In my humble opinion the Stohlman Flat maul is a pretty decent upgrade compared to any starter mallet. If your looking to exchange for another style I recommend The Stohlman round 1 lbs maul, its roughly the same price and weight. My only complaint/concern about the flat head (through my own experience) Is that the nut at the bottom can loosen and be a pain. Altho it could have been a defect in that particular maul. Best of luck. Keep Tooling!