$2.97 at Wal-Mart

[spyguy]

So I've got this amazing site that my recent finds have revealed is "cherry" instead of being cherry picked. Problem is, the ground there is harder than teaching Calculus in Mandarin Chinese. I came back last time with some coins 50+ years old and a bunch of blisters. Admittedly, I could probably spend more on a Leschke Digger or some other name type of shovel, but I'm always saving money instead of spending it. This trowel from Wal-Mart will need some Gorilla Glue reinforcement at the stress points before I take it into the field. Proof is in the pudding, but I'm optimistic that I can come back with a heavier finds pouch next time out....
HH
-spyguy

 

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[DiamondDan]

You know what they say: "You get what you pay for." Hope it works out for you, but frankly, I wouldn't put any amount of faith into a Chinese, three-dollar Walmart digger. Especially under the soil conditions you've described. Pony up and get a Lesche. You'll be glad for it.

 

[lairmo]

I can tell you are NOT in Missouri. ..

 

[RGINN]

That ain't gonna last. However, I have a digging tool I bought at wally world which has worked fine here in the mountains. It's gonna run you a little more, about 6 bucks. Get the little garden spade they have that will break before it bends. My actual best digging tool, is a US military bayonet. Another one that will break before it bends, but you can hammer it into the ground if you need to.

 

[ChampFerguson/TN]

Get a Gator or a Lesche. I give that one about 3 plugs worth of hard ground digging. Been there Dun dat.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Our local Lowes had a chisel point 20 oz rock hammer. It was $17 or $18 as I recall.

All kinds of handy in digging rocky ground.

But the Lesche really is tops for all-purpose and hard ground.

 

[AlienLifeForm]

Lesche, buy once cry once.

 

[chub]

i occasionally pack a short handled hammer and masonary chisel....in all seriousness. Better if you are using a concentric as the pin point is generally more accurate. Great for gravel car parks.

Chub

 

[ChampFerguson/TN]

I've bent a Lesche in hard ground so I use a Gator. But if youre not as hard on tools as I am.......

 

[spyguy]

Wow, so many doubters! I just reinforced the stress points with Gorilla Glue on my new $2.97 Wal-Mart trowel from above. It's too bad some of you doubters don't live nearby. I sense a betting opportunity here that could get me an even faster return on an investment than the finds I'll dig with it. But don't worry, after I've taken your money I'll buy us all a keg of MAGIC HAT #9. No Milwaukee's Best here!

One of many things my 25 years of playing golf has taught me: The woods and ponds are just as full of golf balls hit by guys using $350 drivers as they are full of those hit by guys using drivers costing $50 or less....
HH
-spyguy
s

 

[Deft Tones]

That'll work out great... for planting seedlings in potting soil!

Even Uri Geller could bend that tool.




Should have spent the money on a screwdriver instead, IMO.

 

[Deft Tones]

One of many things my 25 years of playing golf has taught me: The woods and ponds are just as full of golf balls hit by guys using $350 drivers as they are full of those hit by guys using drivers costing $50 or less....
HH
-spyguy
s

That may be true in golf, but purchasing tools that I make a living with (construction) going cheap costs you more in time, material, quality, and frustration than it's worth. Only go cheap on one-off disposable tools, IME.

 

[DiamondDan]

Wow, so many doubters! I just reinforced the stress points with Gorilla Glue on my new $2.97 Wal-Mart trowel from above. It's too bad some of you doubters don't live nearby. I sense a betting opportunity here that could get me an even faster return on an investment than the finds I'll dig with it. But don't worry, after I've taken your money I'll buy us all a keg of MAGIC HAT #9. No Milwaukee's Best here!

One of many things my 25 years of playing golf has taught me: The woods and ponds are just as full of golf balls hit by guys using $350 drivers as they are full of those hit by guys using drivers costing $50 or less....
HH
-spyguy

The fact that you chose to reinforce it before even using it makes it obvious you know that it's a piece of junk. Don't be surprised that you made a post on your cheapo digger and people are calling it just that. Why not buy something quality and US made, instead of pissing down the back of the American working man by buying Chinese-made junk? It's your choice, I know, but personally, I'll never defend buying something that was made by a ten year old kid that lives in dorm housing and bathes in a rice bowl. In fact, it makes me want to vomit.

 

[nagant]

O.K. late April fools, The Gorilla glue gave you away.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I've bent several cheap diggers, got one hanging in the fork of a tree out back - and the soil wasn't even hard. So I went ahead and picked up a Lesche - haven't bent that one yet.

I saw a post on TNet a couple days ago where a member bent his Lesche Sampson! I think he was prying out big rocks with it though. I think the responses said he had a lifetime guarantee with it? I hope so, cause I've one of those too. I see some spots where I may carry it, but it's heavy. Thought about one of those "hangers" but wouldn't want it thumping on my leg while walking.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Wow, so many doubters! I just reinforced the stress points with Gorilla Glue on my new $2.97 Wal-Mart trowel from above. It's too bad some of you doubters don't live nearby. I sense a betting opportunity here that could get me an even faster return on an investment than the finds I'll dig with it. But don't worry, after I've taken your money I'll buy us all a keg of MAGIC HAT #9. No Milwaukee's Best here!

And probably 100% of us started with a cloned Ka-Bar style knife and certainly a garden trowel. And broke/bent the garden trowel(s). Bulb planters are good, too. Smaller head.

Sometimes doubters are just passing along life experiences. "Live and learn", as they say.

Here's my kit of around 2006 or so.

 

[ChampFerguson/TN]

Wow, so many doubters! I just reinforced the stress points with Gorilla Glue on my new $2.97 Wal-Mart trowel from above. It's too bad some of you doubters don't live nearby. I sense a betting opportunity here that could get me an even faster return on an investment than the finds I'll dig with it. But don't worry, after I've taken your money I'll buy us all a keg of MAGIC HAT #9. No Milwaukee's Best here!

One of many things my 25 years of playing golf has taught me: The woods and ponds are just as full of golf balls hit by guys using $350 drivers as they are full of those hit by guys using drivers costing $50 or less....
HH
-spyguy
s

Buddy, I truly wish you the best of luck and that your reinforcements outlive your grandchildren.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

If you can buy the Raptor-25c, this is a heavy, well constructed hand digger that has stood the time in my artifact recovery service.

 

[BigWaveDave]

I got no problem with your $2.97 digger.

Do us all a solid though....
promise to post pics of it all bent, warped, or broken.... next hunt or two.

 

[SusanMN]

Been there, did that, thought that. I tried half a dozen inexpensive diggers from hardware stores to Walmart to Amazon. Some bent, some broke, and one, a long handled garden spade held up to everything and dug a great plug. But after cashing in some of my clad I decided to buy a Lesche. One plug with it and I was sold. Not only was it better than the spade at digging but it was shaped just right to widen the hole without digging a bigger plug. You'll get there eventually, but hopefully sooner than I. When I add up the cost of those various diggers, I could have saved money by buying the Lesche first.