1. Clean tools immediately after use. Wash and scrape muck off blades and handles, to keep them easy to use and to avoid blisters next time.
  2. Hang waders upside down to dry. If just left in a heap they get smelly and rot at the folds.
  3. Edged tools are safest when sharp. Stop work as often as necessary to touch them up with a sharpening stone, but if you nick a tool badly and have a replacement available save filing for the work bench. Tools dull very quickly when used in sand.
  4. Spades are sharpened by filing into rather than away from the metal. Filing softens the metal so have a blacksmith temper their edges occasionally, if possible.
  5. Oil or grease metal parts of tools after use. This is especially important in coastal areas since salt accelerates rusting. Soak new hafts in linseed oil before use.
  6. It is easy to lose tools in soft sand and mud. Paint the handles red, orange or pink to make identification easier. Keep them in boxes, sacks or on a polythene sheet when not actually in use so that they can be located when needed.
  7. Clean and lubricate hand winches after every task, if used in wet, mucky conditions. ‘Tirfor’ and similar winches have two side casings bolted together. Take these off, clean all parts including the cable, grease the working mechanism and replace the casings. Keep the lever in the release position when feeding in the cable to prevent it fraying or jamming. If used in dry conditions, you only need to clean and grease it occasionally but you should oil it periodically with gear oil.
  8. Hose down the undersides of vehicles daily, using fresh water, when working in a salt-laden environment.

Chapters