Utilizing a Depart No Hint trowel is without doubt one of the most accountable issues you are able to do to protect the backcountry for others to get pleasure from. Whereas there’s nothing fairly as satisfying as having a very good bowel motion open air within the crisp morning air, surrounded by white-capped mountains and wild flowers, it’s necessary to go away no hint of your “passage.” With the intention to protect that wilderness feeling for others, you must bury your poo, so it could actually biodegrade correctly and never turn into an eyesore.
However many Depart No Hint trowels bought right now are too flimsy to be used in backcountry terrain. That’s why this checklist of trowels contains many metallic ones that are sturdy and might dig by means of robust floor crammed with rocks and roots.
BEST LEAVE NO TRACE TROWELS
1. The TentLab Dirtsaw Deuce #2 Trowel
FEATURES: Featherweight aluminum is sturdy and long-lasting. Out there in a number of vivid colours so that you received’t lose it. The Lanyard gap permits you to clip it into your backpack. Sharp and difficult sufficient to chop by means of roots and lever out stones.
BEST FOR: Ultralight Backpacking
Made utilizing DAC aluminum, the Dirtsaw Duece #2 (intelligent identify) has vast and easy enamel designed to agitate and lower dust like a serrated knife, however they received’t snag on roots or threaten to chop your hand. Its enamel 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 other way up. This cleverly designed 6.8″ software will be held at both finish, relying on whether or not that you must dig with the slender finish or scoop with the vast finish.
2. Vargo Titanium Dig Dig Trowel
FEATURES: Serrated finish for chopping by means of roots with a cushty, rolled-edge deal with. Can serve double responsibility as a sand, snow, or tent stake. Has a lanyard gap so you possibly can clip it to your backpack.
BEST FOR: Backpackers who that you must dig by means of thick roots or rocky floor and want a sturdy trowel with a serrated leading edge.
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 best 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
FEATURES: Excessive-grade aluminum trowel with a thin serrated edge that cuts cleanly by means of turf and small roots.
BEST FOR: Backpackers who desire a very light-weight trowel.
The Bogler Firm Ultralight Trowel
4. QiWiz Large Dig Trowel
FEATURES: Brightly coloured so you possibly can’t lose it with a pointy finish that’s able to chopping by means of roots, chopping by means of 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 straightforward 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 Large 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 identify is QiWiz, is enthusiastic about educating folks find out how to reduce their impression when backpacking and tenting. A continual tinkerer, Rob made a titanium trowel for himself out of scrap metallic for his private use. When different hikers noticed it on the path, they provided to purchase one from him and now he’s bought a whole bunch to backpackers and thru-hikers. Tremendous exhausting and sturdy, however ultralight, the titanium Large Dig will final a lifetime and might serve double responsibility as a tent-stake.
MORE: QiWiz sells two different handmade titanium trowels. The “Unique” 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
FEATURES: Serrated edge helps lower by means of vegetation. Measurements on blade assist measure cathole depth. Lanyard on deal with permits you to clip it to your backpack.
BEST FOR: Price range oriented backpacker that digs catholes in much less difficult soil situations.
The GSI Open air Cathole Sanitation Trowel is without doubt one of the hottest and least costly backpacking trowels bought right now and sometimes utilized by Depart No Hint educators when educating LNT consciousness periods. It’s constituted of 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 youngsters.
SELECTION CRITERIA
PRICE – Depart No Hint Trowels usually are not that costly, however I present a full vary of choices beneath if you wish to get monetary savings and nonetheless get a very good product.
WEIGHT – Proudly owning a light-weight trowel will increase the likelihood that you simply’ll deliver it with you in your journeys. Heavy trowels are a “ache within the ass.” Pun supposed!
COLOR – Trowels needs to be brightly coloured so that you don’t lose them in wilderness settings. It’s simple to place down a trowel and lose it towards a background of inexperienced or brown, however much less so if it has a garish shade that’s not usually present in nature.
MATERIAL – The fabric {that a} trowel is constituted of issues. If preserving the wilderness is your aim, it doesn’t make a lot sense to purchase a product constituted of 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 means of quite a lot of completely different soil sorts from ones with dense root networks to hard-packed soil and dirt. Having a sturdy edge, able to busting by means of robust soil situations and levering out rocks is a should.
LENGTH – The really helpful 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 essential piece of backcountry gear that ought to stand up to years of harsh use, UV injury, and whenever you by chance drive over it along with your automotive.
MADE IN USA – Let’s face it: America is on the way in which to changing 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 virtually 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 residence, and returning/exchanging it if it doesn’t really feel fairly proper.
LEAVE NO TRACE – Be taught extra about depart no hint and wilderness ethics.
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Disclosure: I’ve obtained a few 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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