There is much ado about the color of tools these days. Pink tools being the hottest topic. First of all, I have to point out the glaring underlying fact here….WE ACTUALLY HAVE TOOLS MADE FOR WOMEN TO ARGUE OVER!

I worked from 1978 to 2004 as a carpenter and there was no debate. Other than the ounce weight of my hammer, and whether or not I could handle a worm drive power saw. I was limited to what was available, and they were all built and designed with men in mind.

I wore rain gear where the crotch hit my knees (and i wasn’t trying to emulate a gang look); I had to use suspenders to hold my tool belt on so it wouldn’t slip off because they weren’t made small enough; shoved insole inserts into the smallest men’s steel toed boots I could find so I wouldn’t walk out of them as I took a step - and that was just the apparel problem!

The tools themselves were generally too large in circumference for me to grip well. I had to do things like always cut my framing hammer down in length so the end of it wouldn’t bruise my forearm as I swung it. I always had to custom build my own saw horses. I love those new ones now that are made out of heavy plastic and fold up easily so you can throw them in your rig with ease, not to mention store away nicely. No - I had these monster wooden ones so they were low enough for me to work on without feeling like a little kid reaching up to a counter.

I could go on, but here’s the point. Count your blessings that there are some industrious minds out there manufacturing tools sized for the smaller stature of women (and even smaller men). I am not big on the pink thing either…and I know there are various reasons for making tools that color.

One company I know of has a line of pink tools that they use to raise funds for the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer and that is Tomboy Tools out of Denver, Colorado. (tomboytools.com) Having recently lost my mother to an aggressive form of breast cancer I applaud their efforts to fund the fight thru their line of pink tools.

There are others out there who find it “cutesy” and their target market is and will be women who are more concerned about breaking a nail than pounding one. But there is room in this world for all of us. I have never understood why some get so upset about options. Just because these flimsy tools exist, it isn’t a mandate that you have to buy them…so chill.

More designers and innovators are emerging all the time with ideas. Here are some of the companies I have found that appear to have a start on practical tools for women. BarbaraK!.com; Savvytools.com; Tomboytools.com, Tombytrades.com to name a few.

Write them and let them know what you need and let the pink tools live on. We need to be clear about what we need, and not spend energy on criticizing what is out there. I am no longer buckling on my tool belt each day, but I know there is a serious need for tools that are sized for women, but function with the same power as the other mainstream construction tools.

So thank you I say! To all of you who ARE beginning to fill this void. And make it fun to find a color! The boys’ tools have most of the cool ones….blue, turquoise, red, orange, black and gray, green, etc. Do a query and let everyone have some input. I will start it here…

If you could have any color you wanted in a tool line, what would you chose and why? Go to my website www.womenstoolshed.com and submit your ideas as a comment to this article.

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August 18, 2008 9:15 AM

[0+|0-]  rhowan said:

I guess my concern with a lot of these pink tools is whether they're actually functionally different (made for my smaller hands) or whether they just used a different colour paint/plastic. *sigh*

I tried to use one of my Dad's power hand saws and the darn thing was too heavy for me AND the hand grip was so large it hit a pressure point on my thumb that made the side of my hand go numb for 45 minutes. It made me (as a beginner with power tools) feel inept and useless. The last thing I want is to be a clumsy beginner and be using a tool that screams "Lookit me! I'm different! I'm pink! Judge me!".

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