Fish-N-Mate 167 Large Sand FleaRake 15-Inch

I bought this earlier this summer in preparation for fossil hunting trips where we'd be filtering stream bed sand and gravel in search of fossils. While the lead time to receive this was over one month, I am very satisfied after one trip of very rigorous use. Given that it was late in the season (mid-September), most of the fossils had been cleaned out of this popular site and people were not having much luck. Numerous other collectors were on their hands and knees in the stream with trowels and steel kitchen colanders filtering the sand/mud/gravel. At this site, no shovels over 6" and no strainers over 18" are allowed. So, this rake is allowable by the regulations. Moreover, it obviates the need to use a shovel and is far more effective than shovel/colander approaches.Given the long handle, I could scoop the stream bed with the rake and completely fill the basket. I could then sweep the rake back and forth vigorously to quickly remove all sand, clay and mud, leaving only the potentially fossil-bearing rocks. The ability to achieve high velocity of water through the basket was critical in some areas with a lot of clay which would normally plug a collection device. The amount of material I was able to process in this manner was astonishing compared to what the other collectors could accomplish. In fact, we ended up having pretty decent luck finding shark teeth, belemnites, shells and crab fossils which I'm sure was due to the sheer volume of material searched.As I have lower back issues that won't allow me to work for long periods stooped over, the long handle was fantastic for working in an upright position - I got some envious comments from others who were complaining about sore backs by the end of the day. Of all the collectors, we definitely had the best gear onsite.The basket and handle are quite stiff and lightweight (if you're going to be out all day, you want to expend your energy lifting/swinging paydirt rather than the dead weight of the tool itself) as they are welded aluminum (welding is quite nice given how tough it is to weld aluminum relative to steel) and an added bonus is that there are no parts prone to corrosion due to the all-aluminum construction.One important thing to note is that the basket mesh will not retain items smaller than probably 0.5" to 0.75". That was fine with me as I was more interested in larger shark and mosasaur teeth. Given that most shark teeth are quite small, we weren't able to capture such specimens, but for us that was fine. As we get more trips in and the durability is tested, I will update this review. Overall, the product is well worth the wait/price and is an excellent tool for collecting larger fossils! I would definitely buy again.UPDATE: It's been nearly a year now and after about 25 fossil hunting trips this rake is holding up extremely well. Keep in mind that we're using this to scoop and sift river rock and gravel so it's a lot more punishing than the designed use case. The basket is fine after this type of hard use and is in very good shape. My husband slipped in the river and his weight (200 lbs.) came down entirely on the handle which put a slight bow in it but the damage is very slight given what happened. Also, there are no parts that corrode so everything is fine in the area of corrosion. Overall, it's really great to see that some people still take pride in their work to put out a solid product like this.

I had this product shipped to Portland because I was going to be there two weeks ago. I was given the option of 2 days free shipping, but I chose the standard shipping because it was said that it would arrive on Friday. However, I got notice that the shipping was delayed and this was my bad since I was trying to be nice and not rush you guys. I had to leave on Memorial day and the product is still at my mom's and I have not been able to use it. As far as the product is, it works great for the sand fleas. This is my second one. My friend took my first one. The only improvement is that the holes could be drilled a little larger so that the tiny sand fleas are not trapped. The handle could probably be bigger and the scoop itself could be a bit bigger. So product is very good, but the promised delivery did not happen.

Rake works vary well welds are vary good on this and cage is vary strong the knly part that is lacking is the handle grips started sliding off the first time trying to use it plan on getting some better hanndles for it but the end peace coild of been better sucured may find some motercycle grips to put on it vary nice for shelling and catches sand fidalers nicely to would highly recomend it as its main metrale os built vary well just keep a ferm grip on the shaft or you may loos it with the top grip sliding off

I purchased this item to clean up our relatively sandy bottom in our lake in front of our house. In a weeks time I've taken out about 500 pounds of rocks, shells, glass, and decaying wood from the bottom of lake. I've only just begun, and the rake seems to be holding up very well. It's very lightweight, and easy to shake the sand out from the rocks. I didn't even see the glass in the sand until I pulled it out. The holes are small enough to gather most of the rocks and shells that hurt to step on. I expect this rake will last for some time, and since it's aluminum it won't corrode. It came with 2 stainless steel bolts and lock nuts to hold the handle together and has to be assembled. I'd definitely recommend this rake.

Does not have enough bite to the scoop! It only scrapes the beach surface. It does not dig deep at all. You end up cutting all the soft sand crabs in half. Soft sand crabs work best for fishing. The hand grips came unglued the first trip out. I had to apply a ton of force to get to dig at all. I am 6'9' and weigh 300lbs. Probably why the grips came free!

The rake is large and quite sturdy. I had trouble finding fleas that were big enough for the rake to keep. Under 0.75 of an inch they wriggle their way to freedom.

This is gold to a pompano fisherman. Not sure why its mot 5 star. Sturdy. Easy to use. Catchs smaller sandfleas than i want But catches plenty of big ones to. So much easyer than building my own. Used to do that. Would have again if this wasnt a great rake. But it is. Whats more is I seen 3 more rakes just like it where i was fishing. The other guys loved theirs too. Thank you for a great product.

Saw some bad reviews on this rake. Mine came in 2 days all in tact nothing missing. The foam grip feel secure but I added shrink rod handle grip just in case. Also did like the other customer and added teeth with a scrap piece of aluminum and riveted it on.Rake looks well make for what it does.