Had to choose between a $10 trowel and a $50 one on my first dig in New Mexico

Honestly, I figured the cheap trowel would do the job for a weekend field school. But after two hours trying to scrape through caliche clay, the handle literally snapped off in my hand. The crew lead just laughed and handed me a spare Marshalltown, which cut like butter. Now I can't go back to the cheap stuff, has anyone else had gear fail at the worst time?

4 comments

4 Comments

jamief671mo ago

Gotta ask if it really matters that much for a weekend dig though.

rowanhernandez2mo ago

That line about the handle snapping off in your hand hits hard. I had the same thing happen with a cheap pointing trowel on a hot day in Arizona, it bent right at the tang. Now I just buy a good one and take care of it, saves the headache later.

jessica7072mo ago

That Arizona heat does terrible things to tool handles.

margaretramirez2mo agoTop Commenter

Oh man, "snapping off in your hand" is exactly the right way to describe it. I remember the first time I had a cheap shovel handle just give up on a hot day, it left me standing there holding a useless stick feeling real dumb. It's like the heat just sucks the life right out of the wood or cheap metal, you know? And yeah, you pay for it twice when you have to buy a replacement anyway. You're right though, taking care of a good tool from the start saves a lot of headaches down the road. A little bit of oil and keeping them out of the full sun makes a huge difference.