Roan Mountain, TN -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/03/2013 -- Fundraising to launch commercial production of a new multifunction demolition and construction tool, the Cole-Bar Hammer, will be officially kicked off at the 2013 National Hardware Show, scheduled for May 7 - 9 in Las Vegas, Nevada. A combination hammer, crow bar, a demolition tool, angle measurement tool, ruler, a socket wrench and nail pliers, the Cole-Bar Hammer was a finalist in a DIY Network inventors competition. Popular Mechanics has called the tool,“The leatherman of hammers.”

The inventors of the Cole-Bar have been refining their prototypes for over five years, and have launched a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign to raise $100,000 in pledges to take the final prototype into production and distribution. Kickstarter is a “crowd funding” website that nearly four million people have used so far to fund over 40,000 creative projects in the arts, technology, design, and more.

“I believe that the Cole-Bar Hammer is one of the very first hand tool designs to seek funding through Kickstarter,” said its inventor, Lance Hyde. “We are amazed at the response so far. Kickstarter launched the page just over a week ago, and already we have attracted nearly 500 backers who have pledged over $36,000 towards our goal...and that was before we officially launched the campaign!”

Comments from backers on Kickstarter are just as impressive. Josh Walker said, “Sent this link over to some friends of mine on construction teams...talk about excited, they claim to have watched the video at least 15+ times! Can't wait to see it in every hardware store across America!” A backer named Fernando Ramos shared, “This looks like a winning design. Practical and useful. I am looking forward to the finished product. I also wonder how a similar design might work for a camping hatchet. Great work!”

The National Hardware Show opens at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, May 7 and continues through Thursday, May 9 at 3:00 p.m. At the Las Vegas Convention Center, at 3150 Paradise Road. The event attracts over 27,000 industry professionals who come together to learn what’s new and what’s hot in the fields of hardware and tools, building products, plumbing and electrical, paint and accessories and other home and garden categories.

Project team leader Brandon Hyde noted, “Our demographics are mainly 25-55 year old males, but the Cole-Bar will be significant to anyone who is a ‘do it yourself’ enthusiast. Our product is a multi-tool that combines seven tools into one. The more tools you can get for a single price, the better. If you were to purchase all the tools that are found in the Cole-Bar, you would easily spend over $200. We will be able to cut that in half...It’s also nice to know you always have a tool in your box that can pry up/apart most things you can throw at it. Besides…why not have a crow bar built in? It doesn’t change how it functions as a hammer.”

About the Cole-Bar Hammer
The Cole-Bar Hammer is named for its inspiration, Cole N. Hyde. Cole was just eleven years of age when he and his father Lance Hyde were building a pole barn. While putting tools away after a long day, Cole had laid a crow bar on top of a hammer. They both had the same thought, “Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a hammer and crow bar together?” Sadly, Cole passed away at the age of twelve after a tragic accident but his father never gave up on Cole’s idea, manufacturing 5 prototypes over the years to test and refine the concept. A successful Kickstarter campaign will fund production and marketing of the first commercially available Cole-Bar Hammer.