Product Review

The Tentlab Deuce of Spades backpacking trowel is a "simple" little thing we came up with a couple of years ago. It looks as self-explanatory as one can imagine. How much could there be to a backpacking trowel after all? This one is delightfully deceptive - you really have to use it for yourself to see how surprisingly light, effective and tough this trowel really is. It's unique, mind-bending stealth feature, is that you can use it handle-down for 4 TIMES the digging power in hard ground. Use the handle end for breaking up tough dirt and wheedling out rocks; then use the scoop end to pull the dirt out quickly and easily. The combination makes the Deuce out-dig every other trowel, stick, or stake hands down. Anyone who poops in the woods should have this baby in their pack! Okay, it's almost impossibly lightweight, what's the tradeoff? Very simple: some handle comfort. The Deuce is light because it's thin - so there's a balance to be struck between carrying it's weight for hours and hours, and how its edges feel against your hand for the few minutes a day you spend actually digging with it. With thousands of Deuces sold, we can honestly claim the balance is right (probably exactly where most backpackers would put it if they were designing it for themselves). It's fun hearing what else our customers do with it: it's a great shoehorn; it's a good sand stake; it's allowed in carryon luggage; it's handy for bear canister screws; you can open beer bottle with it (like that's not a core function - ha!). What else?