Tool Time 2

This looks like a handy feature - handles that slide out to three different lengths. Is it useful? When I have to lean really far to prune the croton hedge maybe, but for day to day the shortest setting gets caught in my shirt and irritates me. I want to go back to a tool I had in Washington that required only one hand to operate, didn't really have handles and had blades that were lighter weight. We'll see if they make them any more and how much it costs to ship here!

Another problem with this tool is that the parts can come apart. Note the upper right screw like thing isn't there anymore. It came out twice - first time I found it and the second time it went to Jeff's "shop" for a repair (diving backplate part added).

Gloves gloves gloves. How many have we had? Everything is terrible. Leather is hot and inflexible. Cloth gets wet and tears easily. The rubberized ones were our favorites (bottom left) except I keep wearing out the fingers. I have determined that all will suck, so now I go with the most comfortable cheapest ones that are $1.24 (upper left). They aren't waterproof, thorns go through them, and they will tear. They are my new favorites unless I am pulling vines or doing cement. Then the bottom left rubberized ones are better.

A good home depot trowel. There was a bigger version that had a neat fulcrum/pivot point but it was too heavy so I got this. Unlike all the others, this one has not bent yet!

My $1 pink plastic rake has been the best tool ever! Light weight, the teeth haven't bent or broken and lets me move a lot of stuff around. Finally the handle bent right in the middle and then snapped. I found a replacement handle for $1 but it snapped the first day I used it. So I went to Mr. Special and replaced my pink rake with a barf brown one. It is no longer $1, it was $3 something and the handle is heavier and wood. Oh well, still more suitable for me than a heavy metal one.