Vibration damped hammer

A hammer comprising:

• a rigid support structure extending longitudinally with respect to s aid hammer;
• a head provided on a first longitudinal end portion of said rigid support structure and arranged transversely with respect thereto, said head having a striking surface at one end thereof, said striking surface being arranged so that said striking surface strikes an object when said hammer is swung toward the object in a swing plane of the hammer thereby generating an impact force acting on said striking surface in a direction parallel to said swing plane, the impact force creating vibrations in said rigid support structure acting in a direction parallel to said swing plane,
• said rigid support structure having a second end portion opposite said first longitudinal end portion, said second end portion comprising a pair of vibration-receiving portions extending longitudinally in a direction away from said first longitudinal end portion and terminating in spaced relation to one another, said vibration-receiving portions being spaced apart from one another in a direction parallel to the swing plane of the hammer;
• and
• a manually engageable gripping portion surrounding said rigid support structure and having an exterior surface constructed and arranged to be grasped by an individual using the hammer, said gripping portion being formed from resiliently deformable material, a portion of said resiliently deformable material being received within the space between said vibration-receiving portions and surrounding said vibration-receiving portions, such that vibrations acting in a direction parallel to the swing plane received by said vibration-receiving portions are damped by said resiliently deformable material, to thereby reduce the level of vibration transmitted to the hand of the user, wherein a length of each of said vibration-receiving portions is greater than a width of the space between the vibrator-receiving portions.