This is an old thread, but there isn't a better place to post without starting a new one. A neighbor lady called me yesterday and told me her son wants a Dutch oven & the necessary accoutrements for his Christmas present this year. The accessory lid lifter is a personal preference type of thing, but I suggested the Cadillac of all mechanical lid lifters.....the 22'' Mair. This morning I went to their website and discovered that the guy that makes them has ceased production!
After watching Cowboy Kent Rollins' video on lid lifters, it sounds like the alternative choices boil down to the copies made by Lodge & Camp Chef. The Lodge, which one would think would be the better choice, has it's problems in design, but the Camp Chef copy comes as close to any to the original Mair design.
The other option is to just copy the Mair design and weld one up yourself....since they are out of production, the patented design should be free to copy to all. That's probably the option I'd choose if I didn't already own two Mairs....a 22'' and a 14.'' If you cook on the ground, the longer one works best and if you cook on a table, the 14'' is the way to go.
