Which Fasteners Brand Wins?
A head-to-head test of 7 fasteners options with the measured results for each. See how they ranked and watch the full test video.
Drywall Screw
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Two board shear test, movement onset force (lbs, 3 trials) | Two board shear test, max separation force (lbs, 3 trials) | Two board shear test outcome | Single fastener extraction test, force to remove (lbs, 3 trials) | Single fastener extraction test outcome | Repeated bend fatigue test | Claimed rating | Use case claimed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Drywall Screw | 305, 545, 465 | 986, 1199, 1023 | came out on top for both movement onset force and max separation force among all 7 fasteners; however one of the drywall screws sheared off during this test | 734, 732, 781, average 749 | narrator says he was surprised these held up given screws' reputation for brittleness; none broke in this test | sheared off after just 1 push or bend, the weakest result of all 7 fasteners | not tested | not tested |
| 2Deck Screw | 365, 387, 454 | 907, 825, 854 | barely came out ahead of the ring shank nail on movement onset force; second place behind drywall screw on max separation force; the transcript states the wood failed rather than the screws breaking in this test, in contrast to the drywall screw | 840 (highest single result of all 7 fasteners), 706, 612, average 719 | held up just fine, like the GRK screws | failed on the second bend | not tested | not tested |
| 3GRK Multi-Purpose Screw number 10, 3 1/8 inch | 305, 335, 342 | 791, 572, 660 | third place on max separation force behind drywall and deck screws; none of the GRK screws sheared off during this test | 695, 766, 719, average about 727 | the GRKs bent but none broke into two pieces | broke at 2 bends, explicitly described as about the same as the ring shank nail | building code approved for some applications, rated shear load of over 1,000 lbs force | not tested |
| 4Ring Shank Nail 16 penny, 3 1/2 inch | 404, 369, 386 | 648, 594, 561 | beat both the spiral shank and coated nails in this test; came out ahead of the GRK fasteners on movement onset force but behind GRK on max separation force | 516, 639, 603, average 586 | very impressive, none of the nails broke into two pieces | broke on the second bend, described as very brittle like the screws | not tested | not tested |
| 5Coated Sinker Nail 16 penny | 328, 363, 146 | 441, 447, 384 | first two trials beat all three spiral shank trials on movement onset force; third trial was much lower than the first two | 310, 322, 314 | very consistent results across all three trials with no instances of the nail breaking | sheared off after 6 bends | not tested | typically used for general construction and framing |
| 6Galvanized Smooth Shank Nail 16 penny | 308, 189, 174 | 400, 377, 421 | not nearly as good as the ring shank nail | 355, 370, 470 | results improved with each trial, none of the nails broke into two pieces | broke on the eighth bend, the best fatigue result of all 7 fasteners | not tested | not tested |
| 7Spiral Shank Nail 16 penny galvanized | 118, 50, 86 | 405, 323, 394 | not tested | 373 (sheared off), 191, 310 | not tested | sheared off after 6 bends | not tested | designed for patios and decks, typically a harder wood type than tested in this video |
How it was tested
- two board lateral shear test: two fasteners join two untreated 2x4 boards, an upward puller force is applied until the boards separate, recording both the force at which movement begins and the maximum force to fully separate the boards, three trials per fastener type
- single fastener extraction test: one fastener driven into a 4x4 board, pulled with a puller arm until extracted or the head breaks off, three trials per fastener type
- repeated bend fatigue test: each fastener bent back and forth in a two hole tester until it shears or breaks, number of bends to failure recorded, one trial per fastener type
Data notes and caveats
No single overall winner is crowned; the video's explicit conclusion is a tradeoff rather than a ranking: screws (drywall, deck, GRK) beat nails in both straight shear tests, but the more brittle fasteners (drywall screw worst at 1 bend, then ring shank and GRK and deck screw all failing at 2 bends) failed the repeated bend fatigue test far sooner than the more ductile nails (coated sinker and spiral shank at 6 bends, galvanized smooth shank nail best at 8 bends). Per test 1, the video explicitly ranks movement onset force as drywall > deck > ring shank > GRK, and max separation force as drywall > deck > GRK > ring shank. Per test 2, the video states the three screw types averaged between 719 and 749 lbs (deck screw average 719, drywall average 749) and the ring shank nail averaged 586 lbs; these narrated averages were cross checked against the individually stated trial numbers and match exactly, which validates the trial figures extracted here. No prices are mentioned anywhere in this video, so priceMentioned is null throughout and there is no budget pick.