MLTOOLS | Hori-Hori Weeding & Digging Knife for Metal Detector | HD 12.5 inch | Ideal as Harvesting, Pruning, Japanese Gardening Knife, Camping, Hiking, Fishers, Utility, Hunting Knife | P8246

New to Hori knives, so compared a few before deciding. Blade seemed OK. Nice to have sheath. This handle was not comfortable, so returned it.

This Hori-Hori gardening knife is a great tool. The reason I took off one star is the sheath.Pros:Blade Design/Maintenance -- This is one of very few Hori-Hori knives available on Amazon that have the even, wider teeth on the serrated edge. The others have teeth that have a pattern of two small teeth followed by a large tooth, similar to the teeth pattern you see on many pruning saws. While this pattern offers more efficient cutting/sawing, it's much more difficult to sharpen. Let's face it, the Hori-Hori is a cutting/digging tool, over time the edge will become dull due to frequent encounters with rocks and other hard/abrasive stuff in the soil. The larger, even teeth on this MLTools Hori-Hori can be sharpened easily with the highly popular 3/8" diameter ceramic rod.Ergonomics -- 1) The oval-shaped handle is more comfortable than the rectangular wooden handles adopted by other designs. 2) And the round pommel allows a good push to drive deeper into hard, dry soil. 3) Also the flaring hand guard is a plus on protection.Craftsmanship -- The knife is well built with 1/8" stainless steel. I have not used it that long but it looks like it should last years if not decades.Value -- It's the lowest priced Hori-Hori with all three aforementioned merits.Cons:Not Full-Tang -- The blade extends 2" into the 5" handle. While I do prefer a full-tang tool/knife, I don't think not having a full-tang will cause any problem for this Hori-Hori, definitely not a deal killer for me. As a matter of fact, many original Japanese Hori-Hori designs do not have a full tang. The half-tang, if I could call it that, however does make the knife a bit top heavy though, because of the long blade (over 7") and a short tang.Sheath -- This is the reason I am not giving this product a a five-star rating. There are many Hori-Hori gardening knives on Amazon that have a lower price tag than this MLTools, and they come with leather sheaths. I am not possessed with leather sheath but I can see a leather sheath will outlast the nylon sheath that comes with this product, especially with the two sharp edges on this tool. The nylon sheath is adequate for storage and transportation of the tool, it's just I am concerned with the sheath's durability in the long run.Neutrals:Sharpness -- The serrated edge cuts well out of the box, the smooth edge - not so well. It took my about only 5 minutes on the belt sander to give the smooth edge a decent edge - sharp enough as a pruning knife but not shaving sharp (it makes no sense to have a shaving sharp edge on a digging tool), and I am perfectly happy with that for my gardening applications.

Metal detecting use. Doesn't work well in hard soil. Handle feels weak I could break it easily if I wanted.

I bought this one because it has a synthetic handle that isn't slippery when wet, unlike every other wood-handled hori hori out there. Smooth wood is the absolute worst handle material for maintaining your grip when wet - whether from sweat, dew, or mud. And this knife has a flare at the end, so if you're sawing a tough root, it's easy to pull back on if need be. Unlike some hori-hori, it has enough of a crossguard (the flare where the handle and blade meet) that there's no danger of your hand sliding forward onto the blade. Important safety features!I'd been using my 4" serrated pocket knife to cut weed roots for years - it's so much easier than pulling them. This is the fixed blade big brother of that pocket knife, plus it works as a hand trowel/transplanter too.I can't comment on the steel quality, but the blade is far thicker than most hand trowels, and as long as you aren't trying to pry up stuck rocks with it, it'll probably last forever. The straight edge, however, does not come "razor-sharp".I am a woman with mild arthritis, my mom has terrible arthritis, and neither of us has problems using this.

Works great for digging while metal detecting.