Safety Nailer on ‘Shark Tank’: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Drew Zirkler of Safety Nailer took the product to the investors on ABC’s Shark Tank to see if he could get one of the sharks to invest in the company.

Zirkle pitched his product to sharks Kevin O’Leary, Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner and Guest Shark Rohan Oza. The episode will air on Friday, March 20 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

The Safety Nailer is a product that keeps fingers safe from a hammer while in use. It also keeps nails straight to prevent buckling on impact, and it holds nails and screws in place so they do not keep falling away from the fingers.

Here’s what you should know about Safety Nailer:

1. It’s Made of Impact-Resistant Plastic

The Safety Nailer is made of impact-resistant ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) plastic. The plastic is able to take hits from a hammer without buckling, so it protects the fingers below it.

The product also includes neodymium magnets that keep the nails in place to help ensure they don’t buckle. The magnets work for stainless steel, copper, and other nails.

One more safety feature is the elastic strap that is attached. It fits around the index finger to keep the device ready as you work. It also allows users to use only their thumb to open and close the nailer.

2. The Company is Owned by Kristen and Daniel Eifes

While Zirkles is the one that pitched the product on Shark Tank, the company was originally thought of by Kristen and Daniel Eifes, a married couple from Yorktown.

Daniel told Williamsburg Yorktown Daily that he came up with the design in 2012 and secured a patent for the device.

Kristen told Heavy that the idea came about when they realized that there were a lot of safety items for chisels, but they figured that more people use nails than chisels.

Daniel was medically discharged from the Navy that same year. He called upon Zirkle, his friend from college days at Old Dominion University, to help him bring the design into production. Kristen is a mother who specializes in multitasking, which she has thrived at since launching her husband’s invention.

3. The Product Launched on Kickstarter in 2018

The Safety Nailer first launched on Kickstarter with the description “Our patented tool makes hand nailing easier, protects your fingers, and reduces nail buckling.” They got over 416 backers during their time on the platform.

Overall, the goal for Safety Nailer’s Kickstarter was $2,000. They more than quadrupled that goal with their actual earnings, ending up with $8,663 pledged by the end of the campaign, which was last updated in July 2019.

The stretch goals were much higher than the initial goal. If they had earned $35,000, they would have been able to help fund an injection mold so they could mass-produce the product, and if they had earned $75,000, they would have used that money to fund mass production, packaging, and marketing.

The timeline had all orders shipped by September 2018.

4. They Are a Disabled Veteran-Owned Business

According to the Kickstarter campaign, Safety Nailer is both a disable-owned business and a woman-owned business. Daniel, being medically discharged from his position as a safety officer in the Navy, is also a veteran.

The men, Drew Zirkle and Dan Eifes, were both able to rely on backgrounds as engineers, and they also leaned on their wives Cori and Kristen to help them invent the two models of Safety Nailer.

The company plans to launch additional products in 2020.

5. They Sell Four Products Online

At the time of writing, Safety Nailer sells four different products online. The first two are both different versions of the Safety Nailer itself. The first, the framing nailer, is for larger nails or screws. It sells for $9.99. The second, which sells at the same price, is the finish nailer, which is for the smaller, finishing nails.

They also sell a set of carpenter pencils for $2.99 and a new toy called Newton’s Spindle, which is a magnetic repelling toy, which is available only on Kickstarter for the time being.

Newton’s Spindle Repelling Toy has 7 backers on Kickstarter for a total of $125 out of the $8,000 goal.

Tune in to Shark Tank to see if Safety Nailer can get a deal from the sharks.

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