Rafter hooks

This metal hanging tool is made of two hooks placed in an X shape fixed with a rivet. The rivet allows the opening of the tool to varying degrees. The two ends of the hook are first driven into a rafter—one of the wooden posts of a roof structure—and the other two ends are used to hang all kinds of things.

Most commonly, the rafter hook is used to hang an animal for butchering. It can also be used as a weight scale, by hanging a known weight on the hook on one side, and the item to be weighed on the other. The tool is very reliable regardless of the suspended object’s weight, because the heavier it is, the deeper the hooks bite into the wood of the rafters.