Lindam Flexiguard - Portable Safety Barrier

Ok, i love this item. I found it really easy to use, and not the much of a hassle to put up and down, or to hop over.My wife hated it. She found it really hard to use, and loads of hassle to put up and down, and she couldn't hop over it.Since im writing the review..im going to give it 5 starts, as it works exactly as i expected it to in my mind.What is is NOT:Its not a gate.It wont work on funny angles very well (if at all)It wont open and close and still stay there. Its either up in place or down on the floor (or in your hand).Its not attached to the walls by any screws (a plus as it means no screw damage to stuff) - but the pressure fit might cause the item to pull off paint off walls.It's not for everyone - if you or your family memebers are at all impatient, move on swiftly.What it is:First and foremost, its a barrier. Not a gate, not a doorway. Plain and simple, it works the same way nailing a piece of wood, the size of the lower part of your door, across the doorway would be.It's really soft - the central part made of mesh wont hurt anything, although there is of course the plastic on the top, botttom and sides.It is portable - folds down to the size of a quiver (...like for arrows...)..well i can't think of anything else at the moment that fits the size, so that'll have to do!Its flexible in size, so can extend and shrink to fit width ways. There is a bit of fiddling you have to do with the knobs at each end to get a decent fit, but once you've got the right size for the doorway you need to block, it'll stay that way unless you fiddle with it some more. It'll work best if the knobs on the side are on a flat surface, as that will allow even pressure. Once in place, you press the handle down and it pressure fits to the flat surface. If you dont have flat surfaces, its less stable, and does risk falling down, but it depends on wheter you can get an accurate position, and also how much someone is actually going to push it. If its on a flat side surface, itll resist alot of pushing.Now its in place, you have two choices:leave it alone and climb over it when you need to.orRemove it when you need to get past and put it back up again.So it depends on the use really....If its blocking an area you want kids and noone else to enter, its fine - you can leave it up and occasionally you can climb over it.If its blocking a more busy route, then it would depend on how comfortable you and other adults were climbing over it, or how comfortable you and other adultswere removing it. If you remove it, by releasing the lever, the whole item will come free, and you will need to refit it, which as i said, i found easy, and my wife did not, so its down to personal skills and patience, and preference.Uses:blocking a doorway/hallway leading to danger (like all baby gates) - with slightly more hassle if its a more frequently used path.I have used it to block a doorway leading to the porch - which had cold hard tiles on the floor. Not good for little babies crawling around. So it got blocked off. People either climbed over, or took the barrier down and popped it back up. Some people got annoyed with it. But i knew eventually we'd let him roam there, so it was a good temporary solution.I have used it on a landing, leading to some stairs going down, and it worked fine. People again just stepped over it or took it down and put it back up. Just fit it properly.I have used it at the bottom of stairs to prevent climbing up the stairs. If fitted properly, i see no reason not to. If it can resist my vigorous testing and stay in place, it'll go wherever i want it.In essence, if you are looking for a baby gate, dont get this if you are planning it to be used in a high traffic area and you think people will get annoyed with it. Get a gate that you can just open and close with a simple click click.I'd recommend the Safetots Baby gate, as its brilliant. It does need screwing into your walls though, but if youve got wooden door frames, which i assume most if not al have, just screw them into that, and itll be fine.http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BOSS29S/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_13

I was not sure what to expect after reading several other reviews but took the risk anyway. I only wanted it to stop my Labrador Cross from getting up the stairs during the wet months as she can open the bedroom doors and then sleeps on the bed!When I first opened the package, I couldn't understand that the width of the gate was far greater than given as the minimum distance for the gap, however after a little playing around, I then realised that in the centre of the gate (top & bottom) there is an adjustment so I could reduce the size accordingly. The instructions are not brilliant but it works great for us as a stair gate.I know that you are advised that it is not suitable for stairs, but unless you have children and you are prepared to act sensibly when using, it is easy to erect at the top of our stairs and open when required. We did not have to use the securing brackets as we have a door frame that protrudes on one side of our stairway and the pressure points sit nicely behind that. The other side sits flat against the bannister support (flat not round) and secures strong enough without brackets that she cannot move it. She is a big cunning dog and to date she has only got through it once but that was because we had not pushed the lever down fully.Great product and does exactly what we wanted it to do, clean sheets this winter!

I gave this 2 stars because it acts as a barrier and stays in place. Other than that it isn't really fit for purpose as advertised here. First of all the product information here states that this is an alternative to a stair gate and it states categorically in the fitting instructions that come with the Flexiguard that this is not to be used on the stairs. Secondly, it states that it can be used as a travel stair gate - however, the Flexiguard comes with fitting plates that must be screwed into the walls or aperture you intend to use and the instructions state that the Flexiguard must not be used without them. Unless you are going to take your 'portable' Flexiguard to a travel destination (for example,to stay at an hotel, apartment, with family or friends) that is quite happy for you to screw fixing panels into their walls, or unless you intend to remove the fixing panels from the walls in one location in your home and screw them into the sides of another every time you use the Flexiguard somewhere different, then this is in no way a travel stairgate or portable in any sense you might expect. The only way this is portable is that it folds up and fits into a smallish cloth bag and can be ported about over your shoulder, but for what purpose, I cannot imagine.I bought this to stop my puppy from climbing the stairs and to keep him in the kitchen overnight without him getting his little head stuck in the bars of a traditional gate. It wasn't until I had removed the product from the box and taken out the instructions from the sealed plastic bag it was in and we'd had a good look at how it all worked that I realised it was not the product I thought it was. We've tried to use it as we've paid for it, but it's not really great, it isn't easy to install or use and I'll be getting shot as soon as I've replaced it.