I use mine most for weeding - but also for planting and creating drills for seed sowing. Don’t be scared of it @parrotfeather* - it will soon become your friend.
I’m a bit confused! So what do you actually use the knife for? Just weeding? & how is it better than any other hand tools? Would it be useful for my heavy wet clay soil that’s also horribly stony, just thinking as I have a lot of weeding to do in the coming weeks mostly bittercress at the moment but I’ve loads of plantain, narrow leaf, in the lawn so wondering if this’ll help get it out?
Visualise a narrow trowel with a saw edge on one side and a cutting blade on the other, and the tasks you would be able to undertake without changing tools.
I confess I had to look up Hori Hori Knife - it seems to have passed me by! I then realised that it's not much different from (though undoubtedly much sharper than) the knife that I still use - and it was my dad's Scout knife. That was back in the day when all scouts carried a knife, and whittling was part of the norm! (He was a Scout and then a Scout lead in the 1920s!)
I think the term 'knife' might be a bit misleading - I've always thought of it as simply a hori-hori, rather than as a trowel, or a knife, or a weeder or anything else where you might compare directly with a tool you already have. It *is* all those things, but not one of them.
'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
Thanks KT53. I saw the rotating handle pair on the Felco web site. My daughter's partner is a landscape gardener and I even sent him a text earlier asking his view on them. He recommends them highly. I don't spend my money easily, except for plants.
My other half loved his Felco with the rotating handle. But he was tall and had large hands. I hated them...I could never manage to use them. I was perfectly happy with the normal Felco secateurs.
Japeto Hori Hori update: I love it! Its not too heavy, its great for getting out weeds in between plants when space is tight and the blade is handy if you want to cut something off without changing tools. I won't say I don't use my other tools as I do, but it is a really very useful addition. I confess I have lost the leather holster.......there is a rather deep trench between my wall and a neighbour and I chuck stuff down there when I'm doing that bed. Neither of us know who 'owns' the space but its about 10ft down and 3 ft wide and I can't see it. I think the cavern also has some of my gloves and secateurs......
Coincidentally my daughter bought me one for my birthday a week or two ago @mandyroberts99 and up to now I haven't had a need to use it. I dare say it will be useful though even if it's only to use as a trowel. By heck it looks lethal though.
I've been reading back on this thread as I'm going to buy one for my sister and can't decide between getting a Niwaki (which I know and love) or a Japeto as it has the serrated edge and I thought she might find that useful. Has anyone tried both to compare?
Glad you ended up loving it, @mandyroberts99 - knew you would 😉 How is yours @Uff ?
'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
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Visualise a narrow trowel with a saw edge on one side and a cutting blade on the other, and the tasks you would be able to undertake without changing tools.
But he was tall and had large hands.
I hated them...I could never manage to use them.
I was perfectly happy with the normal Felco secateurs.
It was you who asked for feedback. It does look lethal but I haven't chopped any fingers off yet and enjoy using it. Have fun!
Glad you ended up loving it, @mandyroberts99 - knew you would 😉
How is yours @Uff ?