Alright, so I’ve been messing around with this “sharpshooter shovel” thing, and let me tell you, it’s been a bit of a ride. I saw some folks online talking about how great it is for digging narrow trenches and stuff, so I figured I’d give it a shot. My main goal was to clean up the edges of my garden beds and maybe dig a little trench for some irrigation hose.
First off, I got myself one of these shovels. It’s definitely different from your regular garden shovel – way narrower and the blade is longer and pointier. It felt pretty sturdy, though, which is good.
Getting Started
I started by marking out where I wanted to dig. I just used some string and stakes to get a straight line. Then, I took the sharpshooter shovel and started digging. My initial thought? This thing is designed to go deep, not wide.
- First Attempt: I tried to dig like I normally would with a regular shovel, kind of scooping out the dirt. That didn’t work so well. The narrow blade just didn’t move much soil that way.
- Second Attempt: I figured out that I needed to use more of a stabbing and prying motion. I’d push the shovel straight down, then lever it back to loosen the soil. This worked much better!
I found you need to step down pretty hard on the foot platform to sink into hard ground.
The Process
Once I got the hang of the stabbing and prying, it went pretty smoothly. It was surprisingly good at cutting through roots – way easier than with my old shovel. The narrow blade made it easy to get a nice, clean edge on the garden beds.
Digging the trench for the irrigation hose was also pretty easy. I just followed the string line, stabbing and prying my way along. It was definitely faster than digging a wider trench with a regular shovel, and it used less effort, too.
My Final Thoughts
Overall, I’m pretty happy with the sharpshooter shovel. It’s not a replacement for a regular shovel for every task, but for digging narrow trenches or cleaning up edges, it’s awesome. You need to learn the right motion, but once you get that, you can go much easier.
It’s definitely a good addition to my garden tools!
