Flexible LED Pick Up Tool 24" for Mechanics & DIY Repairs

This claw tool works exactly as expected. The light only comes on when the claw is opened. Be careful if you store it in a box with other things b/c the plunger for the claw could get pressed and keep the light on. Other than that, the quality is great; the body is quite sturdy, yet flexible. I even used it to retrieve takeout menus that fell b/w the fridge and the cabinet.I highly recommend this product!My maintenance person uses it. I've used it in thew office, and at home. Best feature is the bright light.....cause nothing ever drops where you can easily see it!This product replaced a similar product with improvements to the grip being easier to grasp, especially in a wet environment and a feeling of heavy duty, that it will actually hold onto what your grabbing.I cam across this tool after researching auto repair forums. I have one of those days this last Sunday where everything wrong happened all at once. First my car battery died. then while rooting around in my engine to clean my battery posts, I see that mice have built bedding down in my engine. While trying to fish some of the bedding out, I bumped a tall shelf behind me and a small paper looking stick fell from the shelf, hit my engine, and bounced into an abyss of darkness within my Car Engine Bay I looked at the shelf to determine what had fallen in and OMG...it was one of my sons "Sparklers" for the 4th of July coming up. It was at least wrapped in bright pink wrapper so if I was lucky enough to ever find it, I could at least see it.Soooo, dead battery, mice in my engine, and now a firework has fallen into the bay...you can't make this stuff up. Fist order of problem solving was to research on forums how to retrieve things from an engine bay - one mechanic suggested this tool...although I thought it would honestly never work because I could not see anything, I thought it was a useful Idea so ordered it Monday - it came today.In parallel, I ordered the CTEK Battery Charger which also arrived today.- After setting up the CTEK, Started fishing the mouse bedding out of the engine...tedious with this tool but appropriate as the bedding was stuffed into some intricate locations so it was perfect for that. It is long and takes some getting used to but all in all it did the job and I retrieved a lot of stuffing. After creating a clearing in a black whole within the bay I thought could be the path for the sparkler, I spotted the "Tip" of the pink sparkler. With a lot of patience, I was able to pull it out from laying on the bottom of a compartment in the engine. I had to clutch it and hold tight while I pulled it up thru an abyss of hoses and who knows what else. I got it...unbelievable. It took my probate 1.5 hours all in all to pull the stuffing, probe around with the light, find that pink corner, and go for it. Several tries but I did not give up and probably saved me hundreds of dollars having to take it to a mechanic.Also good news in a separate review, while I was doing all of that, I was able to get my car started with the CTEK. All in all, great day today. Love AMAZON...if not for them, my car would be in the shop today, out hundreds of dollars, and I would not have learned some excellent self succinct skills :).it came very handy in removing a hard pit from the food waste disposal. Kudos for the light on the tip!!!!Think your socks are disappearing inside the washing machine? Well, they are. If you are doing a big load, they go up and over the drum and get stuck down in the gap between the drum and the side of the washer. Take a flashlight, move the drum away as far as it can rock, and take a look. There! There is that sock! I KNEW IT!. Had to be a tool somewhere that could reach and grab it. Too risky with a wire hanger, and thought of a fishing lure. Well this product was just perfect! A grabber that really grabs, it worked like magic. The light was good, wish it stayed on though once you grab your item, but no worries, had a flashlight in the other hand. The grabber prongs were small and sharp enough to instantly get this sock 1-2-3. I LOVE great tools, and no wonder this one touts "Award Winner by Popular Mechanics". It is sturdy, very well made, the flexible neck is incredibly well done and the plunger system is also very well made with easy action and no brute force or exceptional hand strength necessary. As a 5'4 woman I really appreciate a tool that makes sense and is easy to use. 5 stars, the person who patented this one deserves every penny. (If you are attempting to retrieve the lost sock in the washer like this one, make sure you get the 36" length as my sock was all the way down near the floor and 24" would not have reached.)We were working on our '86 Vanagon 1.8t engine, and an important banjo bolt for the turbo accidentally fell down back between the alternator bracket and the engine block, in a deep crevice. Couldn't get it out of the tiny space, could barely see it, and being a stainless steel bolt, the magnet wouldn't get it. Found this flexible claw grabber with LED tool on amazon, so bought it instead of having to take more parts off the top and back of the engine to get the bolt out. Did other work while waiting, and it got here in 2 days! I was able to get the bolt out in less than 5 min! The LED light at the tip really helped me see the tip of the bolt, and the claw was perfect an gripped the bolt well enough to drag it around some coolant lines and other wires. We should of got one of these a long time ago, lol. Would recommend.Works good, quality productGreat pick up claw, well made, claws seem strong and pick up things very easily, even paper, good powerful grip, light does go out, when you pick up item,but you can add, very slight pressure and it will light up holding item, slimmer than I thought, which was a bonus. Like the black finish too.Negative, was the top part and batteries were loose in the box and the batteries were nearly dead, giving it a barely visible glow, replaced batteries and all good, also would recommend to hang this up, or remove the batteries, (or change polarity when not in use) as the light is easily turned on, by pressing the top, so if in s tool bag it will get depressed.This comes in a big box and will not go in letter box. Very happy with it so farGood length for behind those immovable objects where its difficult to get to!This tool was perfect for the job.I ordered both sizes, assuming they would be identical, they LOOK like they are (gold tip and handle, silver shaft) but there are two big differences, the small one can be bent, and it holds its shape, not so with the larger one, nor does the larger one have the magnet - odd because the front packaging boasts of a magnetic head that lifts up to 2 lbs , but on the reverse of the packaging where everything is explained there is no mention of a magnet. The lack of stiffness in the larger one means that when being used in a sideways or over head position it tends to droop where it meets the "handle", before you even pick something up...I am still giving it four stars as it is extremely useful when used to pick up stuff from the ground, especially for those with mobility issues. It easily picked up nails, bits of asphalt shingle and other roofing debris discovered when I cleaned the gutters and tossed the muck on the gravel driveway. The grabbers are strong enough for most things they are large enough to grasp.The "claws" consist of four, 2cm "arms", each shaped like the capital letter "L", and when fully open have a grabbing width of 1.5 cm. The entire tool is metal, from the prongs to the wand and the handle/plunger. The flashlight is great in dim or dark areas, but understandably not useful in bright light.Really wish it was stiffer, and had the magnet...I had bought a similar tool from Canadian Tire, 3 times cheaper, but it did not have the light at the end which made it 100 times more difficult to use. I needed to clean the lint from the dryer duct and this is the only tool that helped. Very happy with the purchase.