Abstract: A spin-on oil filter comprising a generally tubular body housing a filtering element and a retractable, external handle that can be manually gripped and twisted for filter installation and removal. The handle comprises a pair of spaced apart, elongated legs and an integral grip extending between the legs for grasping by a user. A pair of elongated, spaced apart sleeves diametrically extending from the body frictionally slidably captivate the legs. A stop is disposed on the distal end of each leg to limit displacement of the handle. The arched legs yieldably maintain said handle in either a semipermanent retracted state or a semipermanent deployed state, as they snappingly frictionally react with the surrounding sleeves. The distal and top portions of the legs are arched more that the intermediate portion, so that the handle may relatively easily slide between the semipermanent retracted or deployed states. The preferred embodiment employs round bar stock to form the handle.