I first saw the Bosse round point shovel online back in 2013 when they launched an aggressive Kickstarter campaign to release a new kind of ergonomic digging tool. Their shovels were once again thrust into my sights at the recent 2015 STAFDA trade show. I thought it was high time we finally got it in-hand to see how well it would do for construction Pros looking to keep a decent, durable shovel around for necessary tasks like digging around footers or making space for supports.
Bosse Round Point Shovel Features & Use
Bosse Tools currently has 4 different shovels to choose from, including the Bosse Round Point Shovel and Square Point Shovel (both are $79.99), the Scoop Shovel ($89.99), and the Snow Shovel ($99.99). Each of the shovels share the same main characteristics. They all have fiberglass shafts, D-handles with a rubber grip, and a tempered steel head for heavy-duty use. And, of course, they all come with the patented 360º grip that lets you position your hand at any angle to give you more options when aligning your hand to the task you’re trying to accomplish.
It’s this rotating handle that makes all the difference in this shovel. The frame is made with a lightweight aluminum housing that places the rubber gripped handle within and allows it to rotate as needed. If you want to do some straight digging, then leave it perpendicular to the shaft. If you’re pitching material left or right, however, you can rotate the handle to allow your hand to point in the direction you’re tossing dirt, sand, stone, or whatever you happen to be shoveling. It’s a far more ergonomic solution for shoveling than a straight handle—so much so that you’ll wonder why it wasn’t invented sooner.
The aluminum housing is what sold the 360º grip handle to me. While a typical wood handle shovel may come in under 4 pounds, your typical high quality fiberglas handled model is going to be right around 5 pounds (and sometimes a bit more). With the Bosse Round Point Shovel with rotating handle, you get a product that adds only around a half pound to the total weight. It’s a 5.5 pound shovel, and that’s not at all heavy if you tend to favor 49-inch or larger fiberglass long handle models. So you get this new handle and pay almost no weight penalty—that’s a brilliant design.
I used the shovel to dig out a new garden area along the side of a new Deckorators Vista composite deck porch. It really felt considerably more ergonomic. I felt less strain on my wrist and back, and I was able to more efficiently clear and turn over dirt as I dug out a line for a border stone wall and prepped the area for garden soil.
The tempered steel head is pretty much a standard design—which is to say it shouldn’t give you any trouble and should last a very long time. Bosse Tools included a shallow step on the top edge to give you a solid place to plant your boot when digging (originally they proposed a unique design that let you place your foot directly in the middle of the shovel, but that has yet to show up in the line). I also found the D-handle to be a better solution for heavy-duty work than a straight handle. With it, you get a two-handed solid “help” when lifting and tossing material.
Conclusion
I think the bottom line with the Bosse Round Point Shovel is that you can buy a cheaper shovel—much cheaper, in fact. The real deal is that a Bosse shovel can give you a better digging experience without weighing you down in the process. If you favor non-conductive fiberglass handles and want some extra ergonomics when digging, this is an investment that’s very worthwhile (Have you priced back surgery lately?). At just under $80 this won’t be the cheapest shovel you’ve purchased, but like all good tools, some investment is worthwhile if it saves you time and energy in the work you do every day. For that reason, we can heartily recommend the Bosse Tools line of shovels for anyone who can afford the increased efficiency and ergonomics—you’ll most certainly work faster and easier.
