First I pinned then went to zippered leaders for several years. Then I learned about Leadergrips. Loading a quilt is so much faster and easier. But I had problems with the Leadergrips cracking at the ends. I called and asked if it was possible to order only the top parts and was told no, so I went to Red Snappers. But they were too hard to use with arthritic hands and we found that they used so much more space at the ends of the quilt. If we had a quilt where the backing was short, we couldn't use them. The Red Snappers are much wider than Leadergrips. So I contacted Leadergrips again and found out the top part alone was now available. We I went back to Leadergrips. I was also told they are now using a different type of plastic that does't crack like the old ones. I haven't had any problems with the new ones. We will never go back to pinning or zippered leaders. Leadergrips or Red Snappers (if you have strength in your hands) are the only way to go, in my opinion. We can load a back in 10 minutes or less with the Leadergrips.