Captain of Crush Gripper. Where to start?

[psychedout]

I am looking at developing my crushing strength, and am going to pick 2 of these up I think.

They come in the following increments:
60
80
100
140
195
280
365
(in pounds)

In a perfect world I would buy all of them, but that would be expensive as hell. I have never used one before and am not sure where to start. I was thinking of buying 100 and 140? Or is this too high?

 

[blut wump]

Start with the trainer and the #1. If you think your grip is a bit weak then maybe start with the sport and the trainer. I can't remember the poundage ratings.

 

[psychedout]

My grip isn't weak by any means, I just want to develop crushing power. You know, like old man strength? I swear all middle aged men have crushing power that cannot be duplicated -- its unreal.

I might just buy the no.1 and see how that goes. I guess I can always go from there.

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

Yeah, my uncle always crushes my fucking hand when I shake it. It's been a game since I was little - I try and squeeze his until he gives in, but I always lose. I crush the #2 now, so this Thanksgiving, I'm totally going to hand his ass to him. He used to be in the 101st Airborne, and he works on his truck/cars all day. A very "hands-on" kinda guy. Maybe that's where he gets it from.

You may want to pick up an Ivanko Super Gripper instead, man. The range of pounds on that encompasses all of what the CoCs do. Only thing is, you need to buy some friction tape from a hardware store in order to keep a solid grip. But hey, that's a small price to pay. The grippers are only $20. I have two of 'em.

http://www.ivanko.com/products/html_stuff/gripper_info.html

 

[LiftingDukkha]

Grip strength is a trip. I ordered Ironmind's #1 & #2 several years ago, played with them for a few weeks, then never really tried them again till this year (when I got elbow tendonitis & got more serious about forearm strength training). I've always been able to close the #1 but it hasn't always been easy, and I'm fairly strong otherwise. The #2 I've only gotten once so far. I ordered the Trainer awhile back, and I can only close it 45X at the most (though high-reps really aren't the way to go -- negatives & static holds are).

But other guys who've trained crushing grip for some time are surprisingly strong. I think many guys who might not lift as much as me in some lifts actually can close or are close to closing the #3. Which is amazing, since #3 is considered at least close to elite, I think.

(I just read the other day that if you want to crush a raw potato in your hand -- "mashing potatoes" -- you need to be able to close the #2 with just 2 fingers, the index & middle fingers [and the thumb pad, obviously]. This is mind-boggling, because some people actually do this!)