Picked up one of these after a lot of asking around for how to deal with our unique soil situation without losing my mind or back. From gardening to trail building, there just aren't many tools cut out to deal with heavy clay chock full of rocks and a layer of caliche underneath (if you've never had to deal with caliche, just imagine digging down pretty as can be and suddenly hitting an interstate on-ramp instead of dirt.) Absolutely love this pick mattock in situations that made my shovels cry.
6lb is a good heft - heavy enough for that weight to do a lot of work, light enough to share with smaller folks. Spouse likes being able to dig holes faster than the dogs so much that I don't think this one is mine anymore, which is a solid excuse to pick out another (and maybe a few other things). Win-win.
Handle is lovely smooth hickory, but as nice as it feels to run your hands over, definitely wear some gloves if you're working for any amount of time! If you're hitting real resistance with this thing (and why else would you get one?) you'll get the satisfaction of smashing through it with the right effort, but it'll smash tender paws right back as tax for playing tug of war with mother nature, and rattle your teeth besides. Your body will thank you for a bit of padding.
For the folks doing box art: Thank you kindly for the lovely coyote. We liked him so much that the painted side of the box is now displayed up on a shelf in the living room; gives us a smile every time.