Question: USA Made Hand Diggers

atomicbrh

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761
Location
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Below I made a list of USA manufactured hand diggers with the typical hand guard and blade length. All claim to be 4130 Chrome-Moly Steel. Many claim to be heat treated. Some are powder coated. Some are not. Some have slightly different serrations for cutting roots. All are really just about the same price within a few dollars when you calculate shipping costs. My favorite hand digger so far has been the Evolution which I think is a copy of the British made Onion but those diggers are now twice the price of the USA made diggers.
If there is a digger you know about that I did not put on the list, please reply.
My question:
What if any are the real differences in any of these USA manufactured hand diggers? And I mean the difference in materials, thickness, rockwell hardness, gusseting, handle quality, construction, etc. not just opinions?
1. Grave Digger Tools Sidekick
2. Excalibur Rugged Hand Digger
3. Predator (George Lesche) Model 85
4. Lesche Model 48
5. Devil's Tongue Hand Digger(This is not the typical design as the four above but it looks like it will fit in the same sheath so I included it.)
 
Below I made a list of USA manufactured hand diggers with the typical hand guard and blade length. All claim to be 4130 Chrome-Moly Steel. Many claim to be heat treated. Some are powder coated. Some are not. Some have slightly different serrations for cutting roots. All are really just about the same price within a few dollars when you calculate shipping costs. My favorite hand digger so far has been the Evolution which I think is a copy of the British made Onion but those diggers are now twice the price of the USA made diggers.
If there is a digger you know about that I did not put on the list, please reply.
My question:
What if any are the real differences in any of these USA manufactured hand diggers? And I mean the difference in materials, thickness, rockwell hardness, gusseting, handle quality, construction, etc. not just opinions?
1. Grave Digger Tools Sidekick
2. Excalibur Rugged Hand Digger
3. Predator (George Lesche) Model 85
4. Lesche Model 48
5. Devil's Tongue Hand Digger(This is not the typical design as the four above but it looks like it will fit in the same sheath so I included it.)

This may not suit your digging needs, but I like it, and another member loves his also.
 

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Below I made a list of USA manufactured hand diggers with the typical hand guard and blade length. All claim to be 4130 Chrome-Moly Steel. Many claim to be heat treated. Some are powder coated. Some are not. Some have slightly different serrations for cutting roots. All are really just about the same price within a few dollars when you calculate shipping costs. My favorite hand digger so far has been the Evolution which I think is a copy of the British made Onion but those diggers are now twice the price of the USA made diggers.
If there is a digger you know about that I did not put on the list, please reply.
My question:
What if any are the real differences in any of these USA manufactured hand diggers? And I mean the difference in materials, thickness, rockwell hardness, gusseting, handle quality, construction, etc. not just opinions?
1. Grave Digger Tools Sidekick
2. Excalibur Rugged Hand Digger
3. Predator (George Lesche) Model 85
4. Lesche Model 48
5. Devil's Tongue Hand Digger(This is not the typical design as the four above but it looks like it will fit in the same sheath so I included it.)

My favorite is the White's Digmaster but those aren't made anymore. I still have one and that's what I use. I wish the Viking was still in production. The Digmaster has a robust grip. Not sure I would be a fan of the Devils Tongue.
 
My favorite is the White's Digmaster but those aren't made anymore. I still have one and that's what I use. I wish the Viking was still in production. The Digmaster has a robust grip. Not sure I would be a fan of the Devils Tongue.

Yes. The White's Digmaster would be my next purchase if they were still available. I like the design of the serrations. I did not include it on the list because it is no longer available and also it may have not been manufactured in the USA.
 
I swear by the Wilcox 202S. Been using one for 15 years. Made in USA, don't know about the metal specs.

https://wilcoxallpro.com/products/trowels/14-inches-all-pro-trowel

202s_7DCA669CB3937.jpg

I did not include the Wilcox in my list because it does not have a handguard, is not made of 4130 and the blade is rolled to form the handle. Also, the three inch wide blade will not fit in my favorite sheath. I like the way the blade is rolled to form the handle. Few hand diggers last 15 years. That is impressive.
How well does the stainless steel edge sharpen?
 
Another question:
In the lawn mower/landscaping world, there is a simple, crude blade test that goes on at the trade shows and it was started recently by a salesman in Georgia.
It is called the "ding" or "whack" test.
He puts on a thick pair of gloves and hits the sharpened edge of his mower blade against those of a competitor. His blade has no visible mark and the competitor's blade has a deep gouge in it.
With the way some of the digger manufacturers describe the quality of their products in their advertising, why don't they do the "whack" test or something similar?
There may be some reason they do not want the digger blade very hard maybe because of brittleness and ease of breakage. I do not know.
In past years, I have worked with 4130 a lot and the main thing is that it has a memory. When you attempt to bend it, it wants to return to its original shape.
That is why it is such a good steel for aircraft frames and race car chassis/roll cages. I never tried to sharpen it for any kind of cutting edge because I only worked with tubing and had no reason to sharpen it.
 
My favorite is the White's Digmaster but those aren't made anymore. I still have one and that's what I use. I wish the Viking was still in production. The Digmaster has a robust grip. Not sure I would be a fan of the Devils Tongue.

The Whites digmaster and several other hand digging tools are copies of the George lesche, Predator tools model 85B.

If you liked the Whites digmaster you will probably like the Model 85B as well.

https://www.predatortools.com/collections/handtools/products/model-85-b-digging-tool
 
The Whites digmaster and several other hand digging tools are copies of the George lesche, Predator tools model 85B.

If you liked the Whites digmaster you will probably like the Model 85B as well.

https://www.predatortools.com/collections/handtools/products/model-85-b-digging-tool

An 85B is supposed to arrive Tuesday but I am still interested to find out if one of these USA manufactured hand diggers has something that sets it apart from the others. We needed to up our hand digger arsenal.
 
The Whites digmaster and several other hand digging tools are copies of the George lesche, Predator tools model 85B.

If you liked the Whites digmaster you will probably like the Model 85B as well.

https://www.predatortools.com/collections/handtools/products/model-85-b-digging-tool

The Digmaster is serrated on both sides with a more robust handle. The blade is a little wider on the Digmaster as well.

I have the Phoenix shovel from Predator which I like very much.
 
The Digmaster is serrated on both sides with a more robust handle. The blade is a little wider on the Digmaster as well.

I have the Phoenix shovel from Predator which I like very much.

I am guessing there are a lot of people that wish the digmaster would come back into production.
I ordered that 85B because I thought it was the closest thing to a digmaster that I could find.
 
The 85B arrived this morning. Shipping was fast but it should be for $16.00 for a light weight, small box. Packaging was excellent. Compared to the Evolution, the blade is much thinner and narrower. The overall weight is much lighter than the Evolution. The included sheath is nice for a cordura sheath. It looks like 500 Denier sewn to plastic backing. Maybe that thinner blade will slice into the soil with less effort. Blade, handguard, and gusset appear to be one piece stamped 4130. I am not pulling off the grip to see if the tang is tig welded to the handguard. I am guessing that would be the only weld. I wish these digger manufacturers would put more photos and information about their tangs and grips in their advertising. The bend to make the handguard looks a little off left to right from 90 degrees but hey it is just a digger and more precision in that bend is not required. I have never come across 4130 stamped in a press like this to form the 90-degree handguard angle or the gusset. It took quite a press to make that gusset. If I was wealthy, I would buy all the diggers on my list for comparison.
 
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I have the lesche hand digger with left side serrations, a predator tools model 75C, which is basically the same as the regular digger with a longer handle that has waterproof storage in the handle. I also have a predator raptor hand digger, the grave digger sidekick, Excalibur rugged hand digger, nokta makro hand digger, the quest diamond digger, and a motley tools grass knife. I really like the extra handle length on the 75c predator, but it’s serrated in the right and I prefer left. The motley tools digger has great serrations but it’s a little thick making it not quite a easy to cut with. The serrations on the Excalibur seem too close together and it’s almost like they get clogged up in my dirt. The nokta, and the quest are really pretty decent but don’t seem as strong as some of the others, although I haven’t actually had any trouble. The grave digger sidekick is absolutely indestructible, and I really can’t find any fault other than it’s slightly heavier, but it is a beast! The raptor is a good tool but it has its place, more for parks and yards, not my usual woods type environment. I always go back to the plain old tried and true lesche. But I sure enjoy my shovels and diggers, maybe it’s a problem, but…it’s cheaper than trying out different detectors all the time …right? Please don’t take anything negative from this, they are all excellent tools, i just wanted to share my thoughts. I’m sure what I like isn’t the same as everyone.
 
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I have two White's Digmasters, one that I'm using now and another that is brand new and still has the tag on it . It may never see use because the Digmaster is super sturdy and really gets the job done. Maybe someday I'll sell it for the right price.
 
I have the lesche hand digger with left side serrations, a predator tools model 75C, which is basically the same as the regular digger with a longer handle that has waterproof storage in the handle. I also have a predator raptor hand digger, the grave digger sidekick, Excalibur rugged hand digger, nokta makro hand digger, the quest diamond digger, and a motley tools grass knife. I really like the extra handle length on the 75c predator, but it’s serrated in the right and I prefer left. The motley tools digger has great serrations but it’s a little thick making it not quite a easy to cut with. The serrations on the Excalibur seem too close together and it’s almost like they get clogged up in my dirt. The nokta, and the quest are really pretty decent but don’t seem as strong as some of the others, although I haven’t actually had any trouble. The grave digger sidekick is absolutely indestructible, and I really can’t find any fault other than it’s slightly heavier, but it is a beast! The raptor is a good tool but it has its place, more for parks and yards, not my usual woods type environment. I always go back to the plain old tried and true lesche. But I sure enjoy my shovels and diggers, maybe it’s a problem, but…it’s cheaper than trying out different detectors all the time …right? Please don’t take anything negative from this, they are all excellent tools, i just wanted to share my thoughts. I’m sure what I like isn’t the same as everyone.

Excellent review. Thanks.
Why do you feel the Raptor is more for parks and yards?
 
The Digmaster is serrated on both sides with a more robust handle. The blade is a little wider on the Digmaster as well.

I have the Phoenix shovel from Predator which I like very much.

Ahh, Predator tools does have another that is wider but not serrated.
 
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