a good place to start if you have not used grippers before. If you have not done gloveless weight training you may find it "hard" on your hands initially, but it is a great product. I bought the sport model as a warm up for the trainer and WILL buy a # 1 and #2 as I get stronger!