Looking for a folding shovel. Suggestions?

M

msiley

Joined
Aug 19, 2006
Messages
542
Here are the folding shovels that seem pack friendly.

Gerber
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=377116

'Mil spec' Tri fold
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=288292

I need it to be light and packable. I won't be using it too often but it's recommended/required equipment for camping in some parts of CA
for fire reasons.

To Quote:
"All flammable material must be cleared for a minimum of five feet in all directions from the fire and a shovel must be available for preparing and extinguishing the fire."

For anyone visiting Los Padres National Forest
 
One of the crappy things about those folding shovels is how they begin to lossen up over time in the joints, not the mentioned brands but most older ones i've tried out. Another gripe is the extremely short handle which gives you little to no leverage digging wise IME. Go down to HD or Lowes and get a cheap small garden shovel. It should cost less and weigh less and have more handle to boot! (pun intended!)
 
I've got a version of the milspec on that I keep in the truck. It's bigger and heavier than it would seem. I wouldn't even think about packing it anywhere. It's got enough heft that it could break up iced snow which is why it's in the truck...
 
Interesting.... you know I have a blaze orange backpacking trowel. It's not a shovel but I don't see how it wouldn't do the job of covering up a fire. I've never needed
a full blown shovel in all my many moons of camping.
 
You will need-
a shovel you like, a saw and a hinge:)

I have often thought about getting one of the Glock E-Tools. I have an old school East German one that I have used exclusively for zombies with great results.
 
I was going to say that the Glock e-tool looks like a possible option.
 
Yeh, I'd second just going for a trowel. I use a very light metal (aluminium?) one from the gardening section of the hardware store, which is a bit more durable than the all-plastic ones.
 
I have had the Glock for quite a few years and it really holds up to abuse, it also has a saw built in that fits inside the plastic handle.
 
In my experience the miltary tri-folds are junk. The are heavy, lossen up with time as mentioned and break. During exercises at Camp Pendelton in the mid 90s I personnally broke two of the worthless things while attempting to dig a fighting hole and observed many more that had been broken by other members of my unit. Unless there has been a huge improvement in materials and quality I would stay clear of them.
 
Glock etool is ok, not as rugged as their firearms

If you go to Lowes you can get a Small Ames shovel for $8, it is the same size as the cold steel special forces shovel. You can also sharpen the side to split wood and it handles abuse well plus its made in the USA!!!!
 
I just got a cold steel shovel for about 20 bucks. Works fine so far for breaking chunks of ice off my driveway, I've left it in the car since.
 
dd61999 said:
Glock etool is ok, not as rugged as their firearms

If you go to Lowes you can get a Small Ames shovel for $8, it is the same size as the cold steel special forces shovel. You can also sharpen the side to split wood and it handles abuse well plus its made in the USA!!!!
Click to expand...

Exactly the point I made in my post to the OP:rolleyes: I've used one for going on ten years without a hiccup. What gardener is going to buy another of their branded products once their first purchase craps out? NONE! that's why those garden type tools do work, if they don't they lose essentially their whole company due to selling junk:thumbdn:

BUY USA! Forget that wee piece of orange too, I've had 2 crack right in half horizontally for no reason while digging a freakin cat hole!:thumbdn: The little ss folding jobber with sheath is way heavy for it's size, but keeps going.:thumbup:
 
I got the german army folding shovel, bomber construction, nicely tooled leather sheath, nice and short handle.

I'ce used the CS one too, plan on getting one soon for myself soon. very nice and veyr tough
 
I vote for the Hori Hori digging knife. I bought one for my wife and she LOVES it. It digs incredibly well and can be used as a light chopper too. Some of them also have a serrated edge for light sawing.
I no longer carry a shovel when hiking, but I like the looks of that CS shovel, simple and rugged. It is similar to some WWII entrenching tools. Also, I bet you could find something like the Kodiac Cub at the hardware store that could be modified to be very similar.
 
:thumbup:My vote for the C.S. Spetznatz copy. Sharpen up the edges or edge and it makes an ok chopper and a serious S.D. tool. Fun to throw too.--KV:
 
While I was looking for a shovel myself I asked a similar question not long ago... but since I didn't intend to pack it in any way, I finally got a small steel garden shovel and cut the handle a little bit. I have to take a few pictures of it... the handle is a thick walled tube of fiberglass! Incredibly strong.
Mikel
 
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