Looking for right hammer

[Nsynewbie]

As the DIY newbie, I am shopping for one or more (if necessary) hammers to start a backyard project.  At Home Depot, Lowe's, etc., I saw a wide variety of hammers.  Which ones should I get for someone who never have one in my life yet?  Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. 

[Bcsnyder]

Estwing hammers are quality and very reasonable in price. Get a straight rip claw like the one in the pic. I use a 16 oz. daily.

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[Jronman]

I like something with a nice soft grip. If you are doing rough work you may want a milled faced hammer sometimes called checkered or waffle. For finish type work you may want a smooth faced hammer. The hammer I currently use is a stanley fatmax antivibe 22 oz hammer. The grip is a nice soft rubber and everything else is all steel which is very nice.  It has both a milled faced option and a smooth faced option. I have both options. They are around $20. I feel like the price is reasonable for what you get. I personally do not like wood handle hammers or curved claws but that is just my personal opinion. Eventually I wouldn't mind trying a Martinez Titanium hammer but they are pricey. Bottom line if you can only afford one hammer you should get a 16- 20 oz hammer with a rip claw and a smooth face. If you can afford 2 hammers I would go with a 22 oz with milled face and rip claw and a 16-20 oz with a rip claw and smooth face. Any other hammer is more specialty. 

[regopit]

Over the years I have owed more hammers then I care to think about. My hammer of choice these days is a Stiletto but, for a home owner DIY you can't go wrong with the

[RidgidMakita]

Estwing 20oz claw hammer is my favorite. Was my first hammer 9 years ago. Have been through 3 now though, not due to breaking. One was dropped in a lake from a dock project, couldn't recover it. The second one was stolen from a jobsite over a weekend. So now I'm on number 3. Great all around hammer, I find 20oz is the perfect weight for any situation.

[paulengr]

Claw hammers are OK for wood but useless for just about everything else and the claw is so so on hail pulling. I carry a machinists hammer which has two flat hammer:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Estwing-40-oz-Smoothed-Face-Steel-Machinists-Hammer/1000382011

This does 95% of the work. Others are a dead blow hammer for soft material,, aa planishing hammer and similar ones for sheet metal shaping if you do sheet metal work.and a spike maul for aiming at small targets. You use a spike maul by holding the narrow end on the spot you want to hit and hit the big end with the machinists hammer. For big jobs get a bigger hammer aka sledge hammer.

If I only had one hammer it would be a machinists. The second would be either dead blow or spike maul. Then a dead blow when needed.

If you need nail pulling, get a nail puller. If you're a carpenter then it's mostly nails so the straight head claw hammer makes sense. But I found my pry bar with a nail puller hole works MUCH better so I have no use at all for claws. So I only use it in a pinch if I'm doing carpentry.

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[toolgeek8426]

I personally prefer the 19 oz California framer from Vaughan also comes with straight handle and in 23 oz