Hammers Reviews

I don't see how throwing this battery into a landfill is more environmentally friendly than recycling it! (refer to manufacturer's hype).

I've always read that in order for equipment to save you, it has to be with you. The ResQMe Mini is pretty small - about 3 inches long with the keyring/protector inserted and 1 1/4" wide and 5/8" tall.

It has a plastic insert blade guard which "locks" into place to protect the razor blade intended to cut through a stuck seat belt (or potentially cut through clothes or shoes that are caught if the fabric is thin enough). I have to admit that I'm disappointed in this design to some degree. While I understand the necessity, I think that a dedicated lanyard or keyring hole in the body casing would have proven stronger and less likely to fail. It's not that the insert is easy to fall out, it's just that it can. The razor is firmly seated and double edged, so it's very sharp.

The spring loaded glass breaker uses a hardened steel pin which is hidden behind a plastic cowl. This cowl is difficult to depress, but it charges the spring for the pin to release with enough pressure to break the side window of your car. The spike is self-resetting and may be used many times. The manufacturer, states that it takes 12lbs (5kg) of force to fire. The tool will not break windshields or laminated glass. Some auto side windows are laminated! So check your vehicle model or call your dealer as this may not work in your particular car (though it's not common yet, many cars are getting safety upgrades now). It should break most rear windows too.

While the Mini Escape tool is small enough to fit in a pocket, it could be bulky on a keychain. I like to keep my accessories to a bare minimum, so I'd prefer it in a smaller formfactor. I've already noted the problem with the keyring mounting position. The quality of the plastic is very good and the blade hook is reinforced well. I'm giving it a 3.5, rounding down for the weak keyring placement.

I think that many people wouldn't mind carrying this in their pocket or on their keyring. I will do so, since that is why I bought it, but I hope the NGV folks who make the ResQMe line of products comes out with a more compact design with a permanent lanyard hole.

Amazon price isnt bad, but the drill runs hot under heavy loads, decent battery life, seems pretty rugged. I like that is heavier than most hammer drills, though this would be a problem if you used it as your primary cordless drill. Over all it's a good tool at a good value if you need a heavy cordless drill to supplement you smaller primary screw shooter.

This hammer does not have a milled face like the info said it did. It pings like a piano tuner. Other wise it works fine.

The hammer head is really the inovative thing here. Most of the head is titanium with a steel cap. In between the steel cap and the titanuim there is a small rubber disk. This disk absorbes shock and prevents the steel and titanium from damaging each other. I found it to be wonderful when driving hardened nails into concrete or when striking some other very hard surface. However in time the conection will loosen up and the steel will float on the head. This gives the hammer a bit of a sloppy feel when driving nails. The steel cap also is heavy, and gives the hammer a bit of an unbalanced feel. As with all California framing style heads, pulling nails is not easy as there is little curve to the claws and top of head. After about 8 monthes of full time use, the head began to detach from the fiberglass handle and eventually did detach completely. I would like to install a wooden handle, but am having a hard time finding the one Vaughn makes. I have not contacted Vaughn about the detached head. Overall, I am not crazy about the hammer, but would probably still be using it if it were togather.

As a timber framer, I bought it to fill in between my Dewalt 8 1/4" and Makita 16". The thing that came in my shiny red box is all but useless as a tool. Some part of me hopes to read that Milwaukee never made a 10 1/4" saw and that what I bought was a backstreet knock-off. As others have said, the saw cannot be used for accurate deep cuts. If accuracy is not important, and your just looking for greater depth of cut, save some money and buy a cheap chainsaw. You will be happier with the results. I wish I had ponied up the money (about $465) for the Makita 10 1/4 the first time around, but here I go now. If after reading this you are still interested in this saw, I've got one for sale!

No offense to Taiwainese folks, I'm just big on domestic tools. Hey Amazon! Your Technical Data link says USA for Coutry of Manufacture. (I've noted in several instances of tools I know to be imported that the listing says they were made here.) The box, maybe but the saw was made in Taiwan. Maybe that was just the couple of these I've seen and used and the rest are made here (doubt it). Gave it two stars because even though it's junk, it's a Milwaukee and it's powerful. Not accurate like everyone else has said. Buy a Big Foot!

Complaints are overblown. I've used this for framing, fencing and decking without significant problems -- just a bit of fettling prior to each use.

Depth adjustment is by a WEIRD post-mount system -- never saw such a BIZARRE thing before. It's imperfect, but I can't suggest a better way to rigidly fix the position of blade-to-saw and get every bit of blade exposed for the deepest cuts.

Gauge of the base plate is a trade-off on weight (& balance) vs. durability. If I felt I couldn't rely on it, I'd have a steel plate base fabricated and fitted, but so far it works great.

Careful setup and periodic realignment are VITAL for accuracy on this beast (esp. as to pitch of cut -- that post-mount can shift), but take no real time once you learn the saw. [Hint: Take five minutes and fabricate a calibration slot block to keep the blade perpendicular to the base while tightening that crazy post-mount. Make extra calibration blocks for all angles you routinely use. Add a wide stand slot beside the blade calibration slot to provide a base to set the saw on between cuts, rather than dropping it on the ground to warp the plate, gall the plate and knock the saw out of alignment. Stop being a lazy, whinny dummy.]

I also use the Makita 5402NA 16-15/16" saw and the Skil HD5860 wormdrive 8-1/5" (as well as other great Bosch, Makita and Porter-Cable saws). Each one, like this, is a 5-star NICHE tool but only a 4-star GENERAL tool. Savvy?

Save your hard earned dollars and add another 10-20$ for regular drill. This drill performs poorly when drilling in concrete. I could see smoke coming out of the drill when driving 2.5 inch deck screws. My cordless Craftsman drill had more power and was only warm. Ok, you say that it is not meant to drive deck screws. Agree, but this unit overheats when making 1/8 inch pilot holes. Shame on Bosch. Luckily, I paid only thirty bucks at Walmart on clearance. I thought what a great deal. Wrong.

Im not impressed with this drill. It's ok with wood but the hammer is not that powerful, and it also neede regular maintenance.

I bought this drill in order to set some masonry screws into brick. I have found it to be excellent for this purpose and have had no trouble at all with the tool. I can see that it would be underpowered for heavy work. For someone who just needs something to help with the occasional masonry drilling job this would be the one to get.

Back of hat does not read "make the nail bleed" as stated in the advertiment, but rather Dead on Tools. I was very disappointed.

I like the hat, it looks good, and has a quality adjustment strap [not one of those cheap plastic straps we all hate], but....

...Made in China?

Look if "Dead On" want's to supply the American Worker with quality tools, I think it's wise to sell us "Amarican Made" hats and other products too.

I love these hats and were nothing but. I get so many comments. Nobody seems to know what deathstick means. Is that a snowboard manufacturer? Is that a band? Every now and then somebody will say. Do you frame? I say no, but I am aware these guys make some of the best framing hammers on the planet. Best quality tools period. These hats are equally fine. I work out in them daily ride bikes, work in the yard ect. It takes a good year or two of constant abuse to wear one out. And when I say wear out I mean color faded, not ripped. The only one I damaged was because I hot dried it in dryer and it shrunk to small to wear. I now wash them in the sink w/ hot water and let air dry over night. When the black gets faded I buy a new one. Old one goes to goodwill in fine condition.

I have not used this drill that much and the cooling fan broke.
You have to buy a new armature to get a new fan. The armature is back ordered and not available from the company. I guess this is a big problem with this model drill. The last 2 Black & Decker drills I owned were junk, this drill was a gift as was the second.I have only purchased 1 Black & Decker for myself and this is why! Avoid anything from Black & Decker unless you want something to throw away in a year.

this thing really smoked a lot when I was mixing thinset with it. I can't knock it for the price, but it won't last very long for what I need it for...you get what you pay for...

I have bought 3 of these drills to mix my drywall mud, and to put in tapcons once and a wile. On every drill, the forward, and reverse switch would get stuck, and it feels like it's gona break. It seems to be pretty strong, but when I mix a bucket of mud, I can smell it overheating. I won't buy another one untill they fix that switch!...

I burned up this drill in less than 10 minutes on the first hole that I drilled. Drill got too hot to touch in less than 5 minutes. I was using a 1" bit in masonry. If you need a heavy duty drill, look elsewhere.

I bought this drill to mix mortar for tile about a year ago. I have done about 6 small to medium sized tile jobs since then. It has only drilled about 8 small holes in concrete for anchors and besides that, some holes in 2x4's for running wires. Thing worked like a champ until now. After drilling one 3/8 hole in concrete, it made it about an inch down on the second one and just slowly ran out of speed and just stopped. (just like the other review posted) No noises pops or anything.....just a smell of warm electrical parts. Left me hanging with two holes left to drill! Big store tells me that it is in the manufactures hands now. The receipt is long gone...so I am sure that I am out of luck. Could be a design flaw or could be just a fluke. I have the Bosch sliding 12" and the Bosch table saw and I am very happy with them.

I'm not going to knock on Bosch for this drill as I own several of their power tools. I've had the 1199 for about 2 months and after about a total of 9 hours of use the motor finally burnt out while drilling with one of Bosch's 3/4" blue granite bits. It's the drill's max rated size for concrete. I've only used the 1199 for concrete and this is the largest bit I've fitted to it while drilling through my driveway which is about 5 inches thick. After continuous use for 3 hours straight the motor finally gave out, but never showed any symptoms of straining. The 3/4" bit was used only for about 1/2 hour total. So tonight I'm heading to Lowes for a return or possibly an exchange.
I've considered the Ridgid Pulse hammer drill (very similar)when I chose the Bosch model. I'm having second thoughts about the Bosch now. I'm not dissapointed with the 1199, just concerned about it's durabilty.


11/22/2004 - I ended up exchanging it for another and problems again! After about 4 hours of continuous use, the drill started stalling and losing power even before the anti-kickback clutch engaged. I let it cool off for about 40 minutes and the power resumed to normal. This had to be done several times and this 2nd drill just wasn't reliable enough for me to keep again. So it was returned for good. I ended up buying a Hilti TE 6-C rotary hammer. It's 2 and a half times the price, but I'd rather not deal with the frustration with an unreliable piece of equipment. The Hilti allowed me to finish the job much sooner drilling in identical conditions the Bosch was subjected to. But then I can't expect too much from the Bosch unit because the Hilti was designed for daily heavy industrial use. -Guess I was expecting too much from the 1199 as these two units are in totally different tool classes.