Garden Knife

[Soanso McMasters]

My wife and I have a backyard veggie garden and she particularly enjoys it. Can I get some recommendations on which knife to get her for gardening tasks?

[fixall]

I wish I had a great Spyderco to offer up as a suggestion... But my wife owns 10+ Spydercos and refuses to use anything but her Victorinox Floral knife for gardening.

[Coastal]

I use a Tasman Salt. I don't dig with it, and generally don't dig with knives, period. BUT, if a person were going to do some light soil displacement, I think a Mule Team in LC200N or MagnaCut would be a useful tool.

A Byrd hawkbill or a Matriarch 2 would probably be just as good as a Tasman Salt, by the way.

[Blerv]

I think a Dragonfly Salt Hawkbill SE would be a great gardening friend.

[cabfrank]

SE Salt Hawkbill, the bigger the better.

[cabfrank]

So, that probably means Spyderhawk, Tasman Salt, Dragonfly Salt Hawkbill. All would be great.

[Soanso McMasters]

SE vs PE blades for garden tasks?

[Airlsee]

Not to be dismissive, but the knife you are looking for is the Byrd Hawkbill SE...



~$30 of universal pruning excellence

[Ngati Pom]

I use a byrd Cara-Cara Rescue or byrd Hawkbill SE.

[Wartstein]

SE vs PE blades for garden tasks?

SE. 100 %

A good amount of edge would not hurt too, so I´d say Pac Salt SE - and in this case I´d go H1 and sabre hollow, rather than LC and ffg.

But probably, as others suggested, a hawkbill blade shape might be even better -. don´t know, actually never tried one.

[Bemo]

Not to be dismissive, but the knife you are looking for is the Byrd Hawkbill SE...



~$30 of universal pruning excellence

Specifically got this for my wife to use in the garden. Don't know how but she keeps cutting herself with it. She then grabs a pair of kitchen shears....

[Coastal]

Yep, the Byrd looks excellent. It is heavier than the Tasman Salt, and it'll rust if not cared for. On the other hand, it is cheaper and has a finger choil and better serrations. I have both, but haven't tried the Byrd yet, or the Matriarch. My gardening will start in earnest on Tuesday.

[benben]

Serrated H1 Pacific Salt, for me Saturday work in the yard is where it shines!

[kobold]

Tasman Salt SE, Native Salt SE, Caribbean SF SE, DF2 Salt SE. And a Mini Duku...

[knivesandbooks]

Native 5 SE or Delica Wharncliffe SE

[DrHE]

I would say go salt in SE and get a size she likes. Tasman or D-fly 2 would be good.

[Wartstein]

Yep, the Byrd looks excellent. It is heavier than the Tasman Salt, and it'll rust if not cared for. On the other hand, it is cheaper and has a finger choil and better serrations. I have both, but haven't tried the Byrd yet, or the Matriarch. My gardening will start in earnest on Tuesday.

It has ("better" serrations than the Tasman)?

Honest question, I´ve never tried either one myself!

[Evil D]

Tasman Salt is probably the best that's currently in production, but a Spyderhawk would be my top choice if you can get your hands on one.









I don't grow a garden but I've done peppers, and I really like the way a longer hawkbill "reaches around" stems and allows you to make clean pull cuts.

If for whatever reason you just don't want a hawkbill, my second choice would be a SE wharncliffe that has some negative blade angle. The Endura wharnie would be great for this as well but won't have that "hook around" effect that a hawkbill has, but a wharnie does a good job of transferring cutting power all the way to the top tip of the blade and will still do pull cuts better than anything that has a belly or upswept blade.

[cabfrank]

SE everyday and twice on Sunday. Spyderhawk would rule, Tasman great too, agreed. I hadn't considered a wharncliffe SE, but that would be my choice after hawkbills. I must say though, there are less expensive tools for garden work.

[araneae]

Dragonfly salt hawkbill is my pick. Great for cutting stems, harvesting, etc. There's a reason most traditional harvesting knives are hawkbills. Add H1 steel and now it's nearly zero maintenance.