If you’re always keeping an eye out for the latest tools, trends, and innovations for the trades, then you have to check out the National Hardware Show. This trade show is an event where you’ll be able to see firsthand the future of the home improvement and DIY sphere. I’ve been very fortunate to visit the National Hardware Show a few times now, and it’s always worth it. There’s no better or quicker way to see firsthand what new tools and products are being released! (Aside from watching videos from the show on my YouTube channel) 

In 2025, you’ll be able to attend the National Hardware Show yourself at the Las Vegas Convention Center from March 18th-20th. If that’s too soon for you to plan a trip, check out the show’s website for information on the dates for following years. 

Trade shows like the National Hardware Show are vitally important for the community of tradespeople, DIYer’s, and business owners alike. All of us together, in one place, at one time; it fosters a connection between all of us to share ideas and products for the benefit of everyone. I’ve found a lot of amazing new tools worth trying at this show, and I’ll tell you about a few of them here- but you can find a lot more across all of my socials!

For innovators of new and exciting products, the National Hardware Show will help give you the exposure needed to put your tools in the hands of the community and connect you with distributors. If you’re interested in being an exhibitor, check out the information here. To prove that the National Hardware Show can make dreams come true, let me tell you about a product that I saw at the 2024 show. I got to meet and talk with Matt from Scale Up Tools and learn all about the product he was hoping to put into consumers’ hands as soon as possible: the fan pivot. 

Fan Pivot

This tool attaches to any spray gun with standard ⅞” threads, and allows you to smoothly change the orientation you’re spraying at. Go from horizontal to vertical with a flick of a finger! This tool is designed to handle the high PSI from an airless sprayer, and is made with extremely strong magnets that will last a lifetime without ever wearing out. 

When it comes to safety while spraying, this tool is a game changer. Most painters, me included, will usually just rotate their guard to be able to spray vertically. This works okay for the most part, but the guard isn’t designed to do this. In addition to over tightening or loosening the guard, it puts you at risk of paint injection when you put your hand anywhere near the front of the spray gun. The fan pivot keeps your hands clear of the danger zone, and is actually designed to change spray orientation without any compromises. 

When I first found this product at NHS in March of 2024, it was just a prototype. But because NHS brought us together, I was still able to get my hands on one and test it out early. Check out this video to watch me put it on a spray gun and try it out. Throughout the year, I’ve kept in contact with the team at Scale Up Tools as they’ve worked tirelessly to get this tool into your hands. 

Thanks to another connection made through the National Hardware Show, the fan pivot is now available for preorder at this link, and will be available to ship mid-January 2025. This tool is now one step closer to helping paint houses worldwide. 

Gator Magnetics

The polymagnets in the fan pivot from Scale Up Tools are made by the team at Gator Magnetics, another company that I got to meet at the National Hardware Show in 2024. If you’re tired of everyday magnets slipping when you put too much weight on them, and never being strong enough, then Gator Magnetics’ products might be for you. 

The signature product from this team is their storage hooks which are made with polymagnets in which the north and south poles are magnetized to the same surface, making these magnets extra strong. The mega hooks can hold up to 45 lbs of weight, while the midi hooks have a 25 lb capacity.  Even the mini hooks hold up to 15 lbs! These hooks feature a lever on the front of the hook that, when pulled, lifts the magnet from the surface it’s stuck to for an easy detach. No more pulling with all your might to pry your magnets off!  

Gator Magnetics also sells a steel wall panel system that is perfect for your garage or shop. Buy as many panels as you have space for, and position these storage hooks wherever you need to hang your tools and get them off the ground. These hooks will hold leaf blowers, golf clubs, shovels- anything up to 45 lbs! This system is designed to save you space, and take your mind off of wondering if your hooks are ever going to fall off the wall and send your tools scattering everywhere. 

This company first launched at the show in 2021, and has seen amazing success since then. Today, you can find these tools at Home Depot, Lowes, and on their own website.

Quick-Draw Gloves

One of the first tools that I saw at the show this past year was the Quick-Draw Gloves from the Glove Slinger. This guy had the “fastest gloves in the west!” As a connoisseur of gloves for the trades, I knew I had to check these out. 

Gloves take two hands to securely put on, and that can be time-consuming. The Quick-Draw Gloves are designed for improved safety on the jobsite - no stopping for longer than a few seconds to put your gloves on with this system. Each glove comes with a holster clip that attaches to your waistband or belt, and has a notch where the glove hangs. To put your gloves on, simply undo the lock, slide your hands in, and pull your hands out. Easy peasy. This system also keeps your gloves at your side when you’re not wearing them, so you won’t have to bunch them up in your pockets either. 

At the show, the current prototype of the gloves were made for yard work and landscaping. But Donald promised me that he has more gloves in the works - including motorcycle, painter, chemical gloves. He is dedicated to making the process of putting on gloves quicker and safer so you never have to take your hands off a ladder or leave a power tool on- not even for just a second to put your gloves on. 

Dipless Brush

The Dipless Brush is a tool that I’ve gotten many uses out of since finding it at the show. It works great for fence and deck jobs, of which I had many in the last year. At the show, I got to talk with the owner about the product, learn some more about it, and watch some video footage of it being used. (And now I’ve got my own video footage of using it!)

This is a brush that attaches to an airless spray gun to simplify the process of staining decks and fences. Spray tips control the volume and flow of the product, and the Dipless Brush is amazing at minimizing and eliminating overspray, which is a huge risk when spraying fences. On a windy day, oil-based stains can carry for miles and land on cars and nearby houses. There’s a lot of potential liability, and this product still allows you to get a fence job done fast, but with little to no risk of that overspray.

When used with an extension pole and an angle adaptor, you can lengthen your reach and make it even easier to stain decks with less strain on your body. The Dipless Brush made doing these jobs a lot easier this year. Watch me test this product out here. 

The brush attaches to any standard airless sprayer and spray tip - you might just have to change out the seat! These brushes will also last for dozens of uses, and are made right in the USA from my friends at diplessbrush.com

180 Tape Holder

Another tool that I’ve been a fan of for a while and got to catch up with their team at the show is the 180 Tape Holder. This is a simple to use, easy to understand, wrist strap that holds a roll of tape to keep your hands free and stops you from holding the tape in your mouth, which can ruin FrogTape and is just plain unsanitary. 

If you’re not interested in keeping your tape on your wrist, if you remove the strap, you can attach the tape holder anywhere. On your hand masker, your ladder, a tool box - anywhere you want to store your tapes. I’m a big fan of products that are made for painters by painters, and this tape holder was created to fill a need that a group of painters had - so support them instead of the bigger companies! 

At the National Hardware Show, you’ll be able to find many more tools than just these, and make countless valuable connections within our community to try out new tools early, see the newest innovations in the industry before anyone else, and learn from your peers- who just so happen to be the best at what they do. If you’re able to make it to the 2025 show, come on down. I look forward to seeing you there!