Justin Fisher shovels snow in Saskatoon, Sask., on Feb. 26.Heywood Yu/The Canadian Press
In my 28 years of living in Canada, I have relied on snow shovels to dig me out of a variety of situations. I pushed a two-handle, manual plow to clear my parents’ 50-foot-long driveway after merciless Maritime winter storms; a skinny, deep-dish shovel to dig my car out of snow hills after overnight deluges; and a trusty, banjo-sized steelhead to break through ice on countless sets of porch stairs. Now, I live in a condo in Toronto that barely has the space to fit any of these tools, should I ever need to toss snow from my balcony.
But no Canadian – even a relatively new Southern Ontarian like myself – can hide from white winter and its perils forever. On a recent trip home to Prince Edward Island, I was tasked with clearing my grandmother’s driveway – a difficult chore when all you have handy is a rusted garden rake. It sent me on a quest to find and buy the perfect snow shovel, so that my job could be as easy as possible.
My research landed me inside the inboxes of ergonomists and down the aisles of Canadian Tire, and the hunt was less clear-cut than I had hoped. As said Marnie Downey, president of the ergonomics consulting firm ERGO Inc., shovels are akin to soulmates: While there’s no universally perfect shovel, there might be one that’s perfect for each individual.
A user’s size and the snow conditions they face should both be taken into account, she said, when deciding on a shovel. I asked Ms. Downey, along with another expert, to break down what I should consider when shopping for a snow remover, so that I could choose the blade shape, handle type, shovel size and material that are best for me.
Shovel blade
In previous times, most shovels, categorized by their blade, were either part of the push family or the scoop one. Push shovels have short, wide blades, and are meant to toss snow to the side without ever having to lift it. Scoop shovels, conversely, have a taller, more narrow blade with deep curves and are meant to pick up and toss snow. To avoid injury, said Ms. Downey, it’s generally better to push than to lift.
According to Abdul Koya, an associate vice-president of product development at Canadian Tire, a third category of blade that is a hybrid of both, called the combination shovel, is quickly becoming more popular than its predecessors. Combination shovels are the best of both worlds: They are built wide to push snow, and deep to scoop it. In other words, it’s the mother of manual plows.
Shaft and handle
Mostly gone are the days of straight, wooden snow shovels. The shelves at Canadian Tire are now filled with gumby-looking instruments with convexly curved handles. Their shapes are not random: Their curves are meant to act as a lever to facilitate snow lifting, and they can potentially prevent strain and injury in the long run, said Ms. Downey.
She said buyers should also prioritize good top and middle grips, as slipping hands will make you work harder and waste energy. Top grips typically come in one of two styles; a D-grip, which curves outward from the handle and closes into a loop, and T-grips, whose ends sit perpendicular to the shovel’s handle. I prefer wrapping my hand around the D-handle, but neither is patently better; Ms. Downey said people should opt for a handle that best fits their hand.
Meanwhile, people who choose to push snow, rather than scoop it, should consider a shovel with a two-handed grip. For best results, said Ms. Downey, double up your shovelling game with a pair of grippy gloves. A gripped band in the middle of the shovel shaft can also go a long way.
Material
If you are moving large volumes of snow, lightening your load even by a few grams can amount to a large difference. So, opting for a shovel with nearly weightless material can help conserve energy and complete the job faster. Mr. Koya said that shovels with breezy fiberglass handles, such as the Yardworks EZ Grip Shovel, are key in helping to save energy. To those who favour durability over ergonomics, he recommends a stainless steel shaft, instead of a fibreglass or metal one, for its rust-resistant properties.
Blade materials are also important: Most resistant to wear and tear, said Mr. Koya, are blades made of ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene. Bonus points if the blade has a wear-strip at its edge, which prevents its corners from eroding over uneven surfaces such as cobblestone.
Size and weight:
When it comes to choosing a shovel size, said Ms. Downey, you should be honest with yourself about your physical ability. Opting for a larger shovel may seem efficient, but it can lead to lifting heavier scoops of snow than you can handle and increase the risk of injury.
For that reason, a lightweight, smaller shovel is generally more appropriate for smaller people. She said that matching the shovel size to the snow conditions is also key. A large shovel is suitable to clear light snow, while a smaller scoop – or a push shovel – best manages heavier, days-old snow. “It’s more about the snow conditions than the shovel itself,” she said, adding that it might be handy to mix and match tools, depending on the task.
Ms. Downey added that, no matter the tool of choice, you should always treat snow shovelling as a workout. “Warm up your muscles – especially if you are shovelling first thing in the morning,” as strains and sprains can happen even while using the best equipment.
Mr. Koya, meanwhile, said that people who find manual shovelling to be too heavy a chore should consider increasingly popular battery-powered shovels to conserve energy. “They can propel snow up to 30 feet away and clear paths with ease,” he said.
So, what did we decide might be the right shovel for me, a healthy 28-year-old who’s scarcely relied upon to clear yards? An ergonomically-curved hybrid shovel with a deep scoop, D-grip and fibreglass shaft was the way to go, and proved to be the best item to safely and efficiently handle the winter messes ahead.
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