Registered: 01/16/13
Posts: 913
Loc: Nacogdoches, TX, USA
I made a "Deca Spades", albeit a very ugly one. I haven't tried it yet, but I hope it will dig better than the plastic monstrosity I've been using. It's definitely a whole lot lighter and smaller. I meant to add the jimping along the spine of the handle like the designer did, but I forgot. Perhaps I'll get back to that
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The journey is more important than the destination.
It was $2 until recently. Now it is $2.50. Still pretty darn cheap and very sturdy. Can also be used as a tent stake.
But at 1 oz it's pretty heavy for a tent stake and not really wide enough to use as a proper trowel. I wanted a very lightweight but strong trowel, so I bought the middle one of these ultralight Titanium cat hole trowels by quiwiz: http://www.qiwiz.net/trowels.html It only weighs 0.6 oz (17g) and it's so thin it easily slices straight through tree roots like a knife through butter.
Please don't take this the wrong way, as it is only meant to be information to use. I have never used a trowel and just use my heel, a stick, a rock or anything nearby to dig with. It saves the added weight of a trowel in my opinion.
Please don't take this the wrong way, as it is only meant to be information to use. I have never used a trowel and just use my heel, a stick, a rock or anything nearby to dig with. It saves the added weight of a trowel in my opinion.
A quiwiz ultralight Ti trowel, weighing just 17g, would be a lot faster and lot easier!
Registered: 02/03/06
Posts: 6800
Loc: Gateway to Columbia Gorge
It's kinda hard to dig a 6-inch deep hole (the rule most places) without a tool, especially if in a hurry. Any shallower, the waste will not be sufficiently buried.
I also have the QWiz titanium trowel. As Alf says, it's a lot easier and faster digging than boot heel, trekking pole point, or tent stake. It's lighter than the tent stake. And it can double as a spare tent stake in an emergency.
Edited by OregonMouse (06/04/1810:10 PM)
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May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey
Registered: 01/16/13
Posts: 913
Loc: Nacogdoches, TX, USA
Originally Posted By troutstalker
Please don't take this the wrong way, as it is only meant to be information to use. I have never used a trowel and just use my heel, a stick, a rock or anything nearby to dig with. It saves the added weight of a trowel in my opinion.
I've seen a lot of people write the same or similar, but my experience has been the opposite. With all the rocks(AR & OK) and roots (E TX, AR, & OK) in the places I've hiked, I struggle to get a sufficient hole even with a proper digging tool.
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The journey is more important than the destination.
Regarding OM’s’ “especially in a hurry” comment: I recently had one of those Homer Simpson “D-oh” moments. I think I was talking with another hiker (but it may have been a post I saw here), and I mentioned that there were instances where three inches was all I could get while dancing on one foot and clinching. The response: “You don’t have to dig the hole first.”
D-oh! (Forehead slap)
The method:
Step 1: “Bombs Away!” Step 2: Dig a regulation hole beside the drop zone. Step 3: Use a stick or flat rock to relocate everything into the hole. Step 4: Cover the whole and carefully discard stick or flat rock.
Registered: 02/03/06
Posts: 6800
Loc: Gateway to Columbia Gorge
Had this happen several times with grandkids when they were younger.
While the QWiz titanium trowel slices through roots, nothing will slice through rocks! If the rocks are too large to be pried out, the hole will need to be dug elsewhere.
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May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey
Registered: 01/04/02
Posts: 1228
Loc: Eastern MA, USA
Yup. Another time to rethink the order is when the outhouse is occupied by bees. Not a good scene. "Go" onto some large leaves, then drop the whole mess into the latrine and clear out before the bees come after you...
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