i used a buddy's hammer. A victim in one hand and a hammer in the other. I slid my hand down the hammer to strike, ending up with a bunch of fiberglass shards from the shattered handle. Ouch. Oh. I learned the hard way to test my hammers. I was a real mechanic. At the moment I'm just working on my stuff. I have two sets of 5 hammers, one wood and one fiberglass, ranging from 8 to 32 ounces. I've had them for over 20 years. Persuaded many cars and devices. When I'm working things with a hammer, I don't have enough space or patience to "tame" the handles. investigation results. 7 out of 10 hammers have chips and nicks on the handles just below the heads. I love the feel of wooden-handled hammers, but have I switched to plastic? Handles after breaking a second mallet while framing walls or nailing roof tiles. I have a couple of plastic handled hammers that I bought cheap that I really like. Claw holds are not abused in the same way. I like plastic, but I know ballpoint pens will gnaw at my use. I think bullet hits with a steel handle would be the answer. I bought the 16 oz to start with because that's what I use most and both my 16 oz are in rough shape. This coil steel feels great. The grip is comfortable. The balance is good. It seems lighter but it's not, I think it's because the handle is steel (heavier?). good balance I was interested in the shape of the head because it looks weird in the pictures but I've put it on others and the head is identical compared to round and flat ends. I was also wondering at the comments that this is short. It is 1/4" shorter than my 16 oz wood and 1/8" longer than my fiberglass. My 8 and 12 ounces are shorter and my 24 and 32 ounces are an inch or two longer. I wanted to take a picture, but I'm lazy and not very technical. You just have to take my word for it. I don't see many sizes on Revain's or Mfg's website. I'll add the Revain sizes I find to my wish list. Maybe Santa will pick up the clue. If not, I'll end up buying them for myself. I am very happy that my car will break down so I can use my new toy.