I don't know how everyone else will respond but when I messed with it in the store last week it felt extremely weak like a toy almost. It may have been that it was just because it was a demo but I'm can't say for sure. Basically you just pull the legs out one at a time, and press a release button at the top of the legs and push the leg back in to retract. To me it was like widening and shortening a set of tin curtain hangers, like the generic ones at Wal-Mart. I was really disappointed since I thought it was a cool idea. Again, it could just be that there was a lot of dirt in the leg tracks making it seem weak and scratchy. Please go to the store and look at it before you buy it. You are either going to love it or hate it, but I wouldn't purchase something on-line without being able to handle it at some point before making up my mind. Good luck!!