Rugg 22BS Original Back-Saver Aluminum Combo Blade Shovel with Steel Ergonomic Handle

3-1/2 stars.Pretty good shovel, better than the plastic junk you find at "Big-Box Stores" nowadays.Two gripes, I kind of wish the edge was steel (like my old shovel) instead of aluminum, but at least this shovel has one.Don't hack at any ice with this one, it isn't strong enough.The handle is sturdy enough to do the job, but I immediately junked it and replaced it with the plastic handle from my 20+ year old shovel (which is more comfortable and a lot sturdier). It probably costs a quarter to make the plastic handle, how hard is this to get right???With a little effort/tweaking, this could be an outstanding snow shovel.

EDIT: I have updated this to 5 stars. As it turns out, it has a spring that pushes two little metal pieces out to lock the handle in place. The handle on mine got jammed at some point and the metal slight warped. After smacking it a little bit, the locking mechanism was able to pop out, and it now works. :)OLD: I got this shovel two months ago and of course got rid of the huge box that goes with it, but I've just now used it. I am pretty sure that it's not working as it is supposed to, because the handle rotates 360-degrees and will not stay in place. It looks like one of the bolts/pins is missing or has snapped off, but I'm not sure.Anyone else have this problem? It's too late to return it for me, but I also can't use it. I'm very disappointed because it looks incredibly well-built.Everyone else seems to have had good luck, though, so it looks like I just got unlucky. Wish I wouldn't have waited 2 months to try it, but it looked to be in perfect shape. I'm going to see if I can fix it somehow.

I bought this shovel based on all of the great reviews to use for our first CO winter. The backsaver bend in the handle is a great feature - I had never used one before - it does make a big difference.That said, we weren't impressed with how it shoveled. The blade would jump up on top of the snow instead going down to the pavement. There was nothing wrong with the shovel or blade - it just didn't shovel that great. I also bought my son a plastic child's shovel on Amazon at the same time. It turned out to be our best shovel - by FAR. The plastic shovel went right under the snow to the pavement. It was funny that we were all fighting to use the kiddie shovel. This Rigg shovel quickly became the boobie prize shovel. :( Worked just OK, so very disappointed for the price. I wouldn't buy another one.

This shovel really cleans the snow up (with your help, of course). I looked everywhere to find a metal-bladed shovel with the back saver handle to replace my very old one that broke. This one is slightly heavier than my old aluminum head one, but works very well. I recommend the back saver handle, it really does make lifting the snow easier. You should still use your knees to bend and get under the weight though. It's just that the back saver handle makes it such that you don't have to bend down quite as far as with a straight handle shovel.

Definitely a back saver! 20 yrs ago, we bought one similar to this from the old "Wickes" hardware store - long since closed up. After many attempts at finding another all steel/aluminum shovel of this type, we resorted to repairing our old shovels as much as we could. However, everything good comes to its end and we started searching for another shovel. We were very happy to find this one on Amazon and decided to give it a try. Works just like the old one that we had! Love it! The only thing to watch out for is: don't pick up too much wet, heavy snow with it unless your muscles are in good shape! It's easy to pick up too much wet snow and after a few shovels full, you'll start feeling it!This year, I'm buying a couple more for my relatives in Maine.

There is a huge design flaw with this shovel in that it has two small sheet metal screws that attach the handle to the blade. The screws started backing out on me after 15 minutes of use. Grab a screwdriver, re-tighten and 15 minutes later, same thing. Finally put lock washers on the two screws and that helped for awhile - until both of the screws stripped out. Rugg needs to address this.Also, snow sticks to the aluminum blade like crazy. Pick up a couple of shovelfuls and the blade is thoroughly coated. Tap the blade somewhere in the area you have cleared to knock the snow off, thereby messing up your cleared area, pick up a few more shovelfuls and repeat Frustrating.After several hours of loose screws and sticky snow, returned to my backkiller, plastic shovel - clears the snow much faster.

This may help save your back from some extra bending, BUT..it is a lot heavier than it would be if it was built with an Aluminum handle, and handle support. I got tired out a lot sooner from lifting it and trying to get the snow to come off. I tried spraying it with Pam, Teflon spray, and coating it with car wax..nada the snow stuck like glue. I'll be gifting this to someone younger with the stamina and muscle needed.

This replaces a similar "Back-Saver" snow shovel that I simply wore out after many years. It has a nice sharp edge and it moves a good amount of snow/ice. Some people have complained about the weight of the unit, but I find it is just fine for quick work cleaning my driveway and walkways.

good