What Are Strapsicle Straps (And Why Should You Care)?

If you've landed here from one of our other posts, here's the short version: Strapsicle straps are two soft silicone straps that wrap around the corners of your Kindle or Kobo, so you can hold it in a completely relaxed, one-handed grip. No cramping, no dropping, nothing glued or clipped to your device.

That's the whole product. Here's why it exists, how it works, and why readers - and an osteopath - rate it.

Where it came from

Lou dropped a Kindle on their baby during a late-night feed in Sydney - one arm full, exhausted, and a smooth, slippery device sliding out of a tired hand. The next day Lou's partner Ben folded an old silicone mat into a strap so the Kindle would stay on Lou's hand even if she fell asleep. That rough prototype became Strapsicle, now helping 350,000 readers worldwide. You can read the full drop story here.

What it actually is

Every pack contains two straps - one left-handed, one right-handed - in soft, skin-friendly silicone. Each strap wraps around two diagonally opposite corners of your e-reader, forming four corner pockets that hold the device from its edges. Your hand slides through the gap between the strap and the back of the device, so your palm carries the weight instead of your fingertips pinching it shut.

There's no adhesive, no magnets, no clips: you stretch it over one corner, then the diagonal corner, and it's on. The full mechanism is on our How Strapsicle Works page, with every material and spec on the Strapsicle Specs sheet.

Why you should care

Your hand stops cramping. Most people hold an e-reader in a pinch grip - thumb and fingers squeezing opposite edges - which loads the base of the thumb far harder than the device's weight suggests. A strap removes the pinch entirely. (The mechanics are in why your hand cramps holding a Kindle.)

You stop dropping it. A relaxed hand - or one that's dozed off mid-chapter - no longer means a dropped device, because the strap is doing the holding even when your grip isn't.

One-handed reading actually works. In bed, on a commute, at the stove, with a baby in one arm - every situation where your other hand is busy. (We've mapped them all in one-handed reading situations.)

"The strap takes that pressure away and keeps the hand in the neutral position, so they're not hyperextending, and holding in positions that don't work well and can lead to overuse problems."

Dr Andrew Levick, Osteopath

Who it helps most

Readers who go for hours at a stretch; parents reading with a baby in one arm; commuters standing with one hand on a rail; and - some of the most powerful stories we hear - people with arthritis, carpal tunnel, chronic pain or limited mobility, for whom a relaxed, no-pinch hold is the difference between reading and not reading. If that's you or someone you love, our guide to e-reader accessories for arthritis and hand pain goes deeper.

What it isn't

It isn't a case (our clear case pairs with it for protection), it doesn't work over flip covers (the corners need to be free - see Strap, Case, or Both?), and it isn't a medical device - just a genuinely more comfortable way to hold the thing you already love using.

Sizing, in one line

Small, Medium or Large, mapped to your exact Kindle or Kobo model on the Fit Guide - and if the size isn't right first time, the Free Fit Guarantee means we'll sort it.