Wood
Wood guidance no touch tools are the lightest in the line and the first ones off the rack for indoor work: production floors, warehouses, and everyday positioning. The solid wood shaft is easy to grip without gloves and non-conductive, which makes it the sensible pick where conductivity is a concern. Standard tools carry a Shepherd Staff head, with a Double C available, in six lengths from 18 inches to 8 feet.
Aluminum
Aluminum is the workhorse: lighter than steel, more rugged than wood, and built for long shifts, overhead reach, and outdoor or industrial environments. It is the only shaft material offered with every head in the catalog, Shepherd, C, J, S, M, and Double C, in the same six lengths from 18 inches to 8 feet. It also comes two ways. Fixed head safety tools have the head welded on for one job done the same way every day. Removable head no touch tools take interchangeable heads through a slide-in connection and retaining clip, so one shaft covers a shift's worth of different tasks and a worn head is replaced on its own. The February article on fixed and removable head no touch tools covers that choice in detail.
Steel
Steel hands-free safety tools are a different build. Instead of a uniform shaft, they are solid steel bar in 1/4-inch or 3/8-inch diameter, sized for precise, responsive control at closer range. The head selection is C, S, J, and M, which keeps the steel line focused on contact with slings, chain, wire rope, shackles, and hardware rather than the load itself. Lengths run 14, 24, and 48 inches, and the handle is the second choice: a wood handle on the 14-inch tool, and a bicycle grip, an on-plane handle, or a 90-degree off-plane T-handle on the longer two, depending on whether the work is push-pull or twist.
Picking One
Long reach over a full shift points to aluminum. Light indoor positioning or a non-conductive requirement points to wood. Fine control on rigging hardware at close range points to steel. Many operations end up with all three on the rack, and a large percentage of what Amick builds is custom no touch tools, so any of these can be made in a length, head, or handle that isn't listed. Every one of them is a positioning tool, not a lifting device, and all of them are built in Pittsburgh.
To outfit a crew or spec a custom build, call Amick at 412-429-1212.