product review: fiskar hori hori knife

I think fiskar calls it a multi purpose garden tool, but it's essentially a horri hori knife. Priced 8-11 bucks.

I Got two because I really liked the design and they have a lifetime warranty. I took them out this week to a baseball field and a,soccer field. Snapped one and the other is bending. Complete junk. The tang is awkward and weak.

I didn't use them in real tough soil for even a week, just plain junk.

At least the warranty made it easy to get a return.

This is my favorite soil knife - all stainless and not plated. I have two buckets with the same tools and have been using these same two for around seven years. The serrated edge easily cuts through grass roots as well as sod netting and can be sharpened with a small round file which I do about twice a year. One day I happened upon a sale and I bought out the remainder of them at two stores. When I do onsite training one of these tools is included. I also bought one of the hori-hori knives from Trapline Products. Even though it is a good knife for the money it didn't work well for my soil conditions and there seemed to be a lot of slippage with the wooden handle.

http://amestruetemper.com/products/detail.aspx?ProductId=1329&FamilyId=11&LineId=6

I use these two soil knives mainly for gopher work. The green Groundwork knife is from Tractor Supply at about $3-4.00 awhile back. The orange Zenport is from eBay costing around $15. Both knives serve their purposes for digging gopher sets and cleaning/prepping tunnels but I'm working almost entirely in sandy soils. For moles, I only use the 3" Warner Easy Reach Bent Scraper which is hardier than the thinner trowels.

I have a couple of Steve's knives and I have worked them pretty hard, so far they have held up. They are a good solid tool. We haven't had any issues with the handles as of yet. If I did it would be an easy fix. I have gone to a wider sod cutting tool that I modified to make fewer cuts with that will need some maintenance on due to the thin metal thickness of the wider blade.

I have needed to tighten the screws in the handles a couple of times but that is normal with all threaded assembled tools with use. Some lock tight applied to the screws should fix that problem for a while.

You either have a sturdy cutting tool that is heavier in weight or a light weight tool that is going to bend and show signs of stress with a lot of use.

http://www.amazon.com/A-M-Leonard-Classic-Stainless-Steel/dp/B001FA6BK2
Been using this one for years now and love it

Nic that link says that digging tool has a 6" blade length. Is that the true blade length of that Model knife? It looks longer but there isn't a scale to compare it too with regards to size.

Nic, I use the deluxe version. Couldn't ask for a better tool.

The Fiskars knife is not worth a dang. Always snap at the hilt. I did sharpen the serrated edge with a chainsaw file, probably too sharp. The knife is still junk though. If possible, get your money back and buy an AM Leonard knife.

There's another good one but the name has been worn off from hard use. It looks like the truetemper knife Mike K. posted and the groundwork knife Aggie posted. I'll try to remember to post a picture tomorrow. I still prefer the AM Leonard though.

FYI - the Zenport hori hori knife has a 6 1/2" SS blade. Of course, both the Groundwork and Zenport knives are made in China. Imagine that!

Throwback - when gophering and even in my sandy soils, I start out using a Sharpshooter Drain Spade/shovel but only to break the soil hardpan or turf for the top 3-4". I don't want to dig any deeper than that when working residential yards. I complete the gopher set and tunnel prepping with a soil knife.

If you do a lot of gopher work and use only the soil knife, you might go through a lot of knives not to mention having wrists and arms like Popeye!

I picked up a new knife. Made in Japan, steel, long tang, I'm happy with it so far.

I use a cement trowel along with it

I have one serrated edge knife and four flat edged knives. All five cost less then $2.50. All work fine in soft dirt to rocky ground. For dry dirt which is usually gophers I use a narrow spade.
One can find some really nice usable blades for mole and gopher work at garage sales for a quarter to fifty cents and when you loose them, it happens, you are not out much. All the good ones I have found are stainless also.
To each their own but I can get a a life time supply plus for less then half the cost of a Hori Hori.
Ted

I had been using the Trapline knife/trowel it was borrowed from my truck and I needed a quick replacement. I've been using the green handled tool from a different brand and like it a lot. I'm not sure how far the tang goes into the handle, but I haven't snapped it off yet. I've also been able to use the soft curves on the handle to open up holes a bit more for trap insertion.