When people see the Hori Hori garden knife they’ll often do a double take and exclaim how dangerous it looks. Whilst it looks a bit like dagger in its shape, it certainly isn’t lethal - regardless of how it may appear at first glance.

It’s called a Hori Hori garden knife, but actually it is Japanese trowel. So it has a slightly bevelled edge and - like any tool for digging in the garden - it cuts through soil and weeds beautifully. So it’s a great gardening tool for weeding and planting (and the serrated Hori Hori garden knife is particularly suited to cutting turf).

So yes, it may look like a weapon if you don’t know what it is or you take it out of the gardening context. Having recently been on holiday in Kenya we have been repeatedly having the same ‘double take mistake’ - with their Panga. It’s huge and when you see people walking down the street, along the road, it appears slightly menacing at first glance. But it’s their main tool for cutting everything back - for harvesting, weeding, cutting grass and plants.  We spoke to a gardening friend and he said his was never out of his hand, it was used for everything and was his trusted garden tool. 

So the similarities to the Hori Hori are huge.  Of course, we did look at the Panga and think 'should we get some made to sell' but given the amount of explaining the Hori Hori garden knife takes at shows, we reckon the Panga might just be a bit too much for the English gardening market.  We'll just stick with the Japanese Hori Hori. 

(And if you're thinking you'd like to try or buy a Hori Hori gardening knife then read our guide on which Hori Hori is best to buy here - at Tinker and Fix you can choose from Niwaki, Barebones, Serrated, Stainless or the perfect gift for gardeners - skatewood or painted hori-hori's)