Hard use sledge handle suggestions.

[BsnNFrnt]

Esteemed forum aficionados,

I bent a shop made handle on a 10# sledge yesterday and have been trying to wrap my mind around the best replacement. 
For reference, the handle that bent was 15000 PSI - 1” ida pipe that had been hot fitted into the sledge eye and then slightly ovaled in the forge. 
The main reason this bent is due to the nature of the work - lots of steel to steel heaving striking on hammer unions and driving 1” rods into caliche.  Any advice or pictures of successful efforts would be appreciated. 
I have some the “indestructible” ones from a well known vise company but the rubber they are wrapped in does not have the appropriate level of chemical resistance for the job. 

[anvil]

I prefer wood. It tends to act like a shock absorber from the force of the blow where metal handles transmit it. I call it a singlejack, used single handed. I like a longer handle, say 14" or so. For me it creates a nice balance when swinging hammer.

[Frosty]

I won't allow a pipe handled hammer in my shop, they're nothing but grief on your joints. 

If the rubber on the plastic handles don't stand up I'd have to go with wood, maybe buy in quantity, have several spare sledges ready and re-handle them when there's time. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[jlpservicesinc]

Handles are disposable. 

And easy to change.

Key is to find a ready source of handles that fit your hammer and keep 1 or 2 extra. 

 

If this fails to offer enough protection against heads fly off the can modify it to have a safety strap. 

Just like in the old days.

[Iswhatitis]

I have a sledge I was given with a thick walled piece of steel pipe welded to it. I would never have set it up like that personally but that’s beside the point. 
 

Metal in general makes a poor hammer handle for forging because of the shock. Some hammers have factory handles that are metal but these have rubber or some other material on the handle that absorbs a ton of shock. With a purely metal handle that doesn’t have a shock absorbing material over it every bit of the shock or energy from every strike transfers directly through the handle into your hand. This vibrates the joints, muscles, and tendons in your body and will probably cause injury if used regularly. 
 

Personally I really like good quality fiberglass handles and wood handles. Fiberglass can be more durable than wood and it absorbs shock like wood does. It is also very light.