Hori Hori knives have become popular over the past few years in the gardening world. They have shown up all over the internet but I never bought one for myself because I wasn’t sure if it was the right tool for me. This past season, I was gifted one from SproutBox Garden, and thought it was the perfect time to test this tool out and let you know if it is worth the investment!
What is a Hori Hori knife?
A Hori Hori knife is a multi use garden tool that originates from Japan, often referred to as “the swiss army knife of the garden”. These knives can cut, prune, dig and weed making them useful for multiple tasks around the garden.
More About the SproutBox Garden Hori Hori Knife
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According to SproutBox Garden‘s website, the knife has a walnut handle, and the blade is made from rust-resistant steel.
Based on my research on quality knives, it’s important that the blade goes all the way through the handle, and you can see from the photo above that this knife does! It also has a good weight to it and the handle feels comfortable in my hand.
As is typical of all Hori Hori knives, this one comes with the serrated blade, the smooth blade, a hook and the curved shape of a trowel. In addition to those features, this one also includes measurements on it if you are looking to use it as a trowel for planting things that require measuring depth, such as bulbs.
The knife does come in a sheath which is important for storing it safely. My one issue with the sheath is that it has a loop on the back of it so you can carry it with you, but the loop is closed which means you can only wear it if you have some kind of belt on, which I never do. It would be better if the back loop had a snap on it so that I could hook it to the belt loop on my pants or something else. Because the loop is closed it makes it cumbersome to carry it around everywhere when the option does exist for attaching it to a belt.
Finally, although Hori Hori knives originated from Japan, this knife was produced in China, which I thought was important if you are looking for an authentic Japanese knife made in Japan.
If you plan to buy a Hori Hori knife and wish to save 10%, you can do so using my code UGC10.
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How to Use a Hori Hori Knife
I took the Hori Hori knife out for a spin in this video if you wanted to check it out and watch the knife in use, otherwise read below for my experience using the different features!
Flat Edge
From my experience, this blade is most useful for cutting soft plants such as lettuce. I used it to cut my romaine lettuce when I harvested the entire heads and it worked quite well. I later tried to use it to cut the thicker, more dense stems of my comfrey and it didn’t cut them at all.
Based on this, I recommend this side of the blade for cutting anything that is softer and less dense.
Serrated Edge
I tried this blade out on my comfrey stems which are upright, and about a medium density. It cut quickly and easily, it surprised me how well it worked. It also works well to cut twine too, which is a neat feature when you are in the garden and need to get support set up.
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Blade/Trowel
Based on some videos I watched on using the trowel itself, the benefit of this blade to other trowels is how narrow it is, it can fit into smaller places than a normal hand trowel.
I did try and use it to dig up a dandelion to see if it made for good weeding, however I didn’t find it as effective as using a full size shovel.
I haven’t tried planting any bulbs with it as of yet because it isn’t the right season, but once it becomes bulb planting time I am going to test the knife again to see if it makes my job any easier. However, with bulb augers on the market, I would imagine those are still the most beneficial tool for burying bulbs.
Hook
I have yet to figure out what this feature is for. If you look in the photo above, beside the 6 inch mark there is a hook in the blade. I don’t know what this feature is for or why it’s there, but if I do figure it out I will come back and update this review!
How to Care for Your Hori Hori Knife
Although the blade is rust-resistant, I highly recommend wiping it down after every use. Also, it IS a knife, with two sharp blades on it, so storing it in its sheath is important. Keeping your knife clean, and stored properly in its sheath, away from the rain will help keep your knife in good condition for a long time.
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What is the Cost and Is It Worth It?
At the time of this writing, the cost of the knife is around $65. It does cost more than your basic trio set of hand tools (trowels and claws), however, the Hori Hori knife also does the function of pruners as well (but without all the parts that can break and rust).
The burning question is, is it worth it? If I’m being completely honest, I’m not sold on it yet. I am definitely leaning more towards loving it because of it’s pruning abilities, and the fact that ALL my pruners break or rust, and with less moving parts the knife is far less likely to rust. Also, as a left handed person this is far more useful than pruners that never seem to work properly for us left-handed people.
My biggest problem right now is that because I am trying to take good care of it, I often leave it inside the house and forget to bring it out with me. But that’s a me problem, not the knifes problem.
Do I regret having the tool? Absolutely not! I mean, this thing looks bad-ass! For now, I think it’s a tool that is so unusual compared to the traditional tools that it’s going to take time getting used to using it, and then I can see myself changing my tune and becoming a superfan of this tool as well!
If you decide that the hori hori knife is exactly what you need in the garden, you can save 10% using my code UGC10, and I hope you enjoy the tool!
