Hand Tool Reviews & Buying Guides

Hand tools make up a large portion of the equipment we carry every day. Pro Tool reviews pays close attention to recent innovations. Our hand tool reviews include knives & cutting tools, wrenches, chisels, fastening tools, hammers, and more. These hand tools covers the gamut from one end of the industry to another. Possibly our favorite series is our best framing hammer review. In that head-to-head review we compared nine popular models. This type of comparison isn’t always possible, but we do test out these tools on the jobsite. Hand Tool Reviews for the Pro Tradesman This is also where you’ll find popular lighting products and even folding knives from Kershaw, CRKT, and Zero Tolerance. Even Milwaukee Tool has new Fastback knives for use by contractors and tradesmen in the field. We try to review as many of these types of tools as possible. This helps us remain a leader in reporting industry trends. This is particularly important when manufacturers add new features or make tweaks to their products. Sometimes they revamp an entire line. Other times they include something that only slightly improves a hand tool over a previous model. It all adds up.

New Bosch DAF220 Miterfinder

Bosch DAF220K Miter Finder Preview

Bosch is making a move into the precise measuring and leveling world with the DAF220 Miterfinder. The days of miss cut angles and wasted trim are over. The Bosch DAF220 Miterfinder is like having four tools in one with functions that include an angle finder, cutting calculator, protractor and a level.

simple man products box finder

Simple Man Products Box Finder

Say dry wall and most guys will tell you they hate working with it. Sure there are the few drywall contractors that seem to love working with the stuff, like the sub contractor we once hired that was able to hang 5/8 inch thick, twelve foot long sheets on a 10 foot ceiling by himself! We are always on the look out for tools that can make drywall work easier for the rest of us.

Malco Redline Handle Tools

Malco Redline Hand Tools for HVAC Pros

Malco recently launched their new Redline Handle group of hand tools. Redesigned in response to trade professionals out in the field, Malco updated their already extensive line of metal working and siding hand tool to offer better grips and other improvements.

Stiletto Titanium Pry Bars

Stiletto Titanium Flat Bars

Stiletto is getting ready to launch a new line of high-performance, super lightweight, titanium pry bars. These Stiletto Titanium Flat Bars combine […]

Goldblatt BladeRunner Drywall Cutter

Goldblatt Blade Runner Drywall Cutting Tool

We ran into Scott Murray of Goldblatt Tool Company who was showing off their new Bladerunner Drywall Cutter. What makes this tool unique and special is that it uses proprietary blades and a magnetic grip to cut both sides of the drywall at the same time. After the cut, it’s just a snap of the board and you’re done. It was kind of hard to believe that the tool actually worked. After trying ti a few times I can say that it’s one of the more innovative tools I’ve seen in a while. With practice it might just end up pushing your drywall knife out of the tool bag.

Swanson TL041M and TL043M Savage Levels Preview

Swanson Savage Levels TL041M and TL043M

This week we got to do some hands on with the new Swanson Savage Torpedo levels. These new levels are made of solid billet aluminum and feature new “Brightview” vials which almost seem to light up from within. The way they are designed they really tend to suck in light to make the level easier to read, even in dimmer areas. The Savage series of levels (including the Lil Savage) have 4 really strong rare earth magnets which, in the demo we tried, allowed us to pick up a 12 pound block of steel without losing grip. If you’re doing commercial work with steel studs this could really come in handy.