The Handy Start Guide
Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2022 4:53 pm
I've recently picked up a handy and thought I'd put together a small start up guide as I had to go to a few sites around the net to get everything working smoothly. My last device I owned was a real touch, and while it was an amazing device, it was probably too early to market and had some issues. Clean up and set up took a while, there was limited software, limited scripts, and limited scripting tools. When you look at the handy and the support community it has, the experience is much better and the feeling of using the device is just as great.
Important Links
The Handy Discord - Best resource for finding mounting ideas and asking questions. I got some advice there for set up as well, so a good place to go for help.
Eroscripts - This is basically the hub for finding scripts for handy as well as tons of information about how to script, the handy, osr2, and basically everything haptic related.
ScriptPlayer - IMHO easiest to use video player for watching your library or even hooking up to another player like heresphere or whirligig.
https://handyfeeling.com/ - Official page, connect your device first off to update firmware and configure stoke length/delays.
https://github.com/FredTungsten/Scripts Nice starter pack of scripts to get going.
There are some other sites that are worth exploring as well, but I've mostly just been concerned with downloading scenes and funscripts and playing those scripts locally via wifi connect on my PC and can only help with that setup.
Getting Started
The handy will drive off a file called a funscript file. It is simply a huge list of instructions to move the device to specific places at specific times. Typically you will just name the funscript file the exact same name as a video. So you may have "super awesome porn.mp4" with a script called "super awesome porn.funscript" in the same directory. That is all you need for the player to find it.
For script player, open the settings and go to The Handy settings page. Supply the connection key to your device so it can talk to it. The script host is which method you will use to send scripts to the device to be played. I just used the handyfeeling.com one and have had no issues, but do note that your script will go to handy's servers, then down to your device, for some people they may not be comfortable with that so it's worth knowing what is going on. The local settings is an option to set up your own script host, but I haven't used it personally so can't give any tips for setting it up.
When you plug in the handy, it has a green light and is not in wifi mode. Simply tap the button on the front and the light will go purple, indicating it is in wifi mode ready for a connection. From script player's devices menu, select "Connect to Handy directly". Sometimes you have to press this button a few times, but eventually it should show a connected message in the upper left.
If not connecting make sure the light is still purple, if not just press the wifi again. I've had it turn off randomly on me while trying to connect.
Once connect you can just load videos or scripts and your device should start moving with the script commands as the video plays.
I HIGHLY, HIGHLY suggest you get this all working before having a session. Make sure you can connect, have a script, and have the device moving. There is nothing worse than sitting there all ready to go with lube all over yourself then having to figure out how to get it moving.
For VR, I have had success using whirligig and heresphere vr. Heresphere I think is the best VR player right now but it may be overwhelming with the options at first, so be sure to get in and familiar with starting/stopping and configuring your videos before having a session.
You can connect heresphere directly to the handy. If you go down to the settings page and in the handy, put your connection key, make sure the handy is on and in the purple light wifi mode, then just hit the refresh button and you should connect.
You can also use the timecode server in both heresphere and whirligig. To use this, you basically turn on the server in the VR player, then in script player you would connect to the handy. Then, from scriptplayer's "Video Player" menu and select your player you are using. For heresphere, pick the "DeoVR" setting. For whirligig just pick it's setting. Scriptplayer should show connected to the player, and you can go back in VR and pick a video, and scriptplayer will handle getting everything moving in the background.
Mounting
I went right in for mounting it hands free. There are tons and tons of 3d printed options around, but I don't have a 3d printer. Handy has an official mount coming, but they only have the clamp part done. It looks like it will clamp the very top of the device so it stays out of the way of the up and down arm. On the discord there was a link to a "71mm Tripod Collar Mount Ring " and "CAMVATE Camera Clamp Mount for DSLR Camera Led Video Light and Binoculars Holder Mount - 1122" on amazon, and I went with these options and they worked great.
The one issue with the ring mount is it is just a few millimeters too large for the handy and it will kinda sorta hold on, but will fall out at the wrong angle. After a lot of headache, I solved this with a simple adhesive velcro stickie. One end stuck to the handy, the other to the ring mount, then clamped it all together. This has not come undone at all and is a pretty solid connection for not much money or headache. Just clamp it right at the top out of the way and it shouldn't move.
The other issue I had was with the desk clamp. It would swing back and forth with motion. I found what I was doing wrong was I just needed to spin the camera mount tighter at both connection points. The ball socket on it will tend to slip as you are twisting it into the desk part of the clamp, appearing like you cant tighten it any more. You really need just keep turning the screw end, and if you do, you'll get a solid connection there that won't slip. Same with attaching the desk clamp to the ring mount, make sure you really crank the hell out of the screw point and it won't slip around. It took me way too long to figure that out, but it's amazing once it's all in place and handsfree.
Usage
Not going to lie, my first usage was a bit of a lube mess disaster and I needed a few sessions to get it all going. The first big issue with the handy is that it is extremely easy to fall out of it if you aren't hard with the original sleeve. It is quite a short sleeve and when it is at the top 100 percent there is a good chance you will fall out if not at least somewhat hard. I had some issues with first use to get in the mood while messing with all the tech and set up so was particularly annoying on the first go around.
A bit help was to go to the handyfeeling site and limit the stroke length to not be 100 percent. I think you can use the buttons on the front of it as well but I didn't play around with it a lot. By limiting the stroke length the handy wont pull all the way up and have you fall out. Really you need to sort of play around with it to find the setting that works for the sleeve and yourself.
I also found that I liked it better not lubing myself up ahead of time. I don't normally use sleeves so this was a bit new for me. I didn't like the big mess of lube everywhere vs just dropping some into the sleeve and squeezing it around to get it everywhere.
Next make sure to pinch the top of the sleeve to get the air out while inserting, or after insert to pinch the air out. This creates a vacuum and goes a long way in holding you in the sleeve if you get soft.
Make sure to slide the handy's arm down all the way when strapping in. One word of warning, if doing this midscript, the handy will accelerate at 100% speed (which is fast) into the previous position it wanted. So if you pause at the top, pull the arm down, then turn it back on, it will go SUPER FAST back up high and resume the script. So just be aware when moving the arm that is going to happen and not to scare you and your dick.
For the sleeve default, make sure the band is in the notch on the sleeve. With it pinched out like this and you soft, it may be out of shape, just get it lined up as best you can. I also pull on the strap pretty tight to the right first to make sure it is settled into the cradle well, then wrap the front and tighten it up. When soft I think it's best to really go tighter than you may want, and once you get into the video and hard, pause it and loosen it up a bit to where you want.
Another thing that helps when hands free is that as you are growing if you are slipping out you should be able to hold your base and direct it into the sleeve, so even if the sleeve comes off, it should come back down and you should be lined up, which should hopefully feel good enough to get hard all the way and not have to worry about it.
Cleanup
Cleanup is super easy with a closed sleeve. I don't want to even think about how to manage an open sleeve so don't plan on trying one out. With the closed, you simply need to unstrap out of the device and slip the sleeve off. I found it was good to put a tissue in the sleeve entrance to avoid it leaking if you have to put it down to clean other things up a bit. But the default sleeve is reversible so you just need to take it to a sink and rinse it out with COLD WATER (warm water is going to cook your sperm and it makes it really hard to clean up), use hand soap on it, rinse, pat dry on both sides, and done. Very, very simple and discrete.
Lube
There is a lot of reading on lube. The general idea is water based is healthiest on the toy and you, silicon is longer lasting but may break down the plastic of the toy. It seems from threads the most recommended lubes are gunoil (expensive , but has discounts) sliquid, or xlube. Xlube I guess is a powder you can get on the cheap and mix up a batch to order, but some people leave theirs in the fridge, for me I don't think my family or guests wants to see my lube bottle in the back by the milk ;) The handy site also had pjur aqua h20 for sale and I got that to start, it worked just fine. I also had tried gunoil and that's fine too, I don't have a lot of experience with lube choice but both of those were fine and long enough lasting for me personally.
One big tip I saw was that you can get a small spray bottle with water in it to refresh the lube during long sessions. I guess the lube will tend to dry/gum up after a while, and just a mist of water on yourself and into the toy will really slick everything right back up, so that's a really nice money saving tip to get more life out of the lube and I've found it works really well.
Noise
The handy isn't super loud, but in a quiet house, someone walking by your door is definitely going to know a robot is jerking you off in there, so it's worth being aware of. On some sites I saw there are some quiet oil/lubes that you could put into the device to quiet it down a bit, but I haven't tried that myself yet. I think you could cover the sound of the device with normal volume music or TV, so that is worth consideration.
Still, really consider whether it is worth buying one if you want to risk being found by someone a VR headset, headphones, and strapped into a robo sleeve depending on your at home set up. It's a really addicting and great device to use, but you may have limited windows to use it to avoid traumatizing family members ;)
For your own personal noise, it can be distracting and take you out of the immersion. It just makes a noise right on queue with every swap of directions, and for me at least my brain just can't help but tune into the machine as it moves rather than focusing on the on screen action.
I found that getting a good pair of closed ear headphones and playing some music over the computer really went a long way to deaden the sound of the machine. If you can't hear it, cant see it, and only see VR and feel what is happening, your brain starts to get really happy with everything going on and it is quite a mind blowing experience to try to mute the external sounds away.
Straps and sleeves
I have only tried the original handy sleeve, the true grip v2 sleeve, and the dream lips sleeves. I really suggest just straight up getting the true grip v2 sleeve. It's longer than the original, so you are less likely to fall out. I was able to go back to 100 percent stroke length with it without any issues at all, so it's worth grabbing imho. The dream lips are neat in that they have a triangle shape as you go in and a really narrow entrance towards the back to push through. With a good BJ script it's really neat, but usually then it switches off to sex which sort of throws the feeling off it was going for. I don't know that it is particularly better/worse than the defaults, it's really subjective.
A lot of people use fleshlight quick shots and are really happy with that, I haven't tried that yet so can't comment, but it seems a popular alternative.
As for the straps, it's worth investigating alternative ones. I got the upgraded strap on the site, it is honestly overpriced, but it does a better job holding the sleeve in because it has some silicon on there and its a bit elastic so easier to strap it down. I don't have the link off hand but I did see on eroscripts a link to some bands on amazon that make a good replacement, so that is an alternative as well.
Conclusion
The handy is awesome. The scripts people make are awesome, and the experience of using it is amazing. My last device was a real touch that was too ahead of its time. There weren't a lot of scripts, scripting resources, or information. Using it and cleaning it up was involved. When it was on a good script with a good video, it was amazing, but it was so rare to have that.
The handy has a ton of amazing fun scripts out there as well as a ton of support. There are larger communities ready to help out with the device. Set up is super fast. I just screw the clamp on to the desk edge, plug in, tap button, connect with script player, lube up, insert, slap on vr and boom, I'm instantly getting fucked on demand. It's awesome and well worth the investment IMHO.
I hope this write up helps fill in the gaps for the already awesome amount of information out there, good luck with the device, I love it personally!
Important Links
The Handy Discord - Best resource for finding mounting ideas and asking questions. I got some advice there for set up as well, so a good place to go for help.
Eroscripts - This is basically the hub for finding scripts for handy as well as tons of information about how to script, the handy, osr2, and basically everything haptic related.
ScriptPlayer - IMHO easiest to use video player for watching your library or even hooking up to another player like heresphere or whirligig.
https://handyfeeling.com/ - Official page, connect your device first off to update firmware and configure stoke length/delays.
https://github.com/FredTungsten/Scripts Nice starter pack of scripts to get going.
There are some other sites that are worth exploring as well, but I've mostly just been concerned with downloading scenes and funscripts and playing those scripts locally via wifi connect on my PC and can only help with that setup.
Getting Started
The handy will drive off a file called a funscript file. It is simply a huge list of instructions to move the device to specific places at specific times. Typically you will just name the funscript file the exact same name as a video. So you may have "super awesome porn.mp4" with a script called "super awesome porn.funscript" in the same directory. That is all you need for the player to find it.
For script player, open the settings and go to The Handy settings page. Supply the connection key to your device so it can talk to it. The script host is which method you will use to send scripts to the device to be played. I just used the handyfeeling.com one and have had no issues, but do note that your script will go to handy's servers, then down to your device, for some people they may not be comfortable with that so it's worth knowing what is going on. The local settings is an option to set up your own script host, but I haven't used it personally so can't give any tips for setting it up.
When you plug in the handy, it has a green light and is not in wifi mode. Simply tap the button on the front and the light will go purple, indicating it is in wifi mode ready for a connection. From script player's devices menu, select "Connect to Handy directly". Sometimes you have to press this button a few times, but eventually it should show a connected message in the upper left.
If not connecting make sure the light is still purple, if not just press the wifi again. I've had it turn off randomly on me while trying to connect.
Once connect you can just load videos or scripts and your device should start moving with the script commands as the video plays.
I HIGHLY, HIGHLY suggest you get this all working before having a session. Make sure you can connect, have a script, and have the device moving. There is nothing worse than sitting there all ready to go with lube all over yourself then having to figure out how to get it moving.
For VR, I have had success using whirligig and heresphere vr. Heresphere I think is the best VR player right now but it may be overwhelming with the options at first, so be sure to get in and familiar with starting/stopping and configuring your videos before having a session.
You can connect heresphere directly to the handy. If you go down to the settings page and in the handy, put your connection key, make sure the handy is on and in the purple light wifi mode, then just hit the refresh button and you should connect.
You can also use the timecode server in both heresphere and whirligig. To use this, you basically turn on the server in the VR player, then in script player you would connect to the handy. Then, from scriptplayer's "Video Player" menu and select your player you are using. For heresphere, pick the "DeoVR" setting. For whirligig just pick it's setting. Scriptplayer should show connected to the player, and you can go back in VR and pick a video, and scriptplayer will handle getting everything moving in the background.
Mounting
I went right in for mounting it hands free. There are tons and tons of 3d printed options around, but I don't have a 3d printer. Handy has an official mount coming, but they only have the clamp part done. It looks like it will clamp the very top of the device so it stays out of the way of the up and down arm. On the discord there was a link to a "71mm Tripod Collar Mount Ring " and "CAMVATE Camera Clamp Mount for DSLR Camera Led Video Light and Binoculars Holder Mount - 1122" on amazon, and I went with these options and they worked great.
The one issue with the ring mount is it is just a few millimeters too large for the handy and it will kinda sorta hold on, but will fall out at the wrong angle. After a lot of headache, I solved this with a simple adhesive velcro stickie. One end stuck to the handy, the other to the ring mount, then clamped it all together. This has not come undone at all and is a pretty solid connection for not much money or headache. Just clamp it right at the top out of the way and it shouldn't move.
The other issue I had was with the desk clamp. It would swing back and forth with motion. I found what I was doing wrong was I just needed to spin the camera mount tighter at both connection points. The ball socket on it will tend to slip as you are twisting it into the desk part of the clamp, appearing like you cant tighten it any more. You really need just keep turning the screw end, and if you do, you'll get a solid connection there that won't slip. Same with attaching the desk clamp to the ring mount, make sure you really crank the hell out of the screw point and it won't slip around. It took me way too long to figure that out, but it's amazing once it's all in place and handsfree.
Usage
Not going to lie, my first usage was a bit of a lube mess disaster and I needed a few sessions to get it all going. The first big issue with the handy is that it is extremely easy to fall out of it if you aren't hard with the original sleeve. It is quite a short sleeve and when it is at the top 100 percent there is a good chance you will fall out if not at least somewhat hard. I had some issues with first use to get in the mood while messing with all the tech and set up so was particularly annoying on the first go around.
A bit help was to go to the handyfeeling site and limit the stroke length to not be 100 percent. I think you can use the buttons on the front of it as well but I didn't play around with it a lot. By limiting the stroke length the handy wont pull all the way up and have you fall out. Really you need to sort of play around with it to find the setting that works for the sleeve and yourself.
I also found that I liked it better not lubing myself up ahead of time. I don't normally use sleeves so this was a bit new for me. I didn't like the big mess of lube everywhere vs just dropping some into the sleeve and squeezing it around to get it everywhere.
Next make sure to pinch the top of the sleeve to get the air out while inserting, or after insert to pinch the air out. This creates a vacuum and goes a long way in holding you in the sleeve if you get soft.
Make sure to slide the handy's arm down all the way when strapping in. One word of warning, if doing this midscript, the handy will accelerate at 100% speed (which is fast) into the previous position it wanted. So if you pause at the top, pull the arm down, then turn it back on, it will go SUPER FAST back up high and resume the script. So just be aware when moving the arm that is going to happen and not to scare you and your dick.
For the sleeve default, make sure the band is in the notch on the sleeve. With it pinched out like this and you soft, it may be out of shape, just get it lined up as best you can. I also pull on the strap pretty tight to the right first to make sure it is settled into the cradle well, then wrap the front and tighten it up. When soft I think it's best to really go tighter than you may want, and once you get into the video and hard, pause it and loosen it up a bit to where you want.
Another thing that helps when hands free is that as you are growing if you are slipping out you should be able to hold your base and direct it into the sleeve, so even if the sleeve comes off, it should come back down and you should be lined up, which should hopefully feel good enough to get hard all the way and not have to worry about it.
Cleanup
Cleanup is super easy with a closed sleeve. I don't want to even think about how to manage an open sleeve so don't plan on trying one out. With the closed, you simply need to unstrap out of the device and slip the sleeve off. I found it was good to put a tissue in the sleeve entrance to avoid it leaking if you have to put it down to clean other things up a bit. But the default sleeve is reversible so you just need to take it to a sink and rinse it out with COLD WATER (warm water is going to cook your sperm and it makes it really hard to clean up), use hand soap on it, rinse, pat dry on both sides, and done. Very, very simple and discrete.
Lube
There is a lot of reading on lube. The general idea is water based is healthiest on the toy and you, silicon is longer lasting but may break down the plastic of the toy. It seems from threads the most recommended lubes are gunoil (expensive , but has discounts) sliquid, or xlube. Xlube I guess is a powder you can get on the cheap and mix up a batch to order, but some people leave theirs in the fridge, for me I don't think my family or guests wants to see my lube bottle in the back by the milk ;) The handy site also had pjur aqua h20 for sale and I got that to start, it worked just fine. I also had tried gunoil and that's fine too, I don't have a lot of experience with lube choice but both of those were fine and long enough lasting for me personally.
One big tip I saw was that you can get a small spray bottle with water in it to refresh the lube during long sessions. I guess the lube will tend to dry/gum up after a while, and just a mist of water on yourself and into the toy will really slick everything right back up, so that's a really nice money saving tip to get more life out of the lube and I've found it works really well.
Noise
The handy isn't super loud, but in a quiet house, someone walking by your door is definitely going to know a robot is jerking you off in there, so it's worth being aware of. On some sites I saw there are some quiet oil/lubes that you could put into the device to quiet it down a bit, but I haven't tried that myself yet. I think you could cover the sound of the device with normal volume music or TV, so that is worth consideration.
Still, really consider whether it is worth buying one if you want to risk being found by someone a VR headset, headphones, and strapped into a robo sleeve depending on your at home set up. It's a really addicting and great device to use, but you may have limited windows to use it to avoid traumatizing family members ;)
For your own personal noise, it can be distracting and take you out of the immersion. It just makes a noise right on queue with every swap of directions, and for me at least my brain just can't help but tune into the machine as it moves rather than focusing on the on screen action.
I found that getting a good pair of closed ear headphones and playing some music over the computer really went a long way to deaden the sound of the machine. If you can't hear it, cant see it, and only see VR and feel what is happening, your brain starts to get really happy with everything going on and it is quite a mind blowing experience to try to mute the external sounds away.
Straps and sleeves
I have only tried the original handy sleeve, the true grip v2 sleeve, and the dream lips sleeves. I really suggest just straight up getting the true grip v2 sleeve. It's longer than the original, so you are less likely to fall out. I was able to go back to 100 percent stroke length with it without any issues at all, so it's worth grabbing imho. The dream lips are neat in that they have a triangle shape as you go in and a really narrow entrance towards the back to push through. With a good BJ script it's really neat, but usually then it switches off to sex which sort of throws the feeling off it was going for. I don't know that it is particularly better/worse than the defaults, it's really subjective.
A lot of people use fleshlight quick shots and are really happy with that, I haven't tried that yet so can't comment, but it seems a popular alternative.
As for the straps, it's worth investigating alternative ones. I got the upgraded strap on the site, it is honestly overpriced, but it does a better job holding the sleeve in because it has some silicon on there and its a bit elastic so easier to strap it down. I don't have the link off hand but I did see on eroscripts a link to some bands on amazon that make a good replacement, so that is an alternative as well.
Conclusion
The handy is awesome. The scripts people make are awesome, and the experience of using it is amazing. My last device was a real touch that was too ahead of its time. There weren't a lot of scripts, scripting resources, or information. Using it and cleaning it up was involved. When it was on a good script with a good video, it was amazing, but it was so rare to have that.
The handy has a ton of amazing fun scripts out there as well as a ton of support. There are larger communities ready to help out with the device. Set up is super fast. I just screw the clamp on to the desk edge, plug in, tap button, connect with script player, lube up, insert, slap on vr and boom, I'm instantly getting fucked on demand. It's awesome and well worth the investment IMHO.
I hope this write up helps fill in the gaps for the already awesome amount of information out there, good luck with the device, I love it personally!