Tools for hard digging??

Was having a go along a river bank today and using the garrett digging tool for recovery. But the ground soil was so hard the rubber handle split, I got a nice skin chunk took out of my finger and got blisters from trying to force open the ground.

What do you guys use when the ground is dry?? I sort of feel like I need to get a plug dug out and target recovered really fast as I feel a bit paranoid about people watching. Something sharp, heavy duty and easy to carry would be great! Photo's if you can please chaps

Portable jack hammer, bit noisy but. :lol:

This will be a more common issue amongst us as the ground dries out heading into summer. Generally if the ground is that hard detecting in a public area, I'll give it a miss due to the resultant mess made trying to dig a plug, or resort back to trying to probe for the coin.

The other option is to get one of those short handle lesche type shovels to dig a clean plug, you can get more weight/leverage onto them, and it may help avoiding making a mess. Goldsearch sell the mini lesche shovel for $110.

http://predatortools.com/

http://www.goldsearchaustralia.com/...ssories/pick-lesche-tools-trowels-shovel.html

I use a Military surplus Entrenching Tool. It cost $50 from a Disposal Store but is far stronger than the cheapies.
When I dig a plug I cut 3 sides & flap the plug over, when finished in the hole I fold the flap back & tramp it down, a few kicks around the edges & the plug is invisible.
Before I dig in the same Park again I check to make sure my old plugs have re-grown well & if they haven't I go elsewhere. I prefer to dig when the ground is damp which occurs fairly regularly where I live (on the coast) so I do not make myself unwelcome but even when the ground is fairly dry my method works fairly well.
The reason I started using the Entrenching Tool is that I have severe Arthritis (especially in my hands) & this method allows me to still enjoy Detecting. I do also use the screwdriver method if the target is fairly shallow.

Good stuff guys. yea i like the look of the lesche type shovel, i have a small foldable camping shovel, maybe ill try that before shelling out a hundy for a new one.

i just read about the guys carving up all the council irrigation... lol, got me worried now ;-)

I think you might find those foldable camp shovels will be too blunt and too wide for digging resonably sized plugs, plus I don't think it would look too good in public carrying around such a inplement. The head on the lesche shovel is a lot thinner and sharper, keeping the plug down to a decent size (or as small or large as you want it to be). You could modify the shovel head and sharpen it, but it will probably lose any existing strength and bend easily.

Hammer and cold chisel.(not in a well kept area though) and make sure you can't tell that you were ever there when you finish up and walk away, ground level and grass or leaf back in place.

Some good solutions here. If it's super dry I carry water, but if you can time it seasonally it is possible to do things a bit easier. Depends on the time you have. At this stage of the year I do my best to stick to the watered areas. In winter some sites are too wet so as spring approaches I try and work them in leaving the shady watered areas for the big dry of summer. It makes alot of sense to do it like that you will find your detecting pattern will overlap with the traffic pattern of depositors. Just depends on how seriously you want to get a site hunted. Honestly I just pulled three pre decs from a site I thought I had truly plundered when I went out after the sprinklers did their job. No site is ever truly finished that has public access. Good luck.