$2.97 at Wal-Mart

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Full-tang stainless steel about 1/4" thick - maybe 5 months into the season.

Good luck, OP! :BangHead:
 

I tig welded a stainless rod onto the back of my hand crafted shovel. I will post pics later...but even that has bent. I bend it back. Nobody is doubting, we are realists and experienced detectorists. Lucky you dont have a 12"deep machine!

Chub
 

I got a Lesche for Christmas and I'm not impressed at all. The blade is dull compared to the $8 Fiskars digger I used to buy at Walmart. The tip is ridiculously dull as well. I'd love to sharpen it, but then I'd void the warranty. The serrated edge was nice, but now it's gotten dull from use.

The only good thing about the Lesche is the handle. Very comfortable and well designed. Don't drink the Kool-Aid. The Lesche digger is NOT that great of a digger, imo.
 

I wouldn't waste a cent on some el cheep o tool for digging around here. I have hit some tough, rocky ground... would snap that thing the OP posted.

I am 6'6" and have big hands. The Lesche is nice but the handle is too small for me. My son likes it.

I like the DigMaster from White's. Big handle and very comfy. Serrated on both sides too! :icon_thumright:

Whites.webp
 

I got a Lesche for Christmas and I'm not impressed at all. The blade is dull compared to the $8 Fiskars digger I used to buy at Walmart. The tip is ridiculously dull as well. I'd love to sharpen it, but then I'd void the warranty. The serrated edge was nice, but now it's gotten dull from use.

The only good thing about the Lesche is the handle. Very comfortable and well designed. Don't drink the Kool-Aid. The Lesche digger is NOT that great of a digger, imo.

That Fiskars is a decent digger if a guy doesn't pry plugs out with it too often. I used one for two years before it snapped at the handle too.

About the Lesche, screw the warranty, I'd sharpen it. It's $35-40, let the warranty go and make your life easier by sharpening it. Fighting digs with a dull tool to preserve the warranty, sorry, but I got to laugh. :laughing9:

I and others seem to be concerned with breakage more than razor sharpness. That broken hori-hori I posted was sharp enough to slice tomatoes when I recieved it. Cut sweet plugs, too! But what good is a sharp tool if it's broke?
 

Seeing as how all of us have broken thick thick steel shovels, pry bars, hammers, shovles, ladders, etc...

...we are just sharing the FACT that a hollow compost trowel is bend with little torque.

If we were spreading compost, that's the perfect tool.

If you're cutting plugs in a earth, that is not the tool for the job.
 

Anyone who can bend this is pure beast! I've never seen a report of a broken Raptor and would love to.

It feels over-built out of the box and can take a total beating in the field. Tamps plugs down great. Not for every soil condition, but no tool is.

31C.webp
 

My original intent with this post about my $2.97 Wal-Mart trowel was to think outside the box, improve on it, and test it to see if it holds up. Also, to potentially give D.I.Y T-Hers and tinkerers whose net worth closely resembles the temperature where they live a possibility. And frankly I was curious to see if I could modify a digger (still improving on it) that would work at my challenging new site. I get the fact that most of you feel the Lesche is the gold standard in diggers and I applaud those who were honest enough to share their BAD experiences with it and others like it. This thread took on a life of its own and you've all given me more than my $2.97 worth of food for thought and entertainment!

It's a good thing though that years back Mr. Lesche (or whoever invented it) didn't listen to the likes of some of you. I imagine he probably got and earful of sentiments like: "Give it up, NOBODY will pay $40 for that deformed looking steak knife to dig treasures!"
HH
-spyguy
 

love my whites hand digger and my lesch t-handle, you will regret that walmart digger. I have gone though several cheap diggers, and a small lesch hand digger (the whites is a beast comparatively). If you were around me here in western NY you would bend that walmart digger first or second hole guaranteed.
 

My original intent with this post about my $2.97 Wal-Mart trowel was to think outside the box, improve on it, and test it to see if it holds up. Also, to potentially give D.I.Y T-Hers and tinkerers whose net worth closely resembles the temperature where they live a possibility. And frankly I was curious to see if I could modify a digger (still improving on it) that would work at my challenging new site. I get the fact that most of you feel the Lesche is the gold standard in diggers and I applaud those who were honest enough to share their BAD experiences with it and others like it. This thread took on a life of its own and you've all given me more than my $2.97 worth of food for thought and entertainment!

It's a good thing though that years back Mr. Lesche (or whoever invented it) didn't listen to the likes of some of you. I imagine he probably got and earful of sentiments like: "Give it up, NOBODY will pay $40 for that deformed looking steak knife to dig treasures!"
HH
-spyguy

In case youre still missing it, let me try again: virtually everyone of us has tried what you are doing and it failed quickly and miserably. We have tried to give you the benefit of our failures but sometimes its just best to let someone have a Learning Experience. Some people just retain/accept Truths better that way.
Again, Best of Luck to you.
 

I use a military issue e-tool. Fancy name for a shovel that folds. The edges are fairly sharp and will take the top of your skull off if used properly. The other digger is a plastic garden trowel from Lowes for $2 for the finer work. Sure the the tips wear on this trowel, but for 2 bucks are considered expendable. If the ground is really hard, I will go to the car and get a pick axe. I have yet to gouge a coin with the plastic digger.
 

I got a Lesche for Christmas and I'm not impressed at all. The blade is dull compared to the $8 Fiskars digger I used to buy at Walmart. The tip is ridiculously dull as well. I'd love to sharpen it, but then I'd void the warranty. The serrated edge was nice, but now it's gotten dull from use.

The only good thing about the Lesche is the handle. Very comfortable and well designed. Don't drink the Kool-Aid. The Lesche digger is NOT that great of a digger, imo.

That Kool Aid tastes good, its sharp enough to cut skin out of the box - sharp enough for me, I'm making a hole in the ground not whittling wood. I have put an insane amount of torque on mine in rocky, hard packed ground without even flexing it.
 

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