TOPIC: digging tool

would this digging tool (top) work good for sang, I like to travel light plus need it to fit in my pouch so I want to keep it at 12in in length or less. I had been using a 10 in screw driver the last few years. The thing am not sure of is if the digging half of this hammer is long enough to reach down in the hole without having to enlarge it.
I had just bought the bottom tool yesterday and have had second thoughts.

A rock hammer has become my preferred digging tool the past few years. It may take a few more gouges than a long handle digger in soft soil but I cant tell a big difference and in really rocky soil it works better. In some steep places I feel I need both hands to navigate the slopes to keep from falling and moving at a steady pace. When your finished digging, slip that baby back behind your belt and your off to the races again.
If your terrain isn't as treacherous as mine can be then a long handled, light duty mattock works good as a walking stick and to beat back brush also.

Try the rock hammer or a Mattock and you'll never carry a screwdriver again. I promise.

Hillhopper

I use a long handle digger myself.

I have used Flat Head Screw drivers and short handle tools in the past but once I tried the long handle digger I never went back. I really do like it.

My long handle digger only weighs 2.6 lbs and it has a 36\" hickory handle.

The long handle makes it serve as a walking stick, snake tester, weed beater, something I can hook up on a tree or root (up higher on the hill) and help to pull myself up. I don't consider the long handle a burden at all, in fact I find it much easier to get around on really steep places when I have my long handle tool.

The trick to getting a longer handle tool that is light is you need the lighter garden hoe type head (with round hole) for smaller diameter handle.



TNhunter

Here is a youtube vid showing how I dig with a long handle digger and showing it in action.

I hardly ever damage a root even with the long handle.




A couple years ago, I bought my young son a short handle digger at Lowe's Pic below. It is 15\" long overall.



Not long after I bought that for him, I noticed on at a TSC store that was similar but I liked better.

Good Luck finding the right tool for you.

TNhunter

thanks for your suggests, keep them coming please. Here's one i just found, 16 in long, I could cut it down. Wonder if this would stand up to some diggin

I always use a long handle light weight mattock. Be sure and get one that has pretty thick metal next to the handle hole. If the metal is to thin and starts flexing it won't be long until the blade breaks.

for those that use the a long handle, do you keep the digging part nearest to the ground when walking or maybe alternate?

I have two similar to TNhunter's and I alternate carrying them from handle to digging end depending upon the terrain where I am walking and having to negotiate. If walking by holding the digging end, I keep the head at an angle away from me and far enough out, so that I can shove it away in case I slip or fall. If holding it by the handle, I pretty much do the same, making sure that the head is always away from me. As TNhunter stated, by holding it by the handle and using the head to hook trees above you, it makes a steep climb much easier.


Frank

I like to use a spade to dig with plus it helps to navigate up and down the hill sides

I use a big flat head screw driver a foot long. I need to give these long handled tools a try. I am sure they work better. Heck with my screwdriver, sometimes it may take me 10 minutes to dig a big root that is so deep that the hole that is there when I am done looks big enough to bury a 20 lbs sack of potatoes.
I plan on giving something other than the screwdriver a try someday. Just hard to do it different than I have been doing it for the last 36 years.
Thanks for the info guys.
Latt