Finally got a good dugging tool, wilcox 300s 22" trowel

[SpencerK]

Went looking for my fiskars big grip edge digger to go metal detecting this morning and couldn't find it.

Did some Amazon-fu and wound up settling for a $25 wilcox trowel instead of an edge digger like I have been using. I'll probably find my fiskars but I figured this would give me a good excuse to tell the wife... Haha

Here's the new trowel! Picture from Google.

i'm excited to use it. Once I give it a try this week (i had it overnighted) I'll give a full review of it.

 

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[G.A.P.metal]

Wilcox Tools are of the finest quality ...i sold a lot in my shop in the 90s...one tough digger !
Gary

 

[SpencerK]

That's what I keep reading. I'm thinking of partially serrating the edges. Do you think that would cut down on durability?

 

[G.A.P.metal]

I don`t know but it`s your tool.... i say if you want to customize it go for it .
I think that Wilcox Tool make`s the diggers for the "Treasure Wise" brand also.
Gary

 

[SpencerK]

I just got my wilcox 300 in! Gotta love overnight shipping.. I'll take a picture of it when I get home. Its the perfect size to attach to the new fanny pack.

One mod I am going to do no matter what is drill a 1/2" hole to HHO weld or solder a steel pushbar for my feet when I'm digging in hard soil or clay. I can tell that I probably won't need to replace this tool. Its design is ingenius and adding a pushover wI'll only make it more useful.

Its also the exact same length as my Minelab Go find 60 (i didn't intend for that but I'll take it lol) so it will fit in the same bag as my minelab for discreet storage or travel.

I'm going to attach the trowel via molle straps on my "tactical" fanny pack. I'm also going to attach my new GP Pointer (fairly good quality garrett carrot knockoff) and my brass coin probe, a small fixed blade knife (~1.5" blade with a really long handle that I made myself), multiple storage puches to separate trash items/iron/keepers/valuable items, a brass blade for scraping hardened or tarred sand off of suspected silver items (brass is softer than silver and won't cause any blemishes, especially if used with a soft touch) and everything else I need to bring with me on a daily basis.

I usually just use a couple of small waterproof canvas bags that clip to my beltloops, but I had one fall off the other day and barely noticed. I would hate to loose a bag full of rings and coins to the surf.

But this thread is about my digger.

I forget to mention why I wanted something so heavy duty:

The man-made beach that I normally hunt has targets I can't get to with my sand scoop. There is a very dense clay layer that ranges anywhere from 3" beneath the sand to 8" beneath the sand. This is where I have managed to pull up some really old really cool finds but I had to use a knife to dig through the clay and got lucky finding a gold played/solid gold button and a 1964 silver Kennedy and some other neat less noteable things.

I regularly get targets that I physically can't dig. Now I hope that will be a thing of the past. I'm positive there is a huge amount of untouched silver because nobody detects the beach that I go to. Its considered the trashiest beach in L.A.bit it also has the most good solid targets of any beach I've ever seen.

I feel like a little kid who wants to go play in the dirt with his new shovel. This is why I love metal detecting. It brings back that child like giddiness we all eventually lose because of having to be an adult every day.

Sometimes I just wanna play in the mud' regardless of I find anything valuable or not...

 

[Vern2]

A good digger is truly something to go bonkers over. "I sure wish mama would let me come out and play with ya. Gotta practice piano."

 

[boogeyman]

Yeah, you can't really say a bad word about em! Asked for one one Christmas and ended up with two and a short handle one. Have actually stood on one trying to cut a root with no damage. The only one I like better is my Treasure wise? T-14 blade is 3"wide and 8" long, well, 7 3/4" after all the sharpening. I've REALLY abused this puppy. Hint, pull the handle off and lay a washer over the end then slide the handle back on. Saves the palm if you pound or push on the end.

 

[SpencerK]

Just used my new trowel in 2 very hard conditions. Mining tailings, and hard dirt filled with large rocks. The new trowel performed perfectly and managed to pry up a 60ish pound rock that had a penny under it . it got a little dull but would break through the hardpack dried up lake shore.

It really streamlined the digging process