Utilizing a Depart No Hint trowel is among the most accountable issues you are able to do to protect the backcountry for others to take pleasure in. Whereas there’s nothing fairly as satisfying as having a great bowel motion outside within the crisp morning air, surrounded by white-capped mountains and wild flowers, it’s necessary to depart no hint of your “passage.” As a way to protect that wilderness feeling for others, it’s best to bury your poo, so it might biodegrade correctly and never turn out to be an eyesore.
However many Depart No Hint trowels offered in the present day are too flimsy to be used in backcountry terrain. That’s why this checklist of trowels contains many steel ones that are sturdy and might dig by powerful floor stuffed with rocks and roots.
BEST LEAVE NO TRACE TROWELS
1. The TentLab Dirtsaw Deuce #2 Trowel
WEIGHT 0.6 oz (17g)
FEATURES: Featherweight aluminum is sturdy and long-lasting. Accessible in a number of shiny colours so that you received’t lose it. The Lanyard gap permits you to clip it into your backpack. Sharp and hard sufficient to chop by roots and lever out stones.
BEST FOR: Ultralight Backpacking
Made utilizing DAC aluminum, the Dirtsaw Duece #2 (intelligent title) has extensive and easy tooth designed to agitate and lower grime like a serrated knife, however they received’t snag on roots or threaten to chop your hand. Its tooth are protected to allow them to keep sharp and are far sufficient away from the entrance edge that they don’t threaten your hand when utilizing the trowel the wrong way up. This cleverly designed 6.8″ instrument might be held at both finish, relying on whether or not it is advisable to dig with the slim finish or scoop with the extensive finish.
2. Vargo Titanium Dig Dig Trowel
WEIGHT: 1.25 oz (36g)
FEATURES: Serrated finish for slicing by roots with a cushty, rolled-edge deal with. Can serve double obligation as a sand, snow, or tent stake. Has a lanyard gap so you possibly can clip it to your backpack.
BEST FOR: Backpackers who it is advisable to dig by thick roots or rocky floor and want a sturdy trowel with a serrated innovative.
The Vargo Titanium Dig Dig Software is a multi-purpose titanium trowel designed by Brian Vargo, a backpacker and titanium manufacturing specialist who’s most likely designed extra titanium backpacking gear than anybody else on the planet. Whereas heavier than the opposite titanium trowels listed above, the Dig Dig is by far the simplest to make use of as a tent stake or snow anchor, a dual-use profit that’s seldom realized by different Depart No Hint trowels.
3. Bogler Ultralight Trowel
WEIGHT: 0.48oz (13.5g)
FEATURES: Excessive-grade aluminum trowel with a thin serrated edge that cuts cleanly by turf and small roots.
BEST FOR: Backpackers who desire a very light-weight trowel.
The Bogler Firm Ultralight Trowel
4. QiWiz Huge Dig Trowel
WEIGHT: 0.6 oz (15 grams)
FEATURES: Brightly coloured so you possibly can’t lose it with a pointy finish that’s able to slicing by roots, chopping by packed mud, and levering out stones. A full 7.25″ lengthy, you possibly can simply dig a cathole that’s the requisite 6″ deep and confirm its depth utilizing the trowel. An added lanyard gap makes it simple to clip to your backpack. The painted deal with shouldn’t be sharp and simple to carry.
BEST FOR: UL Backpackers who desire a hand-fabricated titanium trowel made by a one-person cottage gear firm within the USA.
The QiWiz Huge Dig (pronounced “chee-wiz”) is a hand-crafted titanium trowel made by Depart No Hint Grasp Educator, Rob Kelly. Thought of the “Yoda of trowels”, Rob, who’s path title is QiWiz, is enthusiastic about instructing individuals easy methods to reduce their affect when backpacking and tenting. A persistent tinkerer, Rob made a titanium trowel for himself out of scrap steel for his private use. When different hikers noticed it on the path, they provided to purchase one from him and now he’s offered a whole bunch to backpackers and thru-hikers. Tremendous exhausting and sturdy, however ultralight, the titanium Huge Dig will final a lifetime and might serve double obligation as a tent-stake.
MORE: QiWiz sells two different handmade titanium trowels. The “Authentic” weighs lower than 0.4 oz and is 6″ lengthy and the MEGA DIG which weighs slightly below 1 oz and is 8.25″ lengthy.
5. GSI OutDoors Cathole Sanitation Trowel
WEIGHT: 3.1 oz
FEATURES: Serrated edge helps lower by vegetation. Measurements on blade assist measure cathole depth. Lanyard on deal with permits you to clip it to your backpack.
BEST FOR: Funds oriented backpacker that digs catholes in much less difficult soil situations.
The GSI Outside Cathole Sanitation Trowel is among the hottest and least costly backpacking trowels offered in the present day and sometimes utilized by Depart No Hint educators when instructing LNT consciousness classes. It’s constructed from recycled plastic, making it sturdy sufficient for the much less demanding soil situations discovered in lots of designated campgrounds and recreation areas. A full 10.3″ lengthy, it’s simpler to dig with than shorter trowels, particularly for kids.
SELECTION CRITERIA
PRICE – Depart No Hint Trowels usually are not that costly, however I present a full vary of choices under if you wish to get monetary savings and nonetheless get a great product.
WEIGHT – Proudly owning a light-weight trowel will increase the likelihood that you simply’ll carry it with you in your journeys. Heavy trowels are a “ache within the ass.” Pun meant!
COLOR – Trowels must be brightly coloured so that you don’t lose them in wilderness settings. It’s simple to place down a trowel and lose it in opposition to a background of inexperienced or brown, however much less so if it has a garish colour that’s not usually present in nature.
MATERIAL – The fabric {that a} trowel is constructed from issues. If preserving the wilderness is your objective, it doesn’t make a lot sense to purchase a product constructed from petrochemicals that received’t decompose in the event you throw it in a landfill.
DIGGING EDGE – An excellent Depart No Hint trowel wants to have the ability to dig by a wide range of totally different soil varieties from ones with dense root networks to hard-packed soil and dust. Having a sturdy edge, able to busting by powerful soil situations and levering out rocks is a should.
LENGTH – The beneficial depth of a Depart No Hint cathole is 6-8″ deep. To dig that deep, you want a trowel that has an extended sufficient deal with and blade.
DURABILITY – A trowel is a crucial piece of backcountry gear that ought to face up to years of harsh use, UV harm, and if you unintentionally drive over it along with your automotive.
MADE IN USA – Let’s face it: The US is on the best way to turning into a third-world nation as a result of we’ve off-shored our manufacturing base. If remaining essentially the most highly effective nation on earth is necessary to you, you’ll purchase merchandise made within the USA.
BUYING ONLINE – Test the vendor’s return coverage before you purchase, however you possibly can nearly at all times return an unused trowel inside a sure timeframe after buying. I like to recommend shopping for your best choice, testing it at house, and returning/exchanging it if it doesn’t really feel fairly proper.
LEAVE NO TRACE – Study extra about go away no hint and wilderness ethics.
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Disclosure: I’ve obtained a number of the merchandise listed above from producers whereas buying others with my very own cash. I’m a Depart No Hint Grasp Educator and educate Depart No Hint consciousness lessons.
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