Gardening requires a lot of work, and this work often involves using tools to remove fruit, leaves, and other parts of the plant. The first time you do it, it’s a fun experience, but eventually, the whole routine becomes, well, routine, and you may start looking for ways to optimize it. But how are you going to make things more efficient than using tools? The answer is simple — turning your fingers into tools.
While they may look silly at first, gardening thumb knives can turn your fingers into functional tools you can use to cut and even prune parts of a plant. They’re versatile and make gardening more efficient. We’ve short-listed some of the most convenient gardening thumb knives of 2023 to help you out. What is more, we’ve included a comprehensive buying guide outlining the features to look for when selecting a gardening thumb knife, as well as tips for using one.
With garden thumb knives, you can make cutting and pruning much simpler tasks. This is what you need to know about garden thumb knives.
A garden thumb knife is a tool that is worn directly on your thumb. It contains a blade that is sharp enough to cut through small stems, twigs, and branches. It also helps with cutting and picking fruit and vegetables from plants. Garden thumb knives can be worn on either thumb and are usually accompanied by other finger sleeves to protect yourself from the blade.
Most garden thumb knives come with an anti-cutting finger sleeve. These sleeves are made out of a tough material that is resistant to cuts. Because they’re resistant to cuts, they also prevent your skin from getting cut in the process.
Just pulling fruits and vegetables from the plant can be a tiring task. You have to apply quite a bit of force to remove the fruit or vegetable depending on what type it is, and you may even damage the plant in the process if you’re not careful enough. Of course, damaging the plant is probably the last thing you’d want to do, which is why garden thumb knives are a great, safer alternative.
Instead of using brute force to remove fruits and vegetables, you can use a sharp blade instead. Because the sharp blade is connected to your finger directly, you can remove the fruit or vegetable just by grabbing it a certain way. It can take some time to get used to, but once you’ve got the hang of things it’s very easy to take food out of the plant.
Pruning, for those who are not familiar with the term, is a process that involves cutting dead or dying parts of a plant. The reason gardeners do this is to prolong the lifespan of the plant. By removing the dead or dying part, none of the nutrients in the plant are wasted any longer. It also frees up space for the plant to grow again in the same spot, like a second chance of sorts.
Pruning can be done in many ways, and you can actually prune using a garden thumb knife if you wanted to. Granted, not all garden thumb knives are sharp, and for the best results, you’ll want a sharp blade to prune. But pruning this way can be awfully convenient as you won’t have to take out a tool at all. It’s a bit rougher around the edges, sure, but if you value your time more it’s a decent alternative.
Now, plants aren’t the only thing that gardeners cut while working. You may want to cut up some rope, snap twigs or cut other material for the purposes of gardening. Well, with a gardening thumb knife, you can do all that in a heartbeat. The conveniently placed blade on your thumb makes it easy to cut open many small and thin materials without needing to grab a pair of scissors. You may need other tools for thicker items, but if it’s just straw or some other weak material you shouldn’t have too much of a problem.
Garden thumb knives may only have a tiny blade protruding out of the thumb but they’re still fairly dangerous to use. In fact, you can very easily end up cutting yourself if you aren’t careful with the thumb knife. Now, most garden thumb knives come with anti-cut sleeves for your fingers, but it’s usually only one or two sleeves at most per knife. This means that many of your other fingers are exposed. Your palm is also left exposed entirely so there’s a lot of room for error.
The only real way to prevent injury is by being careful. Sure, you could wear a glove underneath the thumb knife but that wouldn’t protect other parts of your body. Remember, you have a blade attached to your finger, so you must exercise caution at all times. Be on alert whenever you wear the knife so that you don’t hurt yourself or someone else when you use it.
The blades of a garden thumb knife are actually covered when you first buy them. They’re usually covered with a special cover that can be removed and replaced as needed. Don’t throw these covers away — instead, keep them. So that when you’re done using the knife, all you have to do is put the cover back on and the blade no longer remains exposed.
A dull blade is a worthless blade, and over time your garden thumb knife will become dull just like any other knife. To make sure that you get the most out of your knife, consider sharpening it with some tool or machine. It can be a little hard to sharpen due to its unique shape, however, so if you can’t be bothered to go through all that effort then you can simply just order another knife instead. You’ll be spending more money, but at least you’ll still be able to easily and safely cut through branches and pick fruit.
This first set of garden thumb knives has everything you need to get started. The kit includes two garden thumb knives, two anti-cut covers for your fingers, and a carrying pouch to fit everything inside nicely. When not in use, there are also two covers for the blades on your thumb knife to keep the pouch scratch-free when storing the knives.
With everything worn, you have two thumbs with blades on them and two index fingers protected from said blades. A single pinch between your thumb and index finger and you can cut most small stems and leaves with ease. You can also remove fruit without pulling them forcibly from the branch. The pouch can be worn on your belt buckle or somewhere else you can hang it. It’s the best overall choice for those who want a complete kit that they can wear and keep at any moment.
This next knife set is going to surprise you. You see, there’s more than one viable spot to place the blade on the thumb knife, but since the position isn’t adjustable you’re forced to work with what you’ve got. With YBB’s silicone thumb knife set, however, you’ve got more options than usual. You get two thumb knives with the blade sticking out like a fingernail, and two knife thumbs with blades on the face of your thumb instead.
The different positions make certain tasks easier than normal. You can pinch stems, leaves, and fruit at different angles which can lessen strain and make gardening a little easier. Aside from the knives you also have four anti-cutting finger sleeves and four silicone finger sleeves. You can cover just about every single finger with the entire set, giving you a sort of glove to cover your fingers as you work.
Gardening is often a solo experience, but many gardeners like to work with other friends and family. It can be just as much of a social experience as it is a therapeutic one, and what better way to enjoy a weekend than by tending to plants with friends? If you want to gear up other people for the day this kit by Anphsin is a great choice.
The kit contains six garden thumb knives. There are two small knives, two large knives, and two knives with front-facing blades. You also get six silicone finger covers for using the blade with your pointer finger. It’s a solid purchase for yourself, but where it really shines is when you let others use it too. The kit can equip up to six people at once, and that can make for some great memories with loved ones by the garden.
This simple kit features just one garden thumb knife and one silicone finger sleeve. While that may seem like the bare minimum, it’s worth noting the material quality of the items. The knife is made with a strong metal and the silicone components are high-quality, too. This means that you can use the tools for weeks, months, and even years on end while they’re still in good condition the entire time.
It’s also worth noting the design of the silicone finger sleeve. You’ll note that the tip of the sleeve is textured. This gives you a firmer grip over the branch, twig, fruit, or any other item you’re about to cut. It helps stabilize what you’re holding to guarantee a clean cut, which is especially useful when you’re trying to prune something. While you don’t get any fancy accessories with the kit, it’s got all of the necessary components and the build quality is good, too.
This set of thumb knives can turn out to be a great budget option if you don’t have the money to splurge on more expensive sets. It’s sold at around $10 depending on whether or not it’s on sale, and with your purchase, you get two knives and two anti-cut sleeves for your fingers. The two sets are identical so you can use both on either hand and feel no difference between one or the other.
The blade on the thumb is arced to deliver a smoother and simpler cut on whatever you try to cut with the tool. It’s also great for picking thanks to this same design. You can pick vegetables, fruit, or whatever else you want. The anti-cut material ensures that even if you’re a little rough with the tool you won’t end up cutting yourself by accident.
A: While they’re quite small, the sharp blade of the thumb knife can cut, so you need to be careful when using it.
A: It’s best to wear the thumb knife when you plan on pruning or picking your plants.
A: While the material can stretch a bit, thumb knives are not universal and you must choose the right size for the perfect fit.
