Fear not! We haven’t started reviewing adult oriented toys, (yet)! Don’t let the name fool you, we’re talking about a painting accessory here, not that other stuff you hide within arm’s reach of the bed. If you’ve ever toted around 1 gallon cans of paint, or, worse yet, painted from them, then you know they’re not exactly the most ergonomic container. If the wire “handle” was any smaller gauge it would no doubt be piano wire and sever your fingers completely.
If you try to paint while holding the can from the handle, good luck navigating around the wire too. And what happens when your cell phone rings and mercifully takes you away from your painting job? Inevitably those that aren’t skilled painters will either set their brush down where it picks up a rat’s nest of debris, or they’ll deposit it in the can full of paint so the brush becomes a dripping mess of overloaded paint. All these points are pretty valid deterrents from painting with a one gallon can. Even so, painting from the can is very tempting since you can avoid the hassle and mess of pouring paint into another container (lots of us are lazy that way). For those times you just have to paint from the can, check out the Grunt one gallon can carrier.
The Grunt can carrier is a polymer handle that attaches to your one gallon can with the lid on or off. Attaching the Grunt is speedy, but it did bend the wire handle on all the cans we tested. If you’re obsessive about maintaining a smoothly rounded handle on your paint cans, you’ll probably want to pass on this. Once attached, the Grunt is infinitely more comfortable than the circulation-destroying conventional wire handle. It also felt very secure, and I wasn’t worried about it somehow popping off, which is somewhat important when you’re swinging around a can of paint.
In action, the Grunt performs its duties admirably. It not only provides a very comfy handle, but it also gets that pesky wire out of the way. Your brush now has relatively unrestricted access to the paint, and you’re not as likely to paint your own hand while holding the handle. When you need a break from what I consider the hellish monotony of painting, Grunt stuck a very strong magnet at the end of the handle. So, unless you’re using some cheese-monkey brush with no metal on it, the brush will levitate nicely above the can. Another bonus to the magnet is that your brush won’t become saturated in paint, and any drips will go right back into the can. Nice!
The Grunt also comes with a four-in-one accessory that slips right into the handle and is easily removed. It’s basically a mini opener, nail pull, scraper and pry bar. While the four-in-one can do any of the four tasks, it doesn’t do them particularly well. At just a few inches long, it lacks any real leverage for prying nails or paint can lids. If you do try to use it to open cans, you’ll find the end of the tool bites into your hand. Ultimately, we found the four-in-one accessory to be a little more gimicky than useful, but you might still be glad it’s there if you don’t have a more appropriate tool handy.
Now that we’ve established you can more comfortably and effectively paint from a one gallon can with the Grunt, the question is do you want to? If you have a near empty can, then it’s no sweat. But what if you just cracked open a fresh gallon? That’s where Grunt has another trick up its sleeve – it’s designed to hook your can on just about any style ladder rung. We hooked it onto our Little Giant Select Step Ladder, and it not only hooked securely, but also put the can at a nice accessible angle. Although you might get a few drips of paint on your ladder this way, it’s far easier than holding a full gallon of paint for extended periods. The Grunt also has a little lip on the handle which helps prevent it from being bumped off the ladder. The ladder hook is a standout feature, and might just be the most practical use for the Grunt. Even so, we can understand why they didn’t go with a product name like “Grunting Hooker.”
For more details, visit GruntProducts.com.
Although the website above appears defunct, you can buy a similar product on Amazon.
hey are these still for sale? where can i order them?