The Handy Open-Ended Sleeve Collection Review
Review of newly released The Handy Open-Ended Sleeve Collection by Tigerlily
If you’ve seen my original Handy review, you’ll know that I named the Handy the “best automated male masturbator around”—the ultimate toy for the lazy wanker. Unfortunately, at the time, it only had a single stroker sleeve available, and the mechanism didn’t play well with strokers from the likes of Fleshlight. So if the included TrueGrip sleeve wasn’t quite to your taste—too small, too short, or too loose—you didn’t exactly have a lot of choice.
Now, The Handy team has added another three designs to the line-up. Say hello to the all-new The Handy Open-Ended Sleeve Collection.
Size and Design
The Handy open-ended sleeves come in three sizes, referred to by their material firmness: soft, medium, and hard. Perhaps this is supposed to alleviate concerns you might have about buying something labelled ‘small’ for your penis, but anyway.
From left to right: Open-Ended Collection Soft, Medium, Hard; and the TrueGrip
The Handy Open-Ended Sleeve Collection is designed for a tighter overall experience than the original TrueGrip, and all three are around 1cm longer. That said, lack of tightness was rarely a complaint levelled at the TrueGrip.
Of course, since they’re open-ended, they can also accommodate longer penises without creating undue pressure on the downstroke as your penis hits the end.
Externally, the new open-ended collection designs are all identical, with a knobbly textured surface for the Handy strap to easily grab on to.
Soft & Hard
‘Soft’ is the largest of the three, featuring a 15-80mm diameter at the entrance. It can stretch significantly but still provides a nice enclosed feeling.
Moving to the other extreme, the ‘Hard’ sleeve, with a 11-50mm opening, offers a much, much tighter experience. And in all honesty, even my below-average penis found it to be almost too tight. I’m not complaining, but I probably wouldn’t use this every session for fear of chafing.
The internal texture on the Soft and Hard sleeves seem to be identical and vary only by firmness. It consists of a larger ribbed cavity, followed by a smaller design of the same ribbing, then a smaller area still at that back with large knobbly protrusions. Although the external sizes are identical, the Hard offers a much more intense experience thanks to having minimal stretch. On the other hand, Soft offers the same textures but a stretchier material, so it won’t squeeze onto your penis as much.
Medium
The Medium design is quite different from the other open-ended designs, consisting only of knobbly protrusions throughout. The texture is similar to the original closed-ended TrueGrip sleeve, but it’s overall tighter, with a 13-60mm opening. For reference, the TrueGrip sleeve had a much larger 22-90mm opening. So the Medium open-ended is probably the best option if you just want an open-ended and tighter version of what you have now.
Sure enough, Medium is also roughly in the middle of the Soft and Hard in terms of firmness. Still, the texture is unique enough that if you were thinking of purchasing either the Hard or Soft open-ended sleeves, you might want to pick up the Medium as well, just for a little variety.
Usage
An open-ended design certainly has benefits in allowing the device to free move up and down your shaft without an annoying sensation of hitting the end, but it has a glaringly obvious drawback: clean up.
More seriously, depending on the angle you hold or use your Handy, you might end up ejaculating right into the motor and driveshaft, which is entirely exposed to the elements in the current model. So you may need to adjust your, uh—wank angle—is what I’m saying. Either that or be quick with your hands to catch the mess.
In the end, the benefits of an open-ended design outweigh the drawbacks for me. I’m not so well endowed that I stick out of the end anyway, so clean-up is not an issue – it all stays inside the small cavity at the end of the stroker. But it might be for you.
Durability
While the Handy itself is a very durable machine, with an easily lubricated driveshaft and long-lasting motor, the sleeves that go into it are not. Unlike silicone dildos, which are basically a buy-it-for-life product, most masturbator sleeves are made of TPE, a sort of squishy amalgamate of different plastic chemicals that will eventually break down. The Handy sleeves are no exception, with both the original TrueGrip and new Open-Ended Collection all made of a non-durable soft polymer TPE.
There are a few reasons for this material choice, and it mostly comes down to feel. Silicone is not particularly life-like and tends to be quite heavy. TPE is softer, feels better, and weighs a lot less. It’s also cheaper to produce. Unfortunately, all forms of TPE will break down eventually, unlike silicone which can last a lifetime if handled correctly.
However, I do appreciate that on the sales page, the Handy team has explicitly stated they would expect each sleeve to last about 20-40 uses. This is a consumable item, and you will need to purchase more when yours has eventually perished. That’s an excellent opportunity to try the other sizes or textures.
In terms of material safety, TPE is porous and can harbour bacteria over time, though it’s not toxic itself. It is also not as important for things you stick your penis into to be as clean as things you actually insert into your body. You’re much less likely to contract a disease in that way and it’s easier to clean a penis, but of course that doesn’t negate the need to clean a sleeve entirely. You should still wash out a TPE sleeve with warm water after every use, ensure it’s completely dry, use an antibacterial toy cleaner, and consider a renewal powder (like starch) to keep it in top condition. Just don’t be under the illusion that it’s safe to use indefinitely.
It should go without saying that if you spot any mould developing, toss it out immediately.
Time to Try The Handy Open-Ended Collection?
If the closed design of the original TrueGrip annoyed you when you hit the end, you’ll love the new The Handy Open-Ended Sleeve Collection. And if you like the original but just want something tighter, you’ll enjoy any of these. We’re all different, but the sleeves are cheap enough that you could get a complete set and see which one suits you best.
However, if you’re on the girthier side, all of the new designs might actually be too tight. If you found the original TrueGrip to already be too tight, you’ll probably have more luck with the extensive range of Fleshlights.
Finally, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned about the environmental impact of toys with a limited lifetime. If you’re a serial wanker who’s likely to wear these out quickly, you really ought to consider saving up for something made out of silicone. The recent rise of small-scale toy producers has meant a range of silicone strokers are now available that can comfortably fit in the Handy.
We rate The Handy Open-Ended Sleeve Collection a tight, tighter, and tightest… 9/10.
– Tigerlily
Buy Yours Today
Thanks so much to Tigerlily for another fantastic & thorough review. Find more great toy & sex machine reviews by Tigerlily here at CaraSutra -as well as at their own website, sextoydb.com.
The Handy Open-Ended Sleeve Collection was provided to Tigerlily free of charge, by The Handy team, in exchange for this fair & honest review here at the Cara Sutra sex blog.
Buy your choice of sleeve for The Handy penis masturbator directly from The Handy shop by clicking through the big green button below:
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