Deuce of Spades Backpacking Trowel Handle

thingiverse

We love the Deuce of Spades backpacking trowel. It weighs a mere 0.7oz, packs easily, and digs better and more quickly than our other trowels. The aluminum is so thin it chops thru small to pencil-sized roots. But that same thin profile cuts into your hand a little on the back end too. This thing is a vestigal handle intended to make the digging experience a little more comfortable. Note there are 2 versions: rigid-filament and flex-filament. I prefer the rigid version, but YMMV. Rigid (purple or clear in photo): Printed at 0.35u in PETG (clear) or enhanced PLA (purple) it seems pretty sturdy and protects my hand well. Both were printed with the curved surface/palm flange down and the slot facing straight up, support enabled, 100% infill. Flex (yellow-green in photo): Printed at 0.35u in TPU. I had to remove the palm flange because I couldn't get support to separate from the model. Instead I made the build-plate interface flat so no support would be needed. I trimmed the corners off with kitchen shears and rounded/smoothed the edges post-printing to make it comfortable to hold. Print with the flat, closed edge down and the slot straight up. Net weight of any one of these handles and the trowel together is still less than 1 oz. Note: I backed the Deuce of Spades Kickstarter some years ago and it's lightened my pack ever since. But I have no affiliation besides the Kickstarter pledge.