I’ve found few things in life that save as much time and effort as the Strapshot MCN 150 from Bostitch. This purpose-built metal-connector nailer transforms fastening joist hangers, hurricane straps, and other metal building hardware from a mind-numbing, physically taxing job into an efficient and relatively easy task. Although the tool has been around for almost 10 years, I was recently reminded of how well it works when I was faced with installing 40 joist hangers for a new deck. Because the tool has such a small housing (it’s 10-1/2 in. tall), it can fit in joist and stud cavities as small as 12 in. wide. It’s light, too; at under 5 lb., it’s about the weight of a 15-ga. finish nailer. It has a dry-fire lockout, and its magazine holds 29 nails. There’s also a rotating hook near the air fitting for hanging the tool from a belt or a framing member. Somewhat notable in the world of metal-connector nailers, the Strapshot uses the nail itself for hole location, which works well. Including setup, it took me an hour to install my forty hangers, and my arm felt fine the next day. I suspect that nailing them by hand would have taken twice as long, probably longer, and that my middle-aged arm would have been ringing from the effort. The Strapshot MCN 150 drives 1-1/2-in. nails and sells for $200. A similar tool, the MCN 250, drives nails from 1-12-in. to 21?2 in. and sells for $280. A box of 1000 1-1/2-in. bright nails for interior applications is $35. Galvanized nails for outdoor use are $55.