Spades and shovels usually have tempered steel blades and fiberglass, wood, or metal handles. However, specialized shovels and spades can be made of different materials too.

Best Value: Kobalt Fiberglass Handle Digging Shovel Best for Scooping: Truper Tru-Pro 48-Inch Square Point Shovel Best for Transplanting: Fiskars Steel Garden Spade Shovel ...

The Bully shovel’s handle doesn’t swell at the fore and aft grips, as many shovel handles do. ... The Kobalt 32-inch Fiberglass D-Handle Drain Spade is well built, but ...

Shovels typically have handles made of wood or fiberglass. "Fiberglass (handles) generally are 45 percent stronger, and we see some weight savings," says Tim Wilson, manager of a Fresno hardware ...

Garden Spade Shovel. $35 at Amazon. $35 at Lowe's $66 $38 at Walmart. The square, slightly sharpened edge digs deep. ... This one is incredibly durable, with a fiberglass handle for extra strength.

A Phoenix-based inventor designed the new shovel to have a handle that rotates 360 degrees after finding he was getting sore while digging for his parents.

By contrast, Walden's shovel has a ring-shaped structure in the middle of its reinforced fiberglass shaft, that contains an integrated composite handle that can be rotated 360 degrees.

Your best bet is a snow shovel with a fiberglass handle, as this material is both lightweight and durable. A plastic scoop will be lighter than one made of metal.