Soil Knife

[Rick R.]

Oops!  My apologies for leading astray.  Chris, I read "hooked" when you actually wrote "looked"!

I really think our "embarrassed" emoticon should have a red face. 

[ChrisB]

No worries Rick.....

[illingworth]

Our version of a soil knife is seen below. It has an offset handle which contributes to its strength. The edge is not really sharp, though I suppose it could be honed if we wanted it sharper. I don't use the serrated edge much either.  However, it is a tool that I can't live without, and I don't know how I ever managed before we got it. It fits in a sheath, and I belt it on first thing every day throughout our gardening season.  We have a heavy clay soil, and it cuts into it easily. We have had it for at least 6 years and it will outlast me.
It is not a Leonard - the manufacturer's imprint is Hunt Wilde. The Leonard  Lesche soil knife at this link looks identical:
http://www.amleo.com/lesche-soil-knife-with-sheath/p/DT1/
Sharon

[Arie.v]

Lee Valley sells them here in Canada, do I dare to take one with me for you to the Czech convention
Let me know if you can't get one.

http://www.leevalley.com/en/garden/page.aspx?c=&p=10504&cat=2,51810&ap=1

[Anthony Darby]

You should be able to take one in your checked in luggage. In 1983 I bought a machete (for jungle work) at Papine market in Jamaica. It cost me £2.50. I brought it home with me and used it occasionally when bushy weeds frustrated me. On my return home I noted that the Griffin and George catalogue used by schools in the UK had the very same one, which was made in Birmingham, for £8.50! I took it to Trinidad in 2007, but donated it to the family with whom I was staying.

[Alan_b]

...It is not a Leonard - the manufacturer's imprint is Hunt Wilde....

Hunt Wilde appear to make handle grips http://www.shopwiki.com/l/Grips-Hunt-Wilde-7 but possibly did not make the actual knife.

[ChrisB]

All most interesting to me.  I've now been offered the one I originally wanted and it is to be obtained and shipped to me by a very kind forumist, and I am so grateful.  It's great to see the variety of tools such as these, ones I've not really seen in garden centres here though the hori hori knife is available by mail order on line.  So I'm going to stick with the one that's going to come to me but I will tell others in our group, quite a few of them interested in getting one and they can decide if they want to order one.  That one from Canada also looks  very interesting, and I'll keep it in mind in case this one doesn't work out, but I feel sure it will!  Thanks everyone for your input, its great to get this sort of support.  Love this forum....

[Maren]

Hi Chris,

how extraordinary, I have always wanted one of these but, as mentioned already, the seller is unwilling to ship to the UK. None of the substitutes look quite as good as the original. Pity.