Which Fasteners Brand Wins?
This head-to-head test of 7 fasteners options has 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. Products are listed in the order they finished.
Two board shear test, movement onset force (lbs, 3 trials)
- 1Drywall Screw305
545, 465
- 2Deck Screw365
387, 454
- 3GRK Multi-Purpose Screw number 10, 3 1/8 inch305
335, 342
- 4Ring Shank Nail 16 penny, 3 1/2 inch404
369, 386
- 5Coated Sinker Nail 16 penny328
363, 146
- 6Galvanized Smooth Shank Nail 16 penny308
189, 174
- 7Spiral Shank Nail 16 penny galvanized118
50, 86
Two board shear test, max separation force (lbs, 3 trials)
- 1Drywall Screw986
1199, 1023
- 2Deck Screw907
825, 854
- 3GRK Multi-Purpose Screw number 10, 3 1/8 inch791
572, 660
- 4Ring Shank Nail 16 penny, 3 1/2 inch648
594, 561
- 5Coated Sinker Nail 16 penny441
447, 384
- 6Galvanized Smooth Shank Nail 16 penny400
377, 421
- 7Spiral Shank Nail 16 penny galvanized405
323, 394
Single fastener extraction test, force to remove (lbs, 3 trials)
- 1Drywall Screw734
732, 781, average 749
- 2Deck Screw840
(highest single result of all 7 fasteners), 706, 612, average 719
- 3GRK Multi-Purpose Screw number 10, 3 1/8 inch695
766, 719, average about 727
- 4Ring Shank Nail 16 penny, 3 1/2 inch516
639, 603, average 586
- 5Coated Sinker Nail 16 penny310
322, 314
- 6Galvanized Smooth Shank Nail 16 penny355
370, 470
- 7Spiral Shank Nail 16 penny galvanized373
(sheared off), 191, 310
Repeated bend fatigue test
- 1Drywall Screw
sheared off after just 1 push or bend, the weakest result of all 7 fasteners
- 2Deck Screw
failed on the second bend
- 3GRK Multi-Purpose Screw number 10, 3 1/8 inch
broke at 2 bends, explicitly described as about the same as the ring shank nail
- 4Ring Shank Nail 16 penny, 3 1/2 inch
broke on the second bend, described as very brittle like the screws
- 5Coated Sinker Nail 16 penny
sheared off after 6 bends
- 6Galvanized Smooth Shank Nail 16 penny
broke on the eighth bend, the best fatigue result of all 7 fasteners
- 7Spiral Shank Nail 16 penny galvanized
sheared off after 6 bends
Two board shear test outcome
- 1Drywall Screw
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
- 2Deck Screw
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
- 3GRK Multi-Purpose Screw number 10, 3 1/8 inch
third place on max separation force behind drywall and deck screws; none of the GRK screws sheared off during this test
- 4Ring Shank Nail 16 penny, 3 1/2 inch
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
- 5Coated Sinker Nail 16 penny
first two trials beat all three spiral shank trials on movement onset force; third trial was much lower than the first two
- 6Galvanized Smooth Shank Nail 16 penny
not nearly as good as the ring shank nail
- 7Spiral Shank Nail 16 penny galvanizednot tested
Single fastener extraction test outcome
- 1Drywall Screw
narrator says he was surprised these held up given screws' reputation for brittleness; none broke in this test
- 2Deck Screw
held up just fine, like the GRK screws
- 3GRK Multi-Purpose Screw number 10, 3 1/8 inch
the GRKs bent but none broke into two pieces
- 4Ring Shank Nail 16 penny, 3 1/2 inch
very impressive, none of the nails broke into two pieces
- 5Coated Sinker Nail 16 penny
very consistent results across all three trials with no instances of the nail breaking
- 6Galvanized Smooth Shank Nail 16 penny
results improved with each trial, none of the nails broke into two pieces
- 7Spiral Shank Nail 16 penny galvanizednot tested
All measurements (2 more)+
Use case claimed
- 5Coated Sinker Nail 16 penny
typically used for general construction and framing
- 7Spiral Shank Nail 16 penny galvanized
designed for patios and decks, typically a harder wood type than tested in this video
- 1Drywall Screwnot tested
- 2Deck Screwnot tested
- 3GRK Multi-Purpose Screw number 10, 3 1/8 inchnot tested
- 4Ring Shank Nail 16 penny, 3 1/2 inchnot tested
- 6Galvanized Smooth Shank Nail 16 pennynot tested
Claimed rating
- 3GRK Multi-Purpose Screw number 10, 3 1/8 inch
building code approved for some applications, rated shear load of over 1,000 lbs force
- 1Drywall Screwnot tested
- 2Deck Screwnot tested
- 4Ring Shank Nail 16 penny, 3 1/2 inchnot tested
- 5Coated Sinker Nail 16 pennynot tested
- 6Galvanized Smooth Shank Nail 16 pennynot tested
- 7Spiral Shank Nail 16 penny galvanizednot tested
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.
