[Blarg]

The manufacturer of the most popular brand, the Captains of Crush, is Ironmind.com. You can order online there. You can also order them indirectly, through Amazon.com, online. They cost $20 each either way, but maybe shipping is different.

These grippers are actually sold very widely over the net, so if for some reason those two online ways to get the grippers don't work, you'll be able to find the at many weightlifter's sites.

The average person's grip strength is about 115 pounds, as I recall. It takes 140 lbs of pressure to close the #1, 195 lbs. to close the #2, and the #3 takes I think 285 lbs. or pressure.

If you're average, the #1 will be too hard for you, but you will probably work up to being able to close it fairly quickly, so it's still a good buy.

If you're average, the trainer, at 100 lbs., will be a little too easy for you. It's still a very good gripper to have as a warm-up, though. You can injure yourself on grippers fairly easily, I think, so you need a warm-up.

Ideally, you should be working toward closing a particular gripper that's one step too hard for you, your "target" gripper. You should have a warm-up gripper that you also occasionally do for high reps to build up tendons and cartilage, and you should have one gripper harder than the one you already have -- you'll spend the majority of your time on this one, doing negatives and standard crush attempts.

So the average guy should start off with a Trainer, a #1, and a #2.

You will also want to get a "pony clip" from a hardware store to do thumb work with. The thumb pad, when it's built up, serves to anchor the gripper firmly so it doesn't move around while squeezing(which causes blisters & general ouch).

You would also do well to do extensor work, to help balance the hand muscles. This again helps prevent injury. Some thick rubber bands will do nicely -- stick your fingers in them and straighten them out. Ironmind sells a package of those, of various thickness and difficulty, for about $11, or you can swipe some from your office.