I bought almost the exact hori hori you are looking at,
this is mine. The only difference I see at a quick glance is that my blade is stainless steel while that one is carbon steel and I think my blade is an inch or two longer. I would've probably gone with yours if I saw it in my search results since it's ten bucks cheaper. Anyway, so far I love my hori hori, I've had it for about three months and so far there is nothing I can't do (in the hand digger domain).
I don't let my kids use it though since there is a straight shot right to the blade if your hand slips while stabbing the ground. We have really dry and thick (clay) soil around here so often times it's hard to stab the dirt with a hand tool. I let them use the standard leche, I used that one once but didn't like it, the blade is much thicker and less knife-like so it didn't seem to cut through the ground as well. In moderately moist soil, the hori hori glides through the dirt like it's butter.
So, here's my take (basing off using a lesche hand digger, hori hori, lesche 18" Sampson)
Pros:
- Thin blade cuts through tougher dirt much easier than other tools I've used
- The blade is thin but it is extremely durable, I have pried many rocks and large trash items and it's still straight
- The serrated blade has worked fairly well on most roots pencil thick or thinner
- I do like how the handle is directly above the blade, seems physics-wise that it would put less strain on your wrist (I used the lesche but don't like the offset handle), especially in hard dirt
- Three months in and no sign of bending, dulling (surprisingly) or handle failure (those rivets are really holding in there well)
Cons:
- Although it cuts through tough dirt easier than other tools I've used, it hurts my wrist (I have carpal tunnel) when using it in tough dirt after a while
- There is no guard between the handle and the blade. I wear gloves so this isn't a huge negative for me
- The serrated edge works but maybe deeper teeth would make it even better
Conclusion:
All in all, the tool works great in my opinion, I haven't used many others but when you find something that works and works well... why keep looking? I did, however, look for a new tool to assist this one, because of my carpal tunnel, I now use the hori hori but in hard dirt I substitute my lesche 18" tool which is great too but that's not a hand tool so I won't go into detail.
Hope this helps. For $14 (right now) it seems like a pretty good deal... my Lesche hand digger cost $36 and the 18" Lesche Sampson cost $68
. Have a leonards and a lesche now. I like a little bit of a guard so like the lesche better but leonards is a good tool.
