I was skeptical when my mom brought my future stepdad Mike around for the first time.
After all, she hadn’t dated anyone for as long as I could remember. “Was he kind? Would he make my mom happy? How would he fit into our tight-knit family?” These were just some of the many questions I asked myself as an overprotective daughter letting a new man into her life.
As it turned out, he and I had much more in common than I expected. We’re both sensitive Piscean souls, hockey fanatics, and, on a sillier—but equally important—note, potato chip connoisseurs. (For the record, I’m a Cape Cod kind of gal, and he’s a Lay’s Classic kind of guy.)
Our knack for finishing a giant bag of potato chips in one sitting soon became one of our strongest bonding points. So much so, that after he realized this, he began showing up at my mom’s place with a family-size bag of Cape Cod chips to help win me over. It worked.
Since then, my stepdad and I have shared endless bowls of potato chips. Although we usually finish an entire bag with ease, finding a way to keep our chips crispy, for those rare occasions when we didn’t scarf them down, became our top priority.
Fortunately, after trying dozens of chip clips over the years, we discovered, for the sake of our spuds, our saving grace—our beloved Gripstic Bag Clips—and we’ve never looked back.
Staff pick
These reusable chip clips seal bags of potato chips shut and keep them from getting stale for days—or even weeks—on end.
Finding the perfect chip clip wasn’t easy. We went through dozens of them to no avail. The spring-loaded ones often collapsed under pressure. Others were ineffective at keeping air, moisture, or even critters out. We grew increasingly frustrated as our precious stash of potato chips kept turning into sad, stale messes due to crappy chip clips, over and over.
But all of that changed when my stepdad discovered the Gripstic at a home-improvement trade show over eight years ago. (Yes, that’s what he and my mom consider “fun” weekend plans. ) He bought a set for himself and gifted me another, and even after almost a decade, we both still use our original sets of Gripstics regularly to keep our potato chips as crispy as ever.
Upon first glance, the Gripstic’s slender, stick-like figure may perplex you. It looks nothing like most ordinary chip clips. And I too wondered how on earth a tall, skinny stick could seal a bag of chips. But it’s actually quite simple, and this little gadget’s ingenuity and beauty lies in the simplicity of its design.
In a nutshell, a Gripstic is a stick-like pole encapsulated in another stick-like pole that creates a seal when you fold a bag between the two. It comes in various sizes (and colors), ranging from 5 inches all the way up to 13 inches, to fit the length of just about any bag of food. It’s also dishwasher- and freezer-safe, and it doesn’t take up a ton of room in a drawer.
But what makes these the best chip clips I’ve ever tried is their ability to keep oxygen—which is notorious for causing things to spoil or go stale—away from food.
Using this tool doesn’t take much effort, but the results are always impressive. Simply fold the top of an open bag to create a crease, squeeze as much air out as possible, and slide the clip between the U-like bend to form an airtight seal. This method has helped keep my chips crispy for weeks on end, and that’s no exaggeration.
Beyond my never-again-stale potato chips, the Gripstic has been an absolute game-changer for just about any bagged item in my kitchen, including snacks, cereal, and even the flimsy zip top on a bag of shredded cheddar cheese that I might’ve torn. It keeps all of those items perfectly sealed and keeps everything inside securely trapped to prevent accidental spills.
It also works wonders for keeping bags of frozen foods shut and shielded from the harsh, cold air in my freezer. I often use a Gripstic clip to stash an open bag of frozen spinach, and thanks to its superior sealing abilities, it helps keep freezer burn at bay—a task at which ordinary chip clips fail miserably.
I’m not the only one who is utterly obsessed with these clips. Many Wirecutter staffers also swear by them. That includes senior editor Marguerite Preston, who once told me these things are basically “Wirecutter lore” due to the devoted following they’ve earned across many folks on the team over the years. “I love them; we have a bunch in the test kitchen,” she noted.
Drawbacks are nearly nonexistent, too. Aside from the small learning curve of maneuvering the Gripstic for the first time, using these clips is nearly always foolproof and easy.
However, to succeed, it’s important to create a nice, even crease before sliding the stick into place, as it can get stuck if there are wrinkles in the bag’s surface. Also, if the bag’s material is too thick, you may have difficulty getting the Gripstic across due to the narrow space, but this is an issue I seldom encounter.
Fortunately, they’re relatively inexpensive. An assorted 12-pack retails for a little less than $25, and considering they’ve lasted me nearly a decade and spared many chips from going stale, I’d say they’ve been worth every penny.
Plus, you can rest assured knowing your chips will be crispy and crunchy even if you don’t eat them quickly, which is priceless for my stepdad and me.
This article was edited by Megan Beauchamp and Maxine Builder.
