The Right Tools at Hand

Before getting started with any project you should always have the right tools ready at hand.
The right crochet hook is very important in order to get the right size stitch and won't distort your final outcome. If you are following a specific pattern make sure that you check the gauge of the hook and type of yarn , you can even do a sample swatch to make sure. Sometimes even tension can change the look and feel of the product.

Some of the most common hook sets come in these sizes: DEFGHIJ & K.
The smallest hooks are steel and use numbers,the bigger ones are aluminum and start with D and work up to M. There are plastic style hooks but I have found that they will break on you too easily so I stick with the steel and aluminum ones. There are also bamboo crochet hooks which I imagine are very strong since bamboo is a very strong fiber. Double ended crochet hooks are used for tunisian crochet.