Forearm Forklift is a pretty simple looking way too help you carry large, heavy, or bulky items more easily. It is a series of straps that you connect to your forearms, and to your lifting buddy’s forearms, adding leverage to the situation and distributing the weight of the object more evenly, and over a wider area. It’s the simple products that usually end up working, so let’s see if this is another one of them.
Overview
Moving furniture and other large appliances is one way to end a friendship. But sooner or later we all get that call from a buddy to help them move. It’s just a part of life, and it would finally be nice if there were a way to make it easier. The reason that moving these heavy objects is so hard is because it’s not something that we do daily, so we try to do the best we can without really knowing how. Something like Forearm Forklift provides assistance not just with the lifting, but also in getting the body in the right position to lift correctly.
The Claim
Forearm Forklift claims that it is designed so that you end up lifting things with a better technique, which makes it safer and should end up causing less injury and strain. They say you can adjust it up to 48 inches so that you can accommodate many different items on moving day. They claim that it’s easy to use, and then it won’t damage your floors when you put items down. They also say that it’s portable, which comes in handy because if you’re moving something, you’ll probably have to move it twice, out of one place and into another.
The Hype
People are really going gaga over this, as it tackles a pretty big problem that happens to people at least once or twice in their life. When companies get it right, people respond favorably, and the buzz is created through word-of-mouth advertising and recommendations from peers.
The Cost
Forearm Forklift is $28 which includes delivery. It also comes with a few bonuses to sweeten the deal: felt pads that you can put on the bottom of furniture legs so that you don’t scratch up floors, and a pair of gloves with grips on them so that you don’t have furniture sliding out of your hands. If you’ve ever marred up flooring, or accidentally dropped a piece of furniture onto your foot because you lost the grip, you’ll appreciate both of these.
The Commitment
This should actually reduce the amount of effort you have to put into moving furniture, which can be a real pain for you and whoever you get to help you. Moving furniture has to be one of the worst chores imaginable, and anything that can take the pressure off of your back is going to be well worth the time put in to getting it in place and learning how to use it correctly.
Evaluation
Forearm Forklift is getting rave reviews, in fact if you disregard the negative feedback from people that received the wrong item, it gets almost unanimous applause from those who say that it helped them move big or heavy items. We review a lot of different products, and rarely have we seen a product that has such a large percentage of happy customers. We’re pretty confident that it will also work for you, but you have to consider that there will be furniture items and appliances that are just too big for it to accommodate.
The Real McCoy
Be sure to order from the official site on this one because there are cheap knockoffs being sold that are one inch narrower, making them flimsy and not able to work as well as the original. It is unclear how a company can sell a product listed as a trademarked name brand when it is obviously not the real thing. A one inch difference is definitely noticeable, so it’s not like people would think that they’re getting what they paid for. At this price point, it doesn’t really make sense to try to bargain shop for a set of these. It’s a one-time purchase of $28 for the real thing, and something you can use again and again each time you move or when you get the dreaded call from your friend to come help them.
Final Forearm Forklift Review
Forearm Forklift is definitely something you want to invest in if you see a moving day coming up in your near future. It makes sense that it would work because it is distributing the weight evenly between two people, instead of having to deadlift it off the ground. This allows you to not only lift it more easily, but also carry it and maneuver it around corners without smashing into too much.
Our Recommendation
If you’ve got a large sofa or a washing machine, dryer, or refrigerator that you need to move you’ll want to make sure that you grab a set of these beforehand. We haven’t come across anything else that gives this any sort of competition. When you consider your different alternatives you’re really left with old-school methods like using a dolly, or putting furniture onto rollers. But both of these have drawbacks to them, and neither one helps you get the furniture onto them. This is one of those buy it once, and then use it when you need it sort of items.
We bought these before we moved to a fourth floor apartment (no elevator). Worked great for the queen size matress and boxsprings, and for bulky and heavy furniture (including a chifforobe and entertainment center). My husband and our best friend mainly used it, but I’ve been sble to use it, too.
We later used it to move from that apartment to our house, and to help friends move a couple of times.
I only bought this product to move a 8ft solid wood entertainment unit. Just half of it at a time we were needing to move. My husband and I tried to pick it up. I could only pick it up about an inch. I thought maybe I was just to weak. So we called another male to help. These men are very strong. I’ve seen them lift some heavy equipment before. To make a long story short. They could only pick it up about an inch also. We end up putting half of the entertainment unit on a piece of carpet and pulled it from one room to another. In my opinion for very tall and heavy pieces this does not work. It may work for something shorter and maybe fatter but I was very disappointed and so is my husband.
This is genuinely innovative, and I imagine something similar has been available to non-commercial outlets for some time. If not, then they should be, because the amount of money and time that goes on trying to fix people’s bad backs is astronomical. Also, once your back goes, without a lot of very concerted effort, you are going to suffer all your life. That said, how often in your life do you have to move big, heavy objects? This should be a must if you are a professional mover, but if not, this is going to be like all those ‘bag for life’ bags that you forget to take with you whenever you go to the supermarket.
This product looks fantastic. I have moved more times than I care to mention, and moving is always an adventure. My back has taken a beating from all of the moves, and this product seems like it would really do the trick. For $20, you just can’t really go wrong. The amount of money that goes into having movers is ridiculous and they may still damage the property anyway. I am definitely ordering this even if I never have to move again (hopefully).