I recently posted about the new ToughBuilt aviation snips that are coming to Lowe’s. Well, it looks like that might just be the tip of the iceberg.
ToughBuilt has not shared many details about their new tools, but the great thing about public companies is that, even if they don’t provide a lot of information to press or media outlets, they might give sneak peeks to investors.
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I was tipped off about a presentation that was given in mid-December, and downloaded the slides.
They say:
ToughBuilt is a disruptive brand dedicated to creating smarter solutions, superior quality product, and feature packed value for professional & serious builders.
ToughBuilt provided investors with a roadmap of new tool launches, revealing that they will be striking, driving, cutting, twisting, prying, and slicing into a broad range of product categories.
Shown above is one of the hero images they use to tease their deeper foray into the hand tools category.
That image is literally the only clue we have about the plans for a new line of hammers, but it’s enough to turn some heads.
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The hammer concept looks to be a 22oz hammer with rip claw and “Shock Block” feature – perhaps some kind of spring-based rebound energy dissipation mechanism that responds in a similar way as a dead blow hammer or mallet?
Will these tools be coming to Lowe’s as well?
I have lots of questions, and hopefully ToughBuilt can answer some of them. I’ll be watching ToughBuilt closely with interest.
ToughBuilt has walked the fine line between gimmick and innovation before, but their products – at least in my past and limited experiences – have delivered on user benefits.
Other brands have disrupted industry norms, such as Fiskars with their IsoCore hammers. There’s still room for more brands to think and develop new out-of-the-box tools. Is that what ToughBuilt is doing? We’ll see.
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Pete
Can I just say that I really with ToughBuilt would update their website already? It doesn’t showcase any of the newer bags that are being sold at Lowe’s, shows zero of their hand tool offerings, and provides very little information about what other product lines they currently have available.
I understand that there’s some transition going on – the newish Lowe’s exclusivity agreement showing up, along with older product being cleared out of Menards’ shelves… But it’s pretty frustrating to go online and find fragmented information.
Stuart
New tool bags? What new tool bags? (I don’t expect you to answer, this is aimed at ToughBuilt.)
They said the tools coming out at Lowe’s won’t be on their website because they’re only available at Lowe’s.
*shrug*
The investor presentation says that a “mega website” is launching this year.
Jared
I hope that hammer works as good as it looks.
I can’t quite figure out the mechanism. Is the block next to the hammer face with a spring behind it? What does that bolt do – is the hammer head detachable from the handle?
Jared
I was googling, found that Vaughan advertises a “shock block” in some of their hammers. Vaughan says they have “a patented Shock-Block plug in its head, using hickory and rubber to absorb shock.”
I have no idea if that’s related, but maybe this mechanism also absorbs vibration like Vaughan’s instead of having a deadblow action? I’m hoping for the deadblow myself, because that sounds neat and innovative.
Jared
Is this possibly another photo of a “toughbuilt” hammer? No shock block, but shares a lot of other similarities. Perhaps an early prototype used because it looked cool in the photo for their hammer loop?
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91o8Cgef8IL._AC_SX679_.jpg
Jared
Couple more photos. Here’s possibly the bottom of the hammer:
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91ZteS+x0lL.jpg
These are different striking tools and just look like concept renderings:
https://s3images.coroflot.com/user_files/individual_files/large_141093_r9ipfehzbw3sdyktj8r73myqb.jpg
https://s3images.coroflot.com/user_files/individual_files/large_141093_ool8ibrznzqb0a5veivfzniz2.jpg
https://s3images.coroflot.com/user_files/individual_files/large_141093_rhfoirnfv7rvhzfarsmxhi05v.jpg
https://s3images.coroflot.com/user_files/individual_files/large_141093_nu56rukm2ladwngdhgg6ke8ip.jpg
James
They look like someone that worked hard on the whole Xtreme stuff back in the early 00’s. Most of that looks uncomfortable to use.
Stuart
Could be an early prototype. Or it could be a prop because they didn’t want other brands’ tools to be recognizable.
DRT
It is totally unclear from the picture. Making a guess, I’d say the bolt is a pivot. The head probably moves (a little), and the silver thing is either a spring, or a damper, or both. Like the suspension on a mountain bike.
I agree, it does look pretty good.
Bob
Looks space age and gimmicky . But if it saves some elbows guys will shell out serious cash for it.
The link Jared posted to the prototype??? looks beter and more legit.
Honestly though, even if it was rainbow colored with sparkles and glitter on it, if it kept my elbow from excruciating pain back when I swung a hammer for a living I’d buy it in a heartbeat.
Serious question: besides for the odd misfire in a pneumatic/battery gun and maybe a few spikes to hold something in place temporarily, do guys even swing hammers all day every day anymore? Maybe everyone’s out of practice so we don’t know how to swing a hammer anymore so we’re hurting ourselves so we’re buying more expensive hammers as a bandaid? I don’t know. I don’t do much of that these days.
Leo B.
I believe hammers are used extensively for form work, so concrete carpenters are on the short list for a lot of these types of hammers.
Tim
I believe the bolt goes to the face on one side and to the back side of the handle on the back and that the head portion is largely “floating” besides this.
Striking the hammer thus causes the head to “float” up the angled section reducing the recoil force and directing what’s left more vertically along the hammer’s shaft.
I do not work for this company, nor had I ever heard of them before your aviation snips post but I used a similarly designed prototype once and it made a huge difference in the way the forces worked.
Jason. W
I only have experience with ToughBuilt tool belts and knee pads. They all exceeded my expectations at the price point I paid. Those knee pads took some major abuse but held up well. The tool belts are a fantastic design and have held up wonderfully.
Jack
My only experience with them is a pair of sawhorses. They have performed well and do the job as intended. Easy to fold, small footprint. Would confidently buy more.
JoeM
…Okay, you gotta stop talking ToughBuilt… My heart is racing, thinking of the saw horses at Home Depot… Ontario, Canada is on total lockdown, and I’m broke… if I go insane and want to go get the saw horses because you keep mentioning ToughtBuilt here on ToolGuyd, I just might risk the $100,000 fine, just to go put my hands on one of these things. Not even buy them, just… look at them to make sure I can feel relief, knowing they haven’t been taken away, or I can’t buy them EVER.
Not kidding about the heart racing… The rest may, or may not, be my weird sense of humour.
JoeM
Though… I am serious that we’re locked down, and the fine is 6 digits. That is also true, along with my heart racing every time I see ToughBuilt being mentioned…
…Sorry…
Tom D
Weird to think I can wander over to the Depot and they might give me the hairy eyeball over my Menards Mask™ Or order direct online.
JoeM
I know. Ontario, and Canada wide actually, we’re taking Covid EXTREMELY seriously. Pfizer has a facility up here in the North, and they’re trying to produce as much as they can for the world. But negotiations for delivery keep hitting snags, and so some provinces are on total lockdown. As in, stay at home or face arrest and major fines, no mass gatherings, masks and hand sanitizer mandatory… etc.
Home Depot won’t give me some side-eye, they’ll see that I don’t have a vehicle (I don’t drive) and I’m not buying anything, and in minutes I will have to face police officers for being out for no reason. Home Depot here in Canada has switched to shortened hours, and curbside pickup or delivery only.
So… all this ToughBuilt talk? Tempting me so hard with the Saw Horses? Very dangerous right now.
And, yeah… I could probably order them online… I’m just trying to get through the quarantine right now, and I don’t particularly have need of them THAT urgently. The lockdown has a slow-rollout lift coming in mid-february. They just wanted to decrease the spread numbers drastically. We’re working on it.
Though… I MUST thank Stuart for one thing with this ToughBuilt thing… It reminded me to bookmark the actual website, where I can browse and look at the products any time I want. So… Yay?
And, yeah… Their Giant Mouth Tool Bags and Tool Organizer Bags are very innovative, as are their Snap-Cap Knee Pad systems. But, even that said… I can’t get past my wish for a pair of C700 Saw Horses (I went and looked them up! Thanks Stuart!)
https://toughbuilt.com/product/c700-sawhorse-jobsite-table
Price only went up to $88 each at Home Depot! I’ve seen the DeWALT Saw Horses as high as $120 EACH! That the ToughBuilt ones are both superior in DESIGN, and in PRICE? I’m smitten. I’m sorry if I’m annoying anyone, but, this is happy stuff for me.
Greg
“disruptive” is one of those marketing terms that always gets to me. Pure corporate buzzword.
JoeM
I don’t like the use of “Disruptive” in marketing either. I usually translate it to mean “Make a Weird Version of what is already there.” But I think, as far as ‘Investment’ goes, I think they are going for “Attempting to unseat another brand for the same share of the market, or be bought by them in the process.”
In the case of ToughBuilt… I almost think they’re auditioning to be a division of DeWALT… The designs, the kinds of products… i mean, Pouches, Knee Pads, Tool Bags, and Saw Horses (Which are Awesome.) and it’s like they’re so detached from eachother in design, that they’re hoping SBD takes notice and does for ToughBuilt, what they did for Stanley. Release versions of DeWALT, Craftsman, Porter Cable, Stanley/Stanley FatMAX, and House Brands Made-By-Stanley coloured editions of all their products. Then the founders walk away with the money, and get to retire or something.
Make no mistake, I will be very obnoxious until I can finally hold a pair of C700 Sawhorses, and a couple of the 30″ tool bags/totes are starting to sing my name… Maybe that knee pad gel snap-cap system… but unlikely on that… And for these products I would LIKE to buy while they’re still, y’know… ToughBuilt… But the way they’re being so covert, even dodging Stuart’s communications? Having to use an INVESTOR communication to find any of this stuff? It really sounds like they’re pitching the company to a third party that has experience selling assets to larger companies.
Who knows? Maybe it’ll be Makita or Bosch that adopts these? Unlikely, considering how similar the products fit with DeWALT and Stanley products… but still… It is most definitely a Made-In-The-USA type of Brand… It may be an asset in coming years to buy them out, own their patents AND their factories to bring more credibility to these brands that are the intended audience for this “Investor Meeting” it’s all designed for?
It’s all speculation at this point. I do know any company calling itself “Disruptive” is attempting to sound more like an innovator company than a manufacturer. They’re trying to sell the fact that they’re different, not selling the fact that they have X or Y product desirability. Which is probably due to how small the company is as a whole. It doesn’t get as much shelf space, or ad space, as the bigger brands, so they have to liquidate to grow at all.
OhioHead
For those folks who want to see newer TB products…..mainly bags, sawhorses, miter stands & kneepads (not the screwdrivers/other hand tools referenced on investor relations part of the TB website (mobile device/app is in the works)).
Got to the Rona (Canadian) website or go to Tractor Supply website & search Toughbuilt.
James
The bulk of ToughBuilt seams to be made for and marketed to the DIY market. I do like the Gelfit kneepads but most of their product is bulky. Their tool pouch’s in theory are great but the whole universal clip system takes up to much space and is uncomfortable. I would rather just have a set of occidental’s bags and some whatever brand of totes/bags/systainers to store and pull from as needed. If they could make a pro line that’s not as bulky I would love to use them. Everytime I walk by it all at Menards I stop and look but it never changes.
For sawhorses it’s either shop/site built or for light quick use the DeWalt folding with metal adjustable legs.
Yadda
That hammer is very gizmotic.