It’s a tale as old as time, tool companies rebranding tools as their own. Sometimes this is okay provided it matches their brand, quality level, etc. In some cases the setup to make a tool is so big that several tool brands buy from one or two manufacturers and such is the case with dead blow hammers in general, especially dead blow sledges!
We, Impact Poly Hammers, make 10lb, 12lb, and 15lb dead blow sledge hammers right from raw steel and polyurethane in Saskatoon, SK, Canada. We are only able to find two other brands who make dead blow sledges: Trusty Cook and Wilton. Brands Snap-on, Stanley, Matco, Gearwrench, Cornwell, and Tekton all have their dead blow sledges made by one company so they are all the exact same shape and construction just with different names on them.
****update: Since this post appeared March 16, 2026 one of Trusty Cook's employees reached out on LinedIn and said that they do not build the Stanley Sledge anymore! Even so, this is the exact same design as everyone else has been using since the start of dead blow sledges. See the post here!
Tekton just launched a new YouTube video claiming they have a new lineup of dead blow hammers but they are really just rebranded Trusty Cook! Trusty’s sledge has been around for decades with no updates.
Impact’s sledge design stands apart from other brands making soft face dead blow sledges. We have incorporated the same durable polyurethane used in our handheld lineup, providing a soft face capable of delivering significant force.
What truly distinguishes our design is that the polyurethane is bonded directly to the steel. This ensures that even if the outer coating chips, the damage will not spread or cause the cover to peel off.
Besides a sledge head detaching from the handle and becoming a projectile, the second worst disaster is for the shot to come out of the head. Some sledges contain up to 1800g or 64oz of shot, can you imagine that all over your shop floor or worse yet, inside of a D11 CAT engine! Our fully welded head (lifetime guarantee no shot will ever come out) uses super thick steel and a heavily gusseted neck joint.
To round out Impact’s sledge features is the spring steel handle. The shot in the head absorbs vibration but as a secondary feature our handle also flexes slightly when stuck to further protect the user.
The best part is you can drive over the handle and it will spring right back into shape as seen in our video here.
The spring steel handle is bonded into the neck joint with polyurethane which further isolates vibration from the user.
If you want to try out the newest innovations in soft faced, dead blow sledges check out our product page here.
