Abstract: A hand instrument with variable grip arrangement has an instrument body of the type to be held between the fingers of the hand for use, the body having an active end and an opposite end. A resilient material forms a grip around the body near the active end. Radial expansion beams are under the grip for bending radially outwardly for expanding the grip into an expanded ergonomic position and for resiliently returning to a straightened condition for contracting the grip into a contracted storage position. Cams or threads or other mechanisms engage the beams for moving them between the expanded and the contracted positions with rotation of a part of the instrument body.