Barbara K, a single mother and former general contractor in New York City, was successful in a world dominated by men. With clients such as IBM, Carnegie Hall, and Polo Ralph Lauren, she built an impressive resume. Her work gave her the realization that most tools were intimidating for many women to use. In 2003, she launched a modest line of tools for women. Since then, she has expanded her product line to include all popular tools designed to be used by women.

Her tool menu now includes most popular hand tools, including pliers, tape measures, screwdrivers (including a lighted one), hammers, and even a roadside emergency tool kit. Barbara K! also now markets power tools for women, including the most popular cordless tools for household use: a 4.8 volt cordless screwdriver and a 12 volt cordless drill/driver. All have been designed to be female tools as they are easy to use, lightweight, and reliable. Her tool kits for women include all the basic hand tools for a starter tool box, and a couple of her lady tool sets include her cordless screwdriver or drill. Barbara has been very successful marketing her female friendly line of tools.

A woman now has a wider selection of tools than just a few years ago. They should, however, investigate in more depth to find the right type and quality of tools they want. Their planned use of a tool kit for women is the first item they should consider. If her new lady tool set will be used only rarely for simple home repairs and basic mini-projects, like picture hanging, decorative shelf installation, and tightening screws and bolts that have loosened, a low cost hand tool set for women should be sufficient. She can purchase a functional lady tool set, with 15 to 80 pieces, for around $25 to $50. To this, she can add a good quality tool belt or pouch and ladies’ work gloves for around $50 for both items.

Should she want a tool kit that can be carried in the trunk of her auto to assist in road safety, she can purchase a “combination” female tool kit that includes basic hand tools and some auto related items, like jumper cables, reflective signs, tape, emergency tire inflater, etc., for around $50. If gardening tools are her focus, whether in high fashion pink or more normal tool colors, she can find decent garden tools for women in kits containing four to five basic items for around $25 or more serious, better quality tool kits, with 15 to 20 sturdy gardening tools for women for approximately $50 to $80. Just remember, tools tend to be like audio equipment and automobiles: there is a direct correlation to the cost of the items and their quality and longevity.

While an original marketer of tools for women, Barbara K! is not the only national marketer of female tools. There are now a number of companies offering individual tools and tool kits for women. GirlyLock, Ladies Tool Zone, and Grip Tools are among the companies offering lady tools. Many varieties are in the flavor of the month and year, pink, while others are in shades of blue, green, red, and even yellow. If you’re looking for a low cost lady tool set that has most of the most often used tools for women, check out Ladies Tool Zone, which offers an 87-piece tool set for women for less than $30. If you must have pink and need tool quality for casual, occasional use, this female tool kit might work. They offer a few other tool kit combinations along with a pink cordless drill.

Grip offers 10- and 30-piece pink tool kits for women containing all the basic hand tools needed to perform most household repairs for under $40. Another interesting group of tools for women are offered by Tomboy Tools. Started by three women, Tomboy Tools offers a number of tool sets for household use, auto tool kits, and garden tools for women, some in pink, others in different bright colors. Another neat product from Tomboy is the “body pocket,” a female tool belt filled with basic hand tools (around $40). Not content with offering only a basic household tool set for women, Tomboy also offers molding, painting, tiling, dry wall, and plumbing tool kits for women. If purple is your favorite, you might investigate Grandma Purple’s line of household and garden tools. But don’t forget to check out Barbara K! too, as her tool kits are good quality and give you the things you need to become a home tool guru.

After a slow start throughout recorded history, there are more and more companies marketing a wider selection of tools for women. This is not to imply that all tool sets for women are high quality but the selection is increasing of both very basic and higher quality implements. For instance, at a popular price of around $22, Ladies Tool Zone makes an 87-piece hot pink tool kit for women. While it’s obvious from the cost that it doesn’t contain high quality tools, it does have a good selection, including socket wrenches, wire cutters, 21 bits, ratchet driver, tape measure, wire, terminals (for electrical tasks), screwdrivers, pliers, and a hex key set. You can even add a pink hammer to the collection.

From Barbara K! you could choose a “Bucket of Tools” including a 4.8 volt cordless screwdriver. Also included in this tool kit for women are a level, lightweight hammer, pliers, tape measure, and a guide to simple home repair for around $50. Another example is the 30-piece female tool kit from Grip, which includes a lightweight (8 oz.) hammer, level, screwdriver, adjustable wrench, putty knife, tape measure, pliers, hex wrench set, and some nails, screws, and picture hangers. All of this fits into a good looking pink and blue case and costs only around $32. As you can see, basic selections of tool sets for women are now available in decent quality.

As the variety of female tool kits grows larger, it was inevitable that fashion would find a place in this new industry. You can now purchase female tool belts and other accessories, too. Naturally, the predominant color is PINK! Could it be any other? Girl Gear Industries, GirlyLock, and Grip-On Tools are a few examples of sellers of quality, all leather quality pink tool belts. They are not only good quality and but very attractive, too. You can even color coordinate your “work” accessories by purchasing a pink hard had and pink heavy duty work gloves.

If a full tool belt is a bit of overkill for occasional household tasks, Girl Gear also offers a smaller tool pouch, of the same good leather quality but smaller, holding just a few of your essential tools. Should you want to fully theme your female tool box, can also store your tools, when not in use, in a very tasteful pink and black tool bag. If fact, for a quick tool job, you need not strap on the tool belt at all. With sturdy handles, you can just carry your tools to the work site in your tool bag.

It is difficult (though not impossible) to find female tool boxes as most of the marketers of tools for women tend to offer tool bags, totes, or similar feminine oriented cases. Believing that most women will not build up a collection of tools to the degree that men do, many retailers market tool sets for women more than individual tools or true tool boxes for women. While appearance is always important, there is another reason for this. Assuming most women are less powerful than their male counterparts, using tool bags and totes keeps the weight of the tool collection to a minimum so shoulders and rotator cuffs don’t get damaged.

Barbara K Tools, for instance, offers a 30-piece tool set for women, including a cordless drill with a separate case. Her main tool storage is an attractive matching tote bag. The case with the cordless drill and the tool tote individually minimize the weight of each. The Girl Gear tool bag will hold a good supply of hand tools and even a small power tool or two if you have the strength. If you must have a classic tool box, purchase one of the smaller ones or a larger one if your female tool kit is extensive along with a tool belt or pouch so you can take what you need to complete your repairs or home improvements.

If you’re looking for a tool set for women, you can find one in pink if you want one. Your choices depend on what level of quality you want to purchase. Your range of choices runs from an 87-piece pink tool set for women from Ladies Tool Zone to a higher quality 30-piece pink and blue tool kit from Grip. You should decide what tools the woman in question wants and needs. Whether your woman needs just the absolute basics to handle the occasional home repair or she wants to start a serious collection of tools for women, you will be able to locate a pink tool kit for women that will be perfect.

You can even find some pink tools for women at Target Department Stores. This store offers a 54-piece pink roadside tool kit, containing all the basic necessities for assistance, including pliers, adjustable wrench, ratchet screwdriver, jumper cables, car vacuum, flashlight, and other useful tools. Target also offers a good looking 18-piece set of pink garden tools for women with all the essentials, including a comfortable pink knee rest to save your legs while kneeling amongst your plants.

If you wish to purchase garden tools for women, you’ll find a decent selection for both the occasional and more serious female gardener. Should you choose to leave the home repairs and improvements to the male species, but consider a vegetable or flower garden to be your turf, you can select from gardening tools for women that will identify you as an accomplished gardener.

From sets containing high quality stainless steel gardening tools for women to quality, colorful gloves and gardening boots, you can find sets for every level of female gardener on the planet. Whether you want your garden tools for women to look more “serious” with quality wooden handles to being fashionably pink, you can find sets containing just the basics (three to four tools) to more complete (15 to 20 tools) varieties in good quality. As an example, Target department stores offer garden tool kits, some in a pleasant shade of pink, for around $20 to $80. If you want to start a very basic garden tool set, you can purchase one via the Internet or a local retailer for around $25 to $35. Don’t forget, an attractive set of gardening tools for women also might make a perfect gift.

There are now some decent cordless power tools for women that can help complete your tool kit. Depending on your projected level of use, you should consider quality and price as a function of your plans for tool activity. If you plan to use your cordless tools only rarely, or for minor emergency repairs, a low cost, low power cordless drill may be fine. Should you want to tackle more complex repairs and improvements, you should consider a better quality 12 volt to 14.4 volt cordless drill/driver with multiple drill and screwdriver bits. There is a general consensus that women should avoid most 18 to 24 volt cordless drills as they can be heavy and have grips too large to be comfortable for smaller female hands. Another important consideration in better quality cordless drills is the variable speed feature. If you are considering a less expensive cordless drill with two basic speeds, on and off, you will quickly become frustrated when using this tool as a screwdriver. Installing or removing screws often requires slower, controlled turns, which are impossible with an inexpensive on/off drill.

A decent quality women’s cordless drill, with variable speeds, including reverse, should cost you only around $30 to $65. A minimum 9.6 volt to 12 volt model, even if you want the color pink, is recommended to handle most household jobs.

Even if you have a variable speed cordless drill, a decent cordless screwdriver, a 4.8 volt model should do, will come in handy for pure screwdriver related tasks, accept a variety of bits so you don’t have to change tools, and will be very valuable when you’re working in tighter quarters. Another sometimes used advantage of a cordless screwdriver is the ability to lock the power drive and use the tool as if it were a manual screwdriver. Sometimes your hand can provide better torque for breaking a seal on a screw to be removed or to give that final quarter-turn needed to counter-sink a screw.

While there are few, if any, power tools for gardening that are designed for and by women, there are many choices of hand garden tools for women. As you might suspect, there are numerous tools and garden tool sets for the occasional weekend gardener, many in the form of gift sets. But there are also higher quality gardening tools for women offered by e-sellers such as Garden Artisans and DIYWoman. These and other e-sellers and retailers offer good quality gardening tools for women, some with stainless steel tines and shovel faces while others add specially designed ergonomic handles and grips made for a female’s smaller hands.

Should you contemplate larger garden tasks, needing flat and round-end shovels or possibly even a post hold digger, there are some manufacturers that offer full sized digging tools designed by and for women. Victorian Postman Limited, Ames, Spear & Jackson, and Sears are a few companies that offer lighter weight (sometimes fiberglass instead of wood handles) digging tools of good quality for the hard core, but petite gardener. An important and necessary garden tool accessory, garden work gloves, are available in both light and heavy weight varieties in a full rainbow of colors.

There are two major differences between tools for women and the usual tools category, used mostly by men. One modification is in the tool size and/or grip. Since most women, except maybe female basketball players, tend to have smaller hands than their male counterparts, many regular tools are both uncomfortable and sometimes unwieldy for a normal size woman to use efficiently. Tools made for women usually have ergonomically altered grips to better fit the female hand, thereby allowing lady tools to be better used by women. The second primary difference is weight-related. Even the woman wanting her female tool box to contain quality hand tools and possibly one or more decent power tools, also realizes that, in most cases, she is not quite as physically strong as a male. Therefore, as quality and/or more power are added to many tools, they can become a bit heavy for a female to use easily. Therefore, unlike Tim Allen, who wanted to add a V-6 engine to every power tool in his collection, most tools made for women are stripped of any extra weight to give comfort and balance more attuned to female strength.

Finally, we cannot forget fashion. One option available in female tool kits is color, specifically pink! If you want to identify your tool kit as one designed for women, purchase your tools and accessories in hot pink. While one or more tools in pink won’t help them work better or last longer, women shouldn’t worry that their male counterparts will often borrow from her tool bag and not return the tool to her. Her tool kit for women will be both safe and tell the world up front that she is a knowledgeable and accomplished home repair, improvement, and/or woodworking warrior.

Finding a true lady tool set is becoming easier and more rewarding. Whether you want a low cost starter female tool kit or a higher quality group of tools for women, you should be able to find what you want with a minimum of investigation. The first question to answer is an evaluation of how often you’ll open your new tool box for women. Another question to narrow your search is the always important fashion issue. Do you want your lady tools in hot pink or more subdued normal tool colors? If you’re just starting your collection of female tools, you should consider a tool kit for women containing the basic beginner’s tools for the woman who currently has nothing, so to speak.

The best tools for women seem to be those designed by women, who understand the female objectives of smaller grips and comfortable weight restrictions. For instance, Kellie Reamer, a self-taught independent contractor, had issues with men’s tool belts. They are heavy with deep pockets and felt like they were built for the male body frame, all of which made them uncomfortable for a woman. After extensively searching the ‘Net and other retailers for lightweight tool belts without success, Kellie was motivated to found Girl Gear Industries, which now markets good quality female tool belts, tool pouches, tool bags, and work gloves, all in hot pink . Search the Internet and some local retailers, like Target, and you’ll find a good selection of tool kits or individual tools, like pink hammers, pliers, etc. for your tool box for women.

As more women have developed a real interest in home repair and improvements, more selections of pink tools have been made available. Published sales figures indicate the growing popularity of tools made for women. A female can now purchase individual hand tools (hammers, screwdrivers, pliers, socket wrenches, adjustable wrenches, etc.) of almost any variety and cordless power tools (screwdrivers and drills with multiple bits) in pink. While professional quality manufacturers, like DeWalt and Makita, offer some tools designed for women, they haven’t yet decided that pink was the way to go.

However, other companies, producing both inexpensive and high quality tools, like Ladies Tool Zone, Apollo, GirlyLock, Grip, and others, offer lines of pink tool kits for women and individual tools. Much of the decision process of which company to buy from revolves around how these pink tools will be used. Rare or occasional use means you could be safe with an inexpensive, but complete lady tool set from Ladies Tool Zone, which includes 87 pieces and costs $25 or less. Should the pink tool set for women be intended for more consistent use around the home, a higher quality set, like the one offered by Grip Tools, 30 pieces, including some nails, screws and picture hangers, can be purchased for under $35.

Finally, if a tool bag, pouch, or bucket doesn’t quite do it for you and you want a female tool box, you can have that, too. Check out the Pink Tool Box! A United Kingdom product that sells for approximately �30 (around $57), this tool box contains all the basics, including hammer, pliers, multi-bit screwdriver, Allen wrenches, scissors, knife, level, adjustable wrench, tape measure, etc. and, of course, all are housed in a lightweight pink tool box.

A woman attempting to add to her female tool box can now choose a few power tools for women to increase functionality and make some of her repairs and home improvements a bit easier. Recommended power tools for women are lighter in weight and are ergonomically designed to fit smaller hands. There are now a growing number of websites that recommend some of the better choices for female tool kits. Power Tool Geek, for instance, even recommends Makita, long a leader in marketing good quality power tools, corded and cordless, for the serious weekend warrior and construction professional. Makita makes a smaller cordless drill designed for women’s hands and with excellent weight and balance. This same website also recommends that women avoid most cordless drills with power ratings above 14.4 volts as they are a bit heavy because of larger bodies and more powerful batteries. Good Housekeeping, a respected trade name for female-related products, recommends the 12 volt cordless drill/driver from Barbara K! and the Smartdriver cordless screwdriver from Black and Decker as excellent choices for power tools for women. Barbara K! Tools for Women markets products solely designed for women, including a well rated 4.8 volt cordless power screwdriver along with the previously mentioned compact 12 volt cordless drill. Also consider the lady tools from GirlyLock, Ladies Tool Zone, and Grip, particularly if you’re interested in pink tools along with decent quality and lightweight products.

There are a number of companies and retailers offering female tool belts and a few are noteworthy for extra consideration. Depending on the number of hand tools a particular woman wants to carry, the quality leather and suede female tool belts offered by Girl Gear Industries and Grip Tools are appropriately fashionable in pink and well made of quality leather with securely fastened tool holders. For the smaller job or tool collection, Girl Gear also offers a quality tool pouch that keeps a fewer number of tools securely fastened to your body in easy reach. Their products can be purchased for around $40 or less.

Girly Lock, another company started by a female contractor, and using the catch phrase “Pink Collar Workers are everywhere!”, offers a line of quality female tool belts, in practical pink, denim blue, and desert tan leather colors, along with accessories like hard hats, safety glasses, and carpenters' pencils to complete the look.

You can now purchase some high quality items in the tools for women category. Not many years ago, you could find “cute” tools, but you were challenged to also find “quality”. While you can now find an even greater quantity of very lightweight, occasional duty lady tools, you can also purchase of higher quality implements, some from newer manufacturers (Barbara K! Tools for Women, Girl Gear Industries, etc.) to some well known manufactures of professional quality tools (DeWalt, Makita, etc.). Some of the newer companies offering both tools for women and tools designed by women offer good quality, yet lightweight hand and power tools made for the female hand and body frame. Likewise, some of the “major league” quality tool manufacturers have developed smaller versions of their professional power tools tailored for women with ergonomic grips and lighter weight for comfort and efficiency for the female home improvement guru.

Like the quality tools made primarily for men, serious tools for women are not inexpensive. But the quality of their construction and reliability usually means they will last a long time, take a beating doing home improvement and repair tasks, and still keep working for the active woman. Combined with the development of quality female tool belts and tool pouches, as well as heavy duty work gloves designed for the smaller hand, every woman can have a good quality female tool kit.

Garden tools, always popular, are now being made for women. Lady tools have become hot items, and garden tools for women are no exceptions. Gardening tools for women are not much different from normal gardening tools for everyone but some are marketed just for women. For instance, DIY Woman markets an entire group of gardening tools for women with ergonomic handles and quality steel "business ends" in their full menu of garden tools. Here are the basic gardening tools your kit should have.

• Trowel – Small round edge hand shovel
• Transplanter – Looks like a trowel but narrower with a sharper point
• Fork – Usually three or four tines to aerate soil and remove waste
• Cultivator – Claw-like hand tool to aerate or dig groves in soil
• Weeder – Hand tool to cleanly remove weeds without harming plants
• Pruner – Used to cut and groom plants neatly
• Work gloves – Heavier duty than thin cloth gloves

For the woman who has nothing (in the world of tools), a starter female tool kit should include most or all of the following items:

• Hammer – Lightweight (8 to 12 ounces) with wood, steel, or fiberglass handle
• Wrenches – A set of open- and/or box-end wrenches and/or at least one adjustable (Crescent) wrench
• Pliers – A set of regular (slip joint) and needle nose pliers will do
• Screwdrivers – At least one flat head and one Phillips head model – consider a manual ratchet driven screwdriver that accepts a variety of bits
• Utility and putty knife – Will be used for a wide variety of household tool tasks
• Socket set – With a decent quality ratchet handle and a selection of English and metric sockets
• Metal straightedge or T-square – Will help you to mark items, draw straight lines, and create right or other angles precisely
• Wire cutters – Trying to cut or strip wire with your pliers can work but can also be frustrating at times
• Spirit level – Classic carpenter’s level (one to three feet should do at first) to keep everything from pictures to counter tops straight and level
• Vice grips – A necessity if you plan on repairing wooden furniture or gluing pieces of wood together
• Paint can key – This may seem unnecessary for a starter tool kit – until the first time you want to paint something, which you will, and suffer high blood pressure trying to open the paint can with something other than this tool
• Hand saw – Even a small cross cut saw will help when you need it
• Tape measure – Smaller is fine – a 10 foot, retractable metal one should be fine
• Lightweight cordless drill – This may seem like a luxury until you try to complete your first tool task that involves creating screw starter holes or installing numerous screws in something – your hands and arms will thank the rest of you for including this tool in your starter tool kit for women

For the woman who has everything or, in the tools category, for the woman who has nothing, a gift of a lady tool set is, not only appropriate, but often recommended. Since tools designed for men are often intimidating to many women and, worse, difficult for women to use because of their size and weight, a female tool kit can be a perfect gift. You can select starter tool sets for women from Barbara K!, Lady Tool Zone and others, many made in hot pink, to individual tools and accessories, including t-shirts and baseball caps, from companies like Girl Gear Industries.

Purchasing and giving a female tool kit should not explode your gift budget either. Using the Internet or local retailers, you can now find lady tool sets from the $25 to $75 range that you’ll be proud to give and women will be thrilled to accept. Most female tool kits come with either a molded vinyl case or a fashion tool bag to keep all implements in one easy to carry and use solution. Should you wish to expand your gift to include more than just basic hand tools, you can add a cordless screwdriver and/or drill designed for women at modest cost, usually under $50 each. As more and more women become interested in performing household repairs and basic home improvements, tool kits for women are not just suitable, but are a wonderful choice for a gift.

While you would have been challenged to find a good selection of tools for women only a few years ago, you will be pleased with the selection available for purchase today. Some tool sets for women were designed by experienced construction females, like Barbara K (Barbara K! Tools for Women) and Kellie Reamer (Girl Gear Industries). Others are now marketed by companies with equally interesting names, like GirlyLock and Ladies Tool Zone. Available tools for women now include almost every hand tool in a male tool box, with a variety in quality for those from the occasional picture hanger to the serious weekend female warrior.

Although the serious female tool aficionado might be a bit disappointed that she has trouble finding more complex power tools (circular saws, table saws, reciprocating saws, etc) designed with “female grips” and lower weight, she will be happy with the choices of cordless power screwdrivers and drill/drivers.

If a female just wants basic, occasional use hand or cordless power tools for women at low cost, she will find female hand tool kits for as little as $25 to $35 and power screwdrivers and drills for the same price range. Should a woman desire more versatility, she can select either individual tools for women or complete sets containing numerous drill and screwdriver bits, socket wrenches, etc. – many made in pink – for a more complete female tool box.