Shovels for Dummies - The Freelance Files MMCCVII

13 Different Shovels

It's always seemed to make good sense to us that when you want useful information about a topic, you get it from someone who already knows that information – not someone who has to look it up. If you ever doubted that, just ask your Google Home (or Alexa) a question that can't be answered with a simple fact and see what answer you get...  Whatever the case, we're pretty sure that, if you have ever wondered "What are the Best Tips for How to Shovel?" you might want to ask someone who... has used a shovel a time or two. That very likely does not include Jessica Ellis of WiseGEEK.com. Chances are pretty good that the theater graduate is more comfortable with... smaller tools. Like a pencil.

Ellis, a resident of LA, went straight to shoveling snow (even though the word doesn't appear in the question). Why? Because, one assumes, that there's precious little information about any other kind of shoveling on the internet. That's what happens when you're looking up information about manual labor, we guess. Anyway, Ellis pounded out a lot of words about dressing correctly (warm clothes) and stretching before performing heavy labor. Weird, we don't think we've ever seen a ditch digger limbering up before grabbing a shovel!

Along with other semi-useless information, Jessica impressed upon her readers such advice as,

• "When learning how to shovel properly, one important factor is the weight of the shovel.. if the shovel is used for light material, such as snow, it can be lighter than a shovel used to move rocks or packed dirt."
• "Many health experts recommend performing stretching exercises before beginning a bout of shoveling. "
• "When scooping with the shovel, bend the legs rather than the back..."
• "Some safety experts recommend wearing protective eye gear to prevent dirt, rock, snow, or other shoveled substances from reaching the eyes"
• "Be certain to dress warmly, covering the whole body to ward off chances of frostbite. "

Now, far be it from us to argue that the advice Jessica harvested from... wherever... is incorrect – except perhaps the bit about wearing safety glasses to protect your eyes from snow. No, we think that where Jessica went wrong was that she was utterly unfamiliar with using shovels... for anything. 

We're here to tell Ms. Ellis that there is a lot more variability in shovels than heavier vs. lighter. Over centuries, the shovel has evolved into many designs, including (among others) A long-handled, round-pointed shovel for cutting into solid ground – the kind you push in with your foot, Jessica. A long-handled, square-tipped shovel for scooping loose soil (also known as a transfer shovel). The short-handled long-bladed spade for digging trenches and narrow, deep holes. Scoop-shaped shovels for loose material such as grain and coal. "Pusher" snow shovels for clearing sidewalks and driveways of shallow, light snow.

Someone with a little more familiarity with the implements used by manual laborers might have realized that the first tip in "how to shovel" would be to choose the right tool for the job. It would probably be on point for the tipster to mention properly caring for one's tools. We doubt that our Dumbass of the Day knew that shovels need regular sharpening, much less how to do it. SO much for that graduate degree in screenwriting...

SE - HAND TOOLS