Customer Reviews

Fiskars 7978 Composite Trowel

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This was my first trowel as a novice gardener 3 years ago. I loved it. I love that it's easy to spot in the garden, can be left out, and I don't care if the kids "borrow" it because it's dirt cheap. I have the hand rake to match, both in a not-too-glaring terra cotta colour.

For a while, this was my only garden tool, and it held up respectably creating beds, stirring in amendments and transplanting annuals and perennials of all sizes.

I'd have to go slowly when doing serious digging in rocky areas or digging up long-buried bricks - we have a million of these under our garden! But it did the trick, including digging post holes for my new Square Foot Garden this season.

However... this season brought the arrival of serious competition: the Rittenhouse Trake (also available at Amazon!). The trake's sturdy cast aluminum construction has, I'm afraid, blown this baby out of the water.

However much you want to call this trowel's material "composite," what it basically is is plastic. It's a plastic trowel. And metal, I'm afraid, will always trump plastic when you're investing in a real garden tool. The trake has a built-in rake (hence the name: trowel/rake), a nicely-rubberized grippy handle, and the digging power to seriously unearth those stones or bricks. It's also a girl-friendly small size without feeling too delicate or flimsy. I always was afraid that the matching Fiskars hand rake would get stepped on and snap. :-(

SO... I'm afraid, as much as I have loved my terra cotta Fiskars trowel / rake set, they've pretty much been relegated to the sandbox this season. The kids still use them in the garden, but I'm so happy with my metal version that can slice through anything without fear of snappage.

I must preface this review by explaining that I've never used this item for its "intended" purpose. I don't garden and have only recently acquired the skill to keep anything more biologically advanced than a cactus alive. If you like gardening and want to garden in style, you could almost definitely find something fancier and more ergonomically...impressive than the Fiskars (much like the dozen or so fine, Japanese & Swedish-made trowels of various sizes and shapes that are currently "supplementing" the iron content of my mother's lawn and garden.)
I actually bought this shovel for camping and backpacking when my Coleman mini entrenching tool shovel that I'd had since boy scouts bent while trying to dig a privy hole in the roots of a long-dead, but still-stronger-than-me oak. My bad that. (Man Vs. Nature?...Bet on Nature.) Still, the mistake DID lead me (indirectly) to this little gem. Wanting a smaller and lighter trowel this time to fill the void (pardon my pun) left by my Coleman, I undertook my usual level of unusually detailed research into the range of products available for the purpose. I quickly found however that every trowel intended for the backpacker's purpose was either light, cheap plastic woefully under matched to the intended task or a heavy steel or aluminum monstrosity, blow-fully overmatched to the contents of my wallet allocated for waste removal.
I'd nearly given up on solving the problem when I happened upon the Fiskars Trowel while picking up lawn fertilizer at the local "Home improvement Depot". I first noticed the 99 cent price tag offered by the merchant, hoping it to be a pricing error I could capitalize on for restocking my Mother's ever-dwindling supply. Investigating further however, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was constructed of something called "Nyglass", which I (correctly) suspected to be a non-copyrighted name for Zytel, which is a high strength, abrasion and impact resistant thermoplastic composite made of nylon reinforced by fiberglass. A LOT of companies use this stuff for knife handles and grips because it is very tuff stuff. Apart from being stronger than most plastics (and some metals), it's also much lighter - which is handy when you're backpacking or hiking where ounces (or the lack thereof), count. I also found it to be very comfortable in the hand, having a long, simple round grip that lends itself well to several different grip styles and usefulness in either the largest or smallest of hands. The material itself is also a bit rough, (possibly from the fiberglass) which gives it a good slip-resistant grip (a good thing when you gotta go in the rain). Couple all of those design elements then with the unintended-but-awesome feature of a long, large, hollow handle with a removable orange (visible!) cap that can be removed (and replaced) to perfectly fit a single roll of backpacker's toilet paper...and you have something that defines utility and defies all cost Vs. benefit logic. It's perfectly suited to the task - for which it was never intended, more so than the alternatives that were and cheaper to boot (even at the price listed here). Think that sums it up nicely. I bought a handful (3) of them at the time, foreseeing (but not lamenting at that price) the inevitability of a mechanical failure - but I can now happily report that after 6 months and over a dozen 3-4 day hiking, camping and backpacking trips with this thing, I'm still on my first.

Gotta love that.

Ok, after about 5 minutes of use the first rock that I encountered broke it into about 5 pieces. Nowhere near as strong as a steel trowel.

This is 1 dollar at Walmart. I would not have spent more than that on it. That said, it has lasted where a more expensive three dollar Walmart metal fiskars trowel has broken into bits.. I am currently searching for a stronger trowel. This one is simply not broken because when it is under stress it bends slightly, letting you know to stop.

its a good product but a week after i bought this on amazon i saw the same tool at home depot for .99 cents. could have saved some money, live and learn.

I bought this based on a previous review illuminating how perfect this shovel is for backpacking. I must say that I concur, the hollow handle holds TP perfectly, it weighs less than most power bars, and it digs adequately. PERFECT!

While not as strong as a trowel made of metal, Fiskars 7978 Composite Trowel is still strong enough to handle basic gardening tasks. Made out of a composite plastic called `FiberComp', the tool is very lightweight. The blade is oversized, quite wide, and appears to be quite sturdy. The rock solid handle is probably the strongest part of the tool, and snapping the blade off would take a great deal of force. The handle has a spot on the top for your thumb, and a slot at the end for hanging.

This tool will not corrode, and if not abused, it should last for a long while. The price at Amazon is a little steep, so may want to check your local hardware store for a better deal.

This product is of very high quality, it lasts a very long time, and it is very durable. I love my new trowel, and I would never go back to the old brand that I used to use. Thanks

This trowel is nice and light so when I pot a house plant
I don't turn the bag of soil up make a mess... Nice

I have bought this trowel for years. It is light weight and has a nice point to it. I use it gardnering and also going gold panning. After quite a bit of use it will wear down some what but still useful.
I have never broken one!