This past weekend, I had some help carrying eight 4×8 sheets of type X drywall up a flight of stairs. It was not easy. I know the sheets couldn't have weighed more than 80 lbs, but it felt like they weighed a ton. I need to get more up the same flight, but won't have help this time and I am not keen to paying a few hundred bucks to have it done.
Some research has lead me to the Gorilla Gripper and PanelHandle. I've read that the Gorilla Gripper can damage drywall. Haven't found much else about the PanelHandle. However, the demos I've seen on YouTube show them using it to carry sheets of plywood.
I ended up getting a hand-held panel carrier from Lowe's last week thinking it would help. It goes under the sheet and you lift it with your right hand and hold the top of the sheet with your left (or the other way around). It turned out not to help at all.
I really like the Gorilla Gripper provided that it doesn't damage drywall.
Best Answer
The way the GG would damage the drywall is by putting too much torque pressure on a single spot while you're lifting, since the GG is naturally going to want to twist the panel at the point it grips, given the way you have to hold it.
You probably can protect the drywall by using a foot long or so piece of 1/2" thick wood (like a strip of plywood cut to 3" x 12") putting it on the far side of the panel as you clamp with the GG. That way the wood will absorb the torque pressure and distribute it more evenly along the drywall making it less likely to snap at the pressure point.