I use my hands in my 15 gal primary's. There is nothing like sticking my
arms down almost to my chest through the cap, down into my wine and at the
same time crushing the grapes that are still whole with my hands and feeling
them squeeze out between my fingers. Whew - just describing it gets me
excited! ;o)

But then there is nothing like having the right took for the job and if that
shovel is stainless steel it is probably a good buy. Even if you could do
without it, so what! I have lots of tools that are more useful to show
others that I have them than for actual use. It's a man thing! We have
hang-ups. Learn to live with them.

Ray

"steve" > wrote in message
...
> In anticipation of this years harvest, I've invested in a new tool to
> punch
> down my cap ....
> http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page...,44813&p=45712
> I selected item F with the wooden handle ... and although it is a twice
> the
> price of my big stainles steel spoon... it is built as beautifully as it
> looks - seriously heavy duty,
>
> what do you use?
>
> Steve
>
>