Seems to last forever with occasional lubrication. I use it all the time, mostly for rescues that simply couldn’t be achieved otherwise. It’s a snaky picker-upper, about two feet long, able to pick up things deep in pipes, behind furniture, in holes, cracks, and gaps. Jim BarberaĪn incredibly handy $2 tool that seems utterly trivial until you have one, but finds its own uses once you do. After 30 years, it still looks almost new.
I kept it clean and made sure it never saw salt water. If I bought another one, I’d be tempted to pop for the more expensive stainless steel version - just because I have a weakness for things stainless - but the zinc-plated one has held up very well. It looks somewhat cheaply made, but I’ve tried to bend it by over-squeezing the handle and it won’t bend or distort. I have the zinc-plated version that’s about 9 ” long. It’s spring-loaded, so it opens when you open your hand. Instead, when you squeeze the handle, it pulls on a long rod inside the tool and that in turn pulls the little jaw closed. The jaws are hollow, though, so you’re much less likely to drop what you have just grabbed. It’s useful anywhere you would need some very long skinny needle nose pliers. The maximum jaw opening is only about 3/8″, but the Hookout has a powerful grip. It’s perfect because it doesn’t require a lot of space to open up, unlike needle nose pliers. It’s also great for automotive work - retrieving hardware that has fallen into a tight space or, god forbid, down the carburetor throat. I keep one in the kitchen drawer since it’s especially useful for retrieving items from the garbage disposal (bottle caps, sippy cup valves, etc.). I don’t fish anymore, but use it all the time around the house. It was part of my fishing tackle box and I used it many times to retrieve fishhooks.
My dad got mine for me in the early ’70s. The Hookout is specifically designed to get hooks out of fish that have swallowed them, but I have found it’s excellent for getting a grip on anything in a tight space. Grip for removing fishhooks & small items Sign up here to get Tools for Possibilities a week early in your inbox. The tools might be outdated or obsolete, but the possibilities they inspire are new. Once a week we’ll send out a page from Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities.
Picker-Uppers Tools for Possibilities: issue no.