Lodge A5DLL Deluxe Lid Lifter

great tool , must for safe handling of lids that hold briquets

My plain old traditional lid lifter is pissed. It has served me on quite a few campouts but has recently been upstaged by this Lodge Deluxe lid lifter. At this week's campfire cooking event this new deluxe lid lifter frequently went "missing" as it was happily used by others who pitched their plain lid lifters off into the grass in favor of mine. I'm pretty sure the old lid lifters conspired to retaliate because they tripped us up constantly as they seemed to be everywhere we stepped and their all-black bodies were impossible to spot in the dark. The bright yellow handles on this deluxe lid lifter made it easy to locate in the flickering firelight, especially with it's long, leggy shape that free-stands on its own. At the end of the night the deluxe model held on firmly as I swung my dutch oven lid completely upside down to return the coals on top of it to the fire, obviously sparking jealousy from the older lid lifters who previously had so much fun dropping the lid on my toe when I attempted such a move. Those cantankerous old lid lifters have all been demoted to fire log pokes and marshmallow roasters. Break up with your old lid lifter and upgrade to a real tool who knows how to treat you right!

The inside bar is covered in so much paint it's like trying to open a painted over window. I used a block of wood and a small hammer to finely get it to move. After repeating open and closing the grip it is almost usable. No I wouldn't recommend this item.

This is a very poorly made tool. The alignment of the sliding portion and the fixed part is off.One should be able to release your grip, allow the mobile portion to drop (by gravity), and release the dutch oven lid. Unfortunately, since it binds, you have to force the thing to let go of your lid.I contacted Lodge to "lodge" a complaint after receiving this. I was told it wasn't made by them, but imported from... you know where.. China. They'd have someone contact me.... never heard back.In short, I'm sorry I spent more on a "Lodge" product than buying the cheapest one I could find, because rather than supporting an American industry, I would up getting the cheapest one THEY could find.Don't make that mistake - buy something else.

The title says it all. It does exactly what it is supposed to do. The added stability of this lid lifter is ideal for using when cooking with coals on top of the oven. No matter how evenly it looks like the coals are distributed on the lid there is almost always a heavy side when lifting the lid, even when the weight is perfectly balanced the lid may stick slightly more on one side than the other when lifting, if the lid tips, ashes fall onto the food, this lid lifter prevents exactly that.