Fiskars Long Handle Digging Shovel #9668

List Price: $29.99 Discount Price: $23.17

Features:

• Ideal for heavy-duty digging needs
• Oversized step for additional leverage and comfort
• Unique teardrop shaped shaft is comfortable and easy to grip
• Pre-sharpened, ready to use blade
• Limited lifetime warranty

Customer Reviews:

A tank! [Posted on 2006-11-06]
This shovel is definitely not a toy. It's big and it's heavy, but it's strong and looks like it will last many years. I've used it for normal gardening and landscaping. It's got a curve and a point so it's not great for edging, but it will turn up clay and move plenty of dirt. The shaft is shaped like a teardrop so it's comfortable, but I'm a tall guy and I'm not sure how it will fit in smaller hands.

Packaged Poorly [Posted on 2007-07-16]
The shovel was in perfect condition, however packaged poorly. I needed to return the shovel because my Husband already owned it. I was unable to due to the packaging cardboard being non-reusable. It was as if one large piece of cardboard was folded in half and glued over the shovel. You have no idea how hard it is to find a box big enough to hold one. Forced to keep it.

One of the best tools you'll ever use.  [Posted on 2008-02-25]
I saw the Fiskars shovel described as "The Perfect Shovel" in Mother Earth News. On that basis I tracked one down at the local hardware superstore.

Just came in from using it yet again and I can say that it is the best shovel I have ever used, a superior tool in every way. The built-in (wide and textured) stomp edge makes it easy to stand upon for penetration, the one-piece handle has no rough/pinch points, and the shape of the blade is a good balance between penetration and load capacity. The blade makes short work of roots -- I have many times easily gone through roots over 2 inches, roots which previously would have seen me resorting to another tool. (The first time I sliced through a thick root with it my jaw actually dropped, and I checked to see if the root was rotten.) I have also used the shovel in situations where I really should have gone to get a prybar, with no sign of stress on the shovel.

I've had this shovel for going on 2 years now, and the only signs of wear are the powder-coating is worn off back from the tip a few inches and scratched off the back of the handle. That's it -- no nicks, bends, or tip wear in the blade, no bends in the handle. And as I write this I realize this is the first shovel that I have never had to sharpen. There has been no tendency to rust.

The shovel comes with a plastic sleeve starting at the blade and going about a foot up the handle. During one heavy session this sleeve sliced on a sharp rock and peeled back from the handle. But this had no effect on comfort in using the shovel -- the handle is smooth and well-shaped anyway. (The shape of the handle makes for less hand fatigue than a round handle.)

This shovel has seen steady use around our property. We have riverbed soils here, which means mixed sand, gravel, pockets of clay, and the occasional head-sized rock. The Fiskars shovel handles all of them equally well.

The shovel is a bit heavier than a wooden-handled one, but no heavier than some "industrial-strength" models I have used. I think the extra weight is far offset by the efficiency in digging, and the way it handles roots. (The ease of cutting roots would alone make this an ideal shovel for many people.)

I do a lot of digging, and have used (and used up) many shovels over the years. After trying the Fiskars shovel, I can't see ever using anything else -- a good thing, since I am likely to have this one for life, the way it is holding up. Casual users might not want to deal with the extra weight, but I think any farmer, rancher, laborer, serious gardener, or homesteader would instantly recognize its superior qualities once it was in their hands and would value having one.

I broke it. But they're honoring their lifetime warranty! [Posted on 2008-04-07]
After having broken maybe 6 wooden or fiberglass-handle shovels, I have acquired the "wisdom" that you get what you pay for. I admit, I used it to pry out a tree stump, so it's my fault, but this product first bent along the shaft, and then ultimately sheared and broke near the weld. That said, it has been the best shovel I've owned, and even if it didn't come with a warranty, I would probably go back and buy the same thing. Now for the amazing part...

I called up their customer service, and within 3 minutes, they had my shipping information and told me they are sending me a brand new one! They didn't even want the old one back. Wow! I am now a huge fan of this brand and will be replacing my other tools with Fiskars, which all seem to be well-designed, built, and come with a lifetime warranty.

I love tools that work, and this one works [Posted on 2008-04-17]
A shovel is a shovel is a shovel, right? Yeah, I thought so too until I ordered and tried this one.

Our yard is mostly a thin layer of topsoil over hard clay with some flint gravel mixed in, plus lots of thick, tough roots. Digging is such a chore that over the years I've done very little of it.

When I broke the wooden handle on our heirloom shovel, I read the reviews and decided to order this one. At least, I thought, since it's all steel I won't be breaking another handle.

It arrived and I immediately grumbled about the weight. This is a heavy shovel. I wondered how am I supposed to do anything with this? It'll tire me out before I even get started.

But then I tried it. I set the point in some hard ground, put my foot on the step and pushed, and "shhck," the blade plunged down into the earth.

I was mildly stunned, and delighted. I had never had that experience with a shovel before. The heavy weight of the shovel was actually working for me, not against me.

As I said in the heading, I love tools that work, and this one worked. Over the last few months I've done more digging and have moved more plants and shrubs than I have in, well, as long as I can remember. Digging holes is such a pleasure now--if you can believe that--that I forget about the weight. And even with the extra weight, after digging a hole I'm actually less tired than I would be if I were hacking with the old, lighter shovel. It goes that much easier.

The shovel's steel handle has already proved its worth in the number of roots and large rocks I've pried out of the ground. Another reviewer remarked that the egg-shaped profile of the handle increases its strength, and I can believe it. I've put an enormous amount of stress on it and it hasn't bent even slightly.

Because of its weight, this shovel isn't for everyone. But if you can manage a regular shovel okay, and don't think you'd have a problem with a shovel that weighed a few extra pounds, then this is the one to try.

Incidentally, there are a few hard clay spots in the yard that even this shovel can't cut. For those spots I use a clay pick (similar to the COLLINS CLAY PICK 6 lb. ) to break up the soil before shoveling.

But the bottom line is this is a great product, and I'm giving this shovel a five star rating.

Enthusiastic over a shovel. Who'da thunk?

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