Global Fastener News

December 18, 2006 FIN – Bostitch fastener engineer Ed Sutt has designed a nail that could save lives and homes in the event of a hurricane or earthquake. For that, Popular Science magazine has named the HurriQuake nail its 2006 Innovation of the Year, beating out 100 new technologies from around the world.

Sutt saw a hurricane’s devastating effects for himself when he visited the Caribbean following Hurricane Marilyn in 1995, US Fed News reported.
“I couldn’t help but notice it was the fasteners that failed in house after house after house, not the wood,” said Sutt. “It occurred to me that breaks were occurring around the fastener or nail, so we needed to come up with a better fastener to hold the house together.”
The HurriQuake nail is made of carbon-steel alloy and adds about $15 to the cost of a house. The bottom section of the nail has angled barbs that resist pulling out in wind gusts of up to 170 mph –  a design that took six years to perfect. The shank at the top of the nail is twisted to keep boards from wobbling and weakening a joint. The head of the nail is up to 25% larger than average to resist sinking into wood or pulling through.
Independent testing showed the HurriQuake has up to twice the uplift capacity of standard nails, which includes the nail shank’s withdrawal from framing and the nail head’s pull through the sheathing. The nail can double a house’s resistance in high winds and can provide up to 50% more resistance to earthquake-type forces. ©2006/2013 Fastener Industry News
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