A very happy surprise was another birthday present I received from a good friend who knows my proclivities, something I in fact tried to find for myself but had alas been unable to find for myself. So, last week I was handed A Dead On - Annihilator Superhammer as fearsome a smasher as I could hope for in such a package.
This is a 35cm (14"), 800g (28oz) piece of forged steel. Tools adorn it top and bottom. The split head is made up of a solid and 1" square striking face, which features a Dead On® bottle opener at its chin. Good for those post-wrecking but pre-zombie smashing bottle of Nuka Cola (because you don't want to open bottles that are going to go in your mouth to have infected brain matter contaminated chunks stuck to the lip ...). The flip side of the striking face is Nail Puller/Tile Ripper which is a strong chisel edged tool-face, curved slightly to assist in slipping under and levering up what ever you are prying up.
Between the striking face and the "Nail Puller" the "Board Straightener" sits ready to grip and twist. The two sets of teeth are just over 4cm (1 5/8") and just under 3cm (1 1/8") in width, respectively, which is reported to fit standard board sizes (I don't actually know what this means). Below the chisel edged Nail Puller/Tile Ripper lies the frightfully formed Demolition Axe, which curves down almost to the edge of the rubberised grip. This is not a shaving-sharp axe, rather that the steel of the haft is formed to a triangular ridge to an angle of around 45 degrees to the full width of the haft. This leaves a very hardy working edge, and is intended for drywall, thin wooden structures, shingles and conduit. The middle of the curve is notched with what appears to be a wire-stripper, but could also be used as a nail-puller as well. Here you can see the Annihilator in it's current home, which is wedged in the middle of the Bullock Echo daypack and the Bravo hydration Pack combo which I reviewed recently. It fits in the mid-channel of double-wide PALS/MOLLE quite nicely, and nestles nicely behind the main drag-handle, without protruding out the bottom.At just over an inch in width, it is too wide to slot into PALS/MOLLE on it own.
The tail of the tool features several other interesting combination tools. The tip is a rugged ridged point, which could be used for penetration, or scoring as needed. Within the tip is the "Multi Purpose Wrench/Nail Puller", which as suggested includes a hex-bolt socket, and a wide feeding nail puller. The manufacturers suggest using the wrench for releasing concrete forms and other general uses and the tip for smashing, cracking and chipping away at tile, brick or other things deemed "to go away".
So, I felt it was a good idea to put the Annihilator up against the mighty Stanley Fatmax Fubar to give a good comparison. Let me first say I haven't yet done any real smashing with the Annihilator, just waved it around and banged a few posts and bricks. However, at 800g vs 1300g it already comes up significantly leaner. You can see in the side-by-side pictures that it is thinner and narrower. If a slighter tool is what you are after, this is it.
I noticed a slight bend to the left in my Annihilator, I cant tell if this is a design feature or a flaw, but it was certainly of little concern. The Annihilator lacks the curved pry-bar end of the Fubar, but it has the curved Nail Puller/Tile Ripper at the back of the head, and has a number of other features built in that the Fubar lacks.
I plan to leave my Fubar in my in-car bug-out-bag, but will be sorely tempted to keep the Annihilator in my every-day bag. I am also strongly considering commissioning a kydex holster for it, so I can lash it to my other PALS/MOLLE kit. This is an awesome piece of kit. Who's up for a "lets smash things" video-blog?
