There are different occasions for digging.

For backpacking/dayhiking I'll dig a cathole with my fixed blade knife.

I carry a Glock folding shovel in my Jeep at a bare minimum.

I carry a plastic snow shovel in the same jeep for winter.

For digging out sprinkler heads I use a metal trowel and a fixed blade knife.

When I was digging out roots left behind when a cottonwood was removed from the yard I used a full sized long handled shovel.

Would like to play with a backhoe sometime but haven't had the chance.

When I was a little kid I liked to dig a big hole and see how deep I could go. When it was about 3 feet deep my Mom would pay me to fill it in. And some time later I'd start digging again. Boys and puppies....