So I just found out I've been holding a trowel wrong for like three years

I was helping on a dig in Tucson, working on a unit with a bunch of other volunteers. I was scraping away, thinking I was being super careful, when the site director, Dr. Miller, came over. He watched me for a second and then just said, 'You know, you're using that like a garden spade.' I was holding my Marshalltown trowel with a full fist grip, digging straight down. He showed me the right way, which is more like holding a pencil and using the edge to skim the soil. I'd been basically chopping through layers and probably wrecking some tiny bits of stuff without even knowing. It was a real 'oh no' moment. I felt so silly. Has anyone else had a basic tool mistake that took way too long to figure out?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_uma1d ago

Okay but did you actually break anything important? If you were just moving dirt for three years, the tool probably worked fine even if it wasn't the textbook method.

willow_ellis1d ago

My buddy sharpened a chisel backwards for months before someone pointed it out. He was basically just polishing the flat side.

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