The Next Generation of Snaphooks?
By Diego Oliver, Training Specialist
PERFORMANCE
At first glance, I thought the Comfort Grip was just a new snaphook with a sleek, space-age design, and added knuckle protection. Looking cool is part of the deal with throwing on a harness and these snaphooks are bound to turn some heads. Then I learned there is a lot more to it than just looks. It has a unique feature that took me by surprise.
ERGONOMICS
The Comfort Grip snaphook looks bulky in design, fortunately, it does not feel as heavy as it looks. The feel of this hook also sets them apart from the standard large diameter snap hooks. The overall design and mechanics of how to the Comfort Grip snaphook functions is quite nice. Gripping the handle feels natural and these snaphooks can be opened up with ease, even with the smallest of hands. The handle is a new concept that fully covers the knuckles, protecting them from contact with structure during a connection. Is the handle opening big enough for a worker with large hands and thick gloves to open comfortably? My hand fit fine with a little room to spare. This new handle did raise some concerns after hours of use though. After extended use, my index finger rubs against the sharp edges of the aluminum located on the top part of the handle. Wearing gloves will help, or it can be uncomfortable and pinch skin without gloves. This may be irrelevant with infrequent use, but it became annoying making connections all day. This is what I experienced (individual results may vary).
CONCLUSION
Overall, the Comfort Grip is a great addition to our training floor for students to experience. After showing experienced scaffolders how the Comfort Grip snap hook is different from the standard large diameter snaphooks, they seem to be just as intrigued as me. Right now, the Comfort Grip is one of a kind, another innovation that helps us all, hopefully, more innovations like this will follow.
