A couple of years ago ToolGuyd bought a couple of hammers to test out, to see if I could find the best one.
I delayed the project multiple times before finally giving up.
Most of the hammers above were purchased, with one or two being older test samples included because modern copies were difficult or impossible to source.
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Do you know what I learned? Nothing substantial.
A long time ago, when I first started ToolGuyd around 17 years ago, I had questions that couldn’t easily be answered.
Did I want a wood-handled hammer, or steel? 16 ounce was a good starting point, but should I buy a 22 ounce next, or 12 ounce?
Did I want a curved claw for pulling nails or straight rip claw for prying?
Straight handle vs axe-style?
Over the years, trends appeared. Nail-starting notches with magnets became common on most framing hammers and others close in size or weight. High-velocity hammers became a thing – “hits like titanium but at a fraction of the cost.”
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I have tried so many hammers over the years. With all types of brands, styles, and sizes of nail hammers in front of me, there was just one question to answer. Which one is the best?
I couldn’t answer it. Some were better than others, but as for which one was overall best, the results blended together.
This is not like sanders, where you can rank the tools based on scratch pattern uniformity or dust collection.
You’ve got to take a hammer, swing it, and then swing it enough to where you know its feel apart from others. And then you try another one to see if you like it better.
When you get a prescription for corrective glasses or contact lenses, there are all kinds of measurements they can take. However, that’s not where the prescription comes from. They sit you down in front of a machine with different lenses that can be arranged in many combinations.
“Is this clearer or blurrier? Better, or worse?” They ask this as they switch between “before” and “after” lens combinations. And then they repeat it until they’ve honed in a combination that provides the clearest view to your eyes. That’s where your prescription comes from.
Choosing the best hammer is a similar process, and the same is true for other tools, although it takes a bit longer.
There are many measurements you can take, some of which require a hammer to be cut into its parts.
What matters most is the sum of all of the parts, and how it feels to you.
You can choose between wood handles, fiberglass, or steel. No grip, rubbery cushion grip, or in the case of Estwing, laminated leather grip.
Some hammers are longer, others shorter. The striking face diameter can vary, and so can the shape.
There are many ways you can quantify hammer performance, but it comes to qualitative differences. Each hammer has a character, with most very close to each other.
And a lot of times none of that matters because it comes down to price. What’s the best hammer at $15? $25? $40?
I hit a lot of nails and then pulled them out. That’s not enough.
If I swung a different hammer every day for a month, at the end I might have a lead as to which was best for me. Or maybe not.
What I realized is that there are 2 types of potential hammer users – casual users who probably won’t ever tell a difference between a group of like-style hammers, and more demanding users who should probably explore different options to find their specific preferences.
Basically, it didn’t seem to matter, and so I abandoned the testing.
Many of the people who cared most about finding “the best” didn’t really need the best – almost anything would have suited them. For frequent and demanding users, the best option might not have been what’s best for them.
It was definitely interesting to explore the different options and feature combinations.
While possible to come up with objective ranking, this is a subjective type of tool.
Which brand has the best hex wrenches? I have seen different reviews and recommendations over the years, and almost always they conflict with my actual experiences with various brands and tools.
So what is one supposed to do, when the numbers suggest what’s best and worse, but this is in disagreement with hands-on experience?
The value for me was in further exploring my own preferences.
My family got together last month. One of my cousins was carrying around a windbreaker – in peak summer heat – and using the pockets to haul around his gear. He’s young – just started college – and this seemed effective although not ideal.
At his age, I just crammed everything into cargo short pockets. Carrying a light jacket for its pockets seemed like a good alternative to having everything mash around legs.
Other family members – who I had previously introduced to one of my favorite gear bag and pouch brands – had tried to convince him to try a small bag. He said he didn’t like bags. Shoulder bags were off the table.
We got together a few days later, and I brought some gear pouches with me, for him to potentially choose from.
I bought them for myself to try, thinking they’d be perfect for hauling some of my small tools or gear around, but thus far haven’t put them to much use.
He loved the size, loved the colors, and I gave him both.
Some people like shoulder bags, others like gear pouches. You can’t force a preference.
While everyone was together, my older cousins brought up the kitchen knives I bought them a while back, and how those have been their favorites. None of their favorites will appear on any “best” lists.
Another of my younger cousins need precision screwdrivers, as a roommate absconded with hers. I’m putting together a couple of spares, along with a Japanese-style wood-cutting saw for her to try. I don’t think she’ll care about the screwdrivers as long as they work for what she needs, but maybe the Japanese pull saw will prove more favorable than others she has used.
Back to hammers. Do you like straight hammers or curved? Heavier or lighter? Nail claw or rip claw? Wood, fiberglass, steel, or maybe titanium handles? What type of grip?
The answers will differ, sometimes based on the type of work, other times individually.
I should have ended my hammer testing earlier, but I kept trying to wade through. There are plenty of fine choices, and I came up with 10 different recommendations for 10 types of users.
The same happened when I bought a bunch of linesman and long nose pliers for comparison. Except for the lowest quality tools, it really came down to preference.
I have learned similar about most types of hand tools, and sometimes powered equipment as well, but I was somehow convinced I could cull the groups of tools to just a couple of “best” recommendations.
I – or rather ToolGuyd – buy all kinds of hand tools so as to explore their differences, especially in character, quality, and user experience. Somehow I expected that the differences between hammers would more concrete and less abstract than simply how they felt.
At the end of everything, I donated most of the hammers except the ones I’d consider buying again for myself. I still haven’t chosen – it came down to Dewalt and Estwing – and I expect to part with the rest sometime soon. Are those the best? No. I just like them the best. Mostly.
Searching for the best product in a particular category can be a way for shoppers to begin their research. What I’ve found, however, is that such recommendations are often taken as gospel.
I will also often see requests on social media – “what’s best [specific tool]?” Well, what are you going to use it for?
Yesterday there was a post where someone needs tools for work and said they always only see Dewalt and Milwaukee around their commercial jobsites. People are recommending Ryobi without asking questions. Ryobi is okay, sure, but is that the right choice for say a utility worker (not that most would have to supply their own power tools)?
I feel that, as a shopper, “best product” recommendations are most helpful when they don’t matter, and least helpful when the actual tool use and experience matter a lot.
Consumers today seem highly focused on superlatives. They want the best tools – the fastest, the most powerful, and so forth. But is this ever what they need? How often is the “best” really the best for them?
Almost every day now, my news feed is full of content mill “tool buying guides” with bland and often disagreeable recommendations and rankings.
Stop caring about what’s best, and focus more on what’s best for you. If you’re using your tools every day, sometimes that will mean trying some new things.
As I work through my backlog, that’s what I’ll be focusing more on – the feel and complete experience of different tools.
Do you prefer tool belts? Suspenders? Pouches? Bags? Boxes? Sometimes you’ve got to try them all to find out.
If you need the best anything, as opposed to simply being inclined to think you do, you should be seeking your own answers. If there’s one thing I’ve learned here at ToolGuyd over the years, it’s this.
Charlie
Bluegrass hammers were the best. Belknap out of Louisville, sadly gone now for almost 40 years. Mine are 55+ years old, and still my favorites. Saved for special occasions now.
Clay
I have some Bluegrass pliers that were my dad’s, but no hammers. Will keep a look out.
Gary T
I think it is a case of not which one is best, but which one is the best for what you are going to do with it. Sometimes I find that the one I like best will change. That is why I like to have a few around so I can use the one that seems better for the job that day.
Everyone is different and what is best for one person is not the best for someone else.
ABC
Tools are a crazy market, you have real everyday users who wear out hammer faces and sharpening stones, beginners who just need to get something done, and people who view $3000 tool cabinets as garage fashion accessories. You can say the same for $80k pavement princess trucks.
What’s best often has nothing to do with how they will use it or what the person needs–or even the specs of the tool. My friend recently bought a car because he “liked how it looks,” I mean can you even imagine? The best is the most expensive, flashiest marketing, the one you saw in the tool belt of the real pro you hired to do your roof. I really don’t know which consumer brands vie for, the guy who will buy 20 hammers in his life or the guy who will pay triple for one.
Wayne R.
Back when I was working at cellular sites, I collected a pile of tools that were left scattered all over. It was easy to leave something somewhere and have no idea where you left it when it was discovered missing.
From this pile, I grabbed a pair of 8″ dikes to cut some fence wire. I stuck it past the leaves around the fence, got it over the wire and squeezed. I squeezed that tool closed and the wire wasn’t cut. The handle ends were touching and the jaws were wide open. Into the recycle bin. Nobody wants that stuff.
The adage about “What’s the best camera? The one you have with you.” plays here too. To be in a tool kit, it’s gotta be reliable, no question. And handy, available. Plus, we all like to feel some pride in the thoroughness & quality of the kit we’ve assembled.
Is it the best? It’s here, in my hand, and it’ll get the job done. In this moment, it’s the very best.
Matt_T
Best hammers for me are steel or fiberglass handles for durability. Don’t really care about stuff like ergonomics and vibration. Anything requiring a lot of hammering I’m reaching for an air hose.
Luis
Is there any chance you can get through some of the Bosch tools that were presented a couple days ago on the official YT channel?
Stuart
I haven’t watched the video yet – it’s been on my to-do list!
Big Richard
Maybe add the new DeWalt Atomic grinders to that to do list, too.
https://www.dewalt.com/searchlanding?search=atomic+grinder
Stuart
Thanks – I’ll ask Dewalt PR if there’s a fact sheet to help me get up to speed. Those look alright, although I wish they were 12V Max instead of 20V Max Atomic.
Big Richard
I’m still waiting on the release or sell sheets to get some more details myself, but it is a good start. I’m guessing/hoping they will have them on hand at FABTECH next week.
The die grinders would have been great on 12v.
Lawson
I have 2 older Estwing 20oz. straight claw, doubt I’ll use anything else, but I don’t make a living hammering either. I use them mostly for demo/prying as I’m a kitchen and bath rehab/remodel.
CA
+1 on Estwing. Never had an issue and prefer the straight claw for splitting shims off 2 x 4s.
Jason T.
For me the best is whatever I like to use the most. And best is not necessarily the most expensive either. I like quality, but a lot of the time quality can be found in lower cost tools. I’ve got all kinds of brands of tools, from Harbor Freight to Snap On. But what is best for me and what I like to use the most is my old made in the USA Craftsman. Raised panel wrenches, people used to hate on. But it’s what I grew up on and they feel fine in the hand and they still work. I’ve got better wrenches, but I still reach for the old raised panel Craftsmans first. Best hammer for me, a fiberglass Craftsman hammer that my dad gave me when I was a teenager. It was just like his that he bought in 1980 and that he built our house with. His hammer has a lot of wear and tear on it, much more than mine, but they are the same model and he taught me a lot of things with that hammer, so that’s why it’s the best hammer for me.
frobo
You said it well; a hammer is a very personal item and what you use obviously has a lot of history behind it. I learned a lot from my dad too, and many of my tool buying decisions were based on what he (and his father before him) used. When it came to hammers, though, I made my own way. My dad had a couple of wood-handled True Temper “Perfect” curved claw hammers that I just never warmed up to. For me I settled fairly early on an Estwing 16 oz framer with blue vinyl handle. (That, plus a 32 oz Vaughan waffle head framer that hits like a sledge hammer but isn’t kind to my arm and elbow so it’s saved for special occasions.)
As for wrenches and other things, most of the stuff out there is, in fact, good enough. I continue to use Craftsman raised panel combo wrenches in fractional sizes, and they work every bit as good as the other sets I have from MAC, Snap-On, Husky, Gearwrench, etc. In reality, a lot of hand tool buying decisions are probably not made on functionality but on price, as well as intangible attributes (aesthetics, bragging rights, etc.). Comparisons of actual functionality of common tools would really be splitting hairs in most cases.
It’s a slightly different situation with power tools; I suspect there’s a wider gap between the best and the worst of them. Still, any of the better known brands will definitely get the job done.
Bonnie
I determined pretty early on on my consumer life that very rarely is there any universal *best* of anything. Particularly anything you put your hands on. You can compare stats and specs all day long, but for the vast majority of things, the specs only need to be good enough and the things that will actually make the difference between “good enough” and “I love this” aren’t going to be captured on a spec sheet or in a shootout.
Laptops? Hammers? Drills? Almost always the things I find that draw me to one or the other are so personal I wouldn’t use them as reasons to recommend them to others. My uses are rarely pushing anything to it’s absolute performance maximum. I’m not rendering CGI movie frames or drilling 3″ boreholes all day. The things that matter tend to be weight, balance, handfeel, and just stuff like where did the designer put certain switches and keys and if those are the places I naturally look for them. Even somewhat objective differences like repairability and top-end power… Depend entirely on the user’s preferences.
No listicle or “we tested 37 drills and here’s the BEST ONE!!!!11!” is going to talk about the grip having a 15* angle or a 10* angle, or the depth of the trigger and engagement curve, and even if they do they can’t tell me which one I will actually prefer in use. But pick it up in the store and I can instantly tell you which one fits my arm/hand better. Especially in this day and age where frankly most tools (and phones, and laptops, and blenders, etc) are more than powerful enough for regular users, and it’s only certain quite specific jobs that really need to bother with top-end specs or anything cutting edge.
OldDominionDIYer
My father built my childhood home(s) with a 16 ounce Fuller hammer, the all metal with rubber grip version. I naturally gravitated to that style and have owned and still own many metal shanked rubber grip hammers of various weights and style, and you’re right there is little difference in performance. I like the traditional smooth face, round head and I do like the nail magnet feature only because I have both and learned my tendencies. Then I went out and bought a long wooden handled Milwaukee 19 ounce smooth faced model and have been exceedingly happy with it, often thinking about how I’ve been missing out all these years! I still have a lot of various styles and configurations but that hickory “ax” handled style Milwaukee has quickly become my favorite and I’m not sure I can say exactly why, but it just works for me.
arlcrane
Why am I wasting time reading this? I should be out swinging my 45 year old wooden handle hammer. Couldn’t care less what brand it is. It’s my favorite, although I have many others that cost a small fortune.
Steve
Dalluge was always in my bags. California framing from 1990 to 2010. I’m still looking for my old hammer I don’t know if you can even buy a Duluth today?
I switched to titanium as I got older. Then they got really expensive. For framing, it’s a straight claw.
I don’t climb ladders anymore so that makes me a handyman and I use a shorter wood handled 12 oz Vaughn and I’m happy.
Thanks to everybody for the discussions! don’t
Mister Mike
My hammers are less about the weight and more about the feel of the handle and swing. My favorite is an EASCO 16 oz with a wooden handle that has a twist and bulge for a right hand grip. For heavier knocking I have a BERYLCO which I found beneath a house that was built in 1905-10. It’s made of a bronze alloy to prevent sparks. I have three 100+yr old ballpeen hammers from my dad that he inherited. My set of Hart framing/trim hammers still work but have lost that bright shiny quality that made me buy them when they were first introduced. Recently I came across a hardware dealer at a flea market who had hickory/ash hammer handles at $1.50 each. I bought 4 with metal wedges too. Never can have too many hammers.