King of Spades Straight Blade Spade

I recently moved to a new home that was still under construction, so a lot of workmen were here digging for hydrants and electrical work, plumbing etc... when my favorite shovel went missing. I landscaped for 20 years and farmed for 13 more years, so I know spades and shovels. As a now 60 yr old woman, I depend upon quality tools to make physical work less damaging and difficult. So having my 10 yr old $65.00 spade "accidentally taken" really pissed me off. I went looking for a replacement since I was readying to put in an orchard and massive plantings at the new place and after reading the reviews and finding that I could buy an additional foot piece to attach to the other side of the top of it I bought this one. And omg. I feel like chaining it to my shed when not in use now. (Woe be the fool who takes this one) Its just that good of a piece of equipment. It goes right through roots, cuts clean holes and most importantly is weighted correctly to allow the tool to do the work, not you. I LOVE this thing. If you have a crazy gardener to buy a present for- this is it. Or anyone who uses a shovel. They will be thanking you forever every time they have to plant something.... Seriously, this is a thing of beauty for all serious plants-people. Young or old.

Update 2/2024 I have used this shovel frequently and even let other people borrow it to tackle tough projects. It still looks the same and is a pleasure to use. This is one tool I will make sure I have in an apocalypse. It is hard to believe I’ve had this thing for almost ten years. This is a great tool to have. Landscaping in my backyard has been a major project and pain this year. Everywhere I dig has tree roots and I killed at least one shovel and was working on my second before I purchased this one. Before I ordered this I would have to use three tools to dig, a shovel an axe and saw. Now I only use this shovel. It is built like a tank and I use it pry, chop and dig. Make sure there is not anything in the ground below you don't want to destroy, because this thing will slice through it before you know what happened. Wear protective shoes and be aware of where your feet are before you cut your toes clean off, because this shovel shows no mercy. If you treat this shovel with the respect it deserves, you should have no problem. It is extremely sharp, unlike the $56 shovel (Spear Head) I ordered before that warned that it was sharp only to find the wrong end of a butter knife is more dangerous. This shovel was my only tool used to remove six red tip shrubs that had been in the ground for 30 years after I cut the branches back with a chainsaw. It wasn't the easiest job, but I would have given up if I didn't have this shovel's prying and cutting power. I would recommend this shovel to someone who values their time and likes tools built to last and won't end up in a landfill like so many things do in this age of disposable everything.

Had it for about 2 months. This is an expensive investment but, darn, this thing is indestructible. It got abused several times by one of our family friends, who tried to dig up soil from a grass lawn with subjacent stones and bricks. And he barely scratched the spade. The sharp edge is easy to sharpen with a stone if it gets dull but you probably do not need to. Love it but again the cost is the only downside I can think of. Update: for those who want to import this to Canada, the total cost is about $245 CAN (including tax and custom). I will leave this to your judgement but if I knew it was going to be this expensive, I may have backed off from buying it. Just too expensive. Update after 6 years of use: this still runs strong. This is a very sturdy tool. Totally worth the higher cost.

Hands down the best garden tool I have ever owned. It has weight to it without being to heavy or cumbersome. I just replanted two beds and could not have done it without this tool. It went through roots and did no slow down in random large rocks. I bought 3 different shovels before this from a big box store. Save your money and just get this.

IMO this is the best and most useful and versatile landscaping tool you can buy. There is a reason that most landscaping companies use these. You can dig a hole in the most stubborn rocky or clay soil, edge a flower bed, cut sod, cut through tough tree or bush roots, chip the ice formed at the bottom of your driveway... the uses are endless and you don't have to worry about damaging the spade. As a homeowner, I will never be without one of these again. One word of warning, as well as tree roots, it will cut through buried power lines, cables, irrigation, etc. like butter as well. Definitely call to get these marked before digging.

Just love this spade. Cuts through clumps of roots like butter [nearly] Worth every penny to have a good spade. Too bad we don't learn these things when we are young. This would last a lifetime!

Absolutely awesome spade. Makes short work for digging trenches, etc. Makes it so much easier than a regular shovel. This takes the hard work out of the job because the spade is taking on most of the work for you. I highly recommend this. It is definitely expensive, but, worth it.

Great shovel! Heavy and a fine cutting edge. This is the first quality shovel I have ever purchased. My other shovels came from yard sales or were inexpensive brands that I bought for around $10 at discount shores. After almost killing myself digging four holes through tough, tangly sod and rocky compact soil, I decided to invest in a quality shovel. I planted two additional trees using this one and the difference was quite noticeable on my poor old muscles!