I’m 6-5+ and about 225 lbs, and used to use gravity boots, and I wanted something a lot more user-friendly. I wanted relief from back pain and from related joint pain, and a chiropractor friend suggested an inversion table as an inexpensive alternate to the highly-promoted DRX-9000 computer-driven traction table that chiropractors offer.

I am hard to please, generally speaking, so it is unusual for me to give any product more than 3-4 stars. But I tried three other inversion tables (one from Kettler, one from Dick’s sporting goods, and a more expensive Teeter model, and the F5000 is easily the best of the bunch, although not quite perfect (see #4 below). The more expensive Teeter model didn’t offer me anything that was worth the extra money.

Bottom line: (1) The ankle clamps on the F5000 are MUCH more comfortable than the other brands. IF you open up the ankle clamps fully when you get off the device, it is quite easy to get your ankles back in for the next session (I tied a little rope to the handle of the clamp release to make it a tad easier to reach – but that’s a personal preference.) I use it without shoes on — which the directions recommend against — and just make sure the clamps are snug on my ankles. The clamps are spring-loaded, and will tighten up sufficiently if you wiggle your ankles a bit. (2) The Teeter models were MUCH easier to assemble — just snap a few parts together (the Kettler took hours, and cost more), and climb on. Your first time on, it might take a minute or two to get everything adjusted right, but after that, no adjustments are needed. (3) Adjustment on the F5000 is really simple. Pull out a spring-loaded pin, slide the column to the appropriate hole for your height (marked on the column), and let the pin pop into that hole. (4) The tightly stretched fabric of the “bed” does stretch, so I bought a $2 “kneeling pad” at Home Depot and slid it inside the fabric. Problem solved. (5) You can fold it up and slide it under the bed, although it’s not as compact as something like an ironing board.

SUMMARY: My 87-year-old father liked it for both back pain and neck pain, so he bought one for himself. Even though he usually shies away from new “gadgets,” he had no trouble setting it up and adjusting it on his own. I think he said it took him about 10 minutes from the time he dragged the carton in from the garage until he was using it.