The Shovel Discussion Thread!

Square_peg said:
A Tajima G240.

These cut incredibly fast. The flat tooth line makes them great for carpentry tasks as well as pruning and camping duties. When folded they fit nicely in the left Carhart pocket.

'Silky' makes saws that appear almost identical to Tajima but come in more sizes and larger sizes. I've heard good things about the Silky's. I suspect that Tajima might be making the Silky's. I want to try out the Silky Big Boy 360mm with medium teeth (8.5 tpi). I've found that coarser teeth like 6 tpi don't do quite as well in hard woods.

Edit: My truck tools are all smaller sized tools which can fit in my day pack. Full sized tools would be more practical and efficient for truck rescue but I have these with me for the trail not the road.
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I was really pleased with my Silky folding saw until I bent the tip of the blade last fall. It surprised me how flimsy it was. Still need to order a replacement...
 
You know, cruising through this thread makes me want a really nice shovel, and I don't even have a practical need for one yet...you guys suck, all of you :D
 
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I aboslutely needed the cold steel shovel! :D

Haven't used it properly yet, but it I did play with it in my garden! From the box, this thing cuts into wood like a beast! I own a Gransfors Bruks small forest axe and I did a cutting comparison on 5" thick standing seasoned plum tree and it was a pretty close call to be honest! I will deffinately take the shovel instead of an axe next time I camp out as I will likely use it and it's multiple applications than my axe. :)

I wanted one of those chinese shvoels after seeing that video about a year agop.. but those things are so expensive! seriously, why??
 
The problem with a shovel as a multi-tool is that any sharp edges will go away with the first use in the dirt. It's one of those things that sounds cool but doesn't really work out in real life.
 
Square_peg said:
The problem with a shovel as a multi-tool is that any sharp edges will go away with the first use in the dirt. It's one of those things that sounds cool but doesn't really work out in real life.
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Agreed. But carry a Lansky Puck and it'll keep it sharp enough for chopping. Just don't expect clean feather sticks out of it. :D
 
So from jumping around the thread, I see that some guys are quite fond of E-tools and the like. Does anyone here carry an E-tool on/in a pack with 'em? It seems like a lot of the military shovels have a steep wright penalty (that I have handled) and would not be practical to carry around too much.

I am kinda sad to hear that some guys couldn't smuggle their E-tools from the Marine Corps, from what I have heard, they rock.
 
On the trail I carry a lightweight aluminum garden trowel. The ultralight guys just use titanium tent stake as their shovel. It's the old weight vs usefulness question. I wouldn't splurge on the weight of a folding army shovel unless I had several people to distribute items amongst.
 
I still say the Zenbori Soil Knife is a great lightweight and compact digging tool. It takes surprisingly large "bites" for its size and does so with ease so you can move a lot more dirt with it in a short time than you might expect!
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
I still say the Zenbori Soil Knife is a great lightweight and compact digging tool. It takes surprisingly large "bites" for its size and does so with ease so you can move a lot more dirt with it in a short time than you might expect!
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Have you ever used one of the smaller Bully Tools trowels? I'm curious how they would compare to the Zenbori, and how they'd fare as a camp tool.
 
I haven't but plan on evaluating them in the future when I've got some other high-priority projects taken care of. :) If they're anything like my rice shovel from them it should be a fine quality USA-made tool that can stand up to serious work, but will require sharpening as there won't be any bevel on it from the factory. The hole placement at the tip worries me a little as the product shots make it look VERY close to the tip, but it's hard to say without seeing one in person. All in all it should be an excellent workhorse by my estimation. I'm from from infallible, so take it for what it's worth, though! :D
 
go for it, looks cool! :)

I know the sharpened edges of a shovel get dull once used in the ground but if you carry a small file to touch up the edges you'll be singing. I can get a decent edge on my cs shovel with a cheap 4" file and it weights very little and can be fitted to the sheath.
 
wlai said:
Hi folks, wondering if anyone know about this "Czech Straight Handle Shovel" http://shop.vtarmynavy.com/czech-straight-shovel-wcover-p12648.aspx It doesn't look like the Linnemann pattern that's shown at http://m55q.blogspot.fr/2010/04/linnemann-entrenching-tool-den.html due to its pointed tip. Think it's worth a try?

Czech%20Military%20shovel.jpg
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those shovels will work great and most likely out last our life times !
the shovel that i have is one from WW2 , i have had that one since 1965 !
found it on top of a beaver dam up in washington state when i was 5 years old !
 
wlai said:
Hi folks, wondering if anyone know about this "Czech Straight Handle Shovel" http://shop.vtarmynavy.com/czech-straight-shovel-wcover-p12648.aspx It doesn't look like the Linnemann pattern that's shown at http://m55q.blogspot.fr/2010/04/linnemann-entrenching-tool-den.html due to its pointed tip. Think it's worth a try?

Czech%20Military%20shovel.jpg
Click to expand...

those shovels will work great and most likely out last our life times !
the shovel that i have is one from WW2 , i have had that one since 1965 !
found it on top of a beaver dam up in washington state when i was 5 years old !
 
took my cs shovel out earlier for a play and tried to split a 2 foot long log about 4" thick with it (seasoned plum). It certainly cuts into the face of the log just fine, but one major design eliment made it very very difficult to break the fibers apart and actually break the log in two and that was that center shape in the face of the shovel, the bit that takes the handle from behind (:rolleyes:)! it covers 50% of the shovel blade/face and it stops the blade progressing through the rest of the log as it catches on it.

I really really tried to great the fiberous, twisted hard ass log in two but it was gona happen so I picked up a very old and severely blunt beaten up hand axe that I've been using to break rocks for the last year and it went through like piss on toilet tissue! clearly the shovel geometry/design doesn't favour splitting , but it does actually cut very well and does split smaller, less hard cuts of wood. and like I said, it also sharpens up with ease nad I quickly done mine ona brick :)
 
Just picked up a genuine government issued E-tool on Amazon. These things are pretty cool, great for freeing the truck if it ever gets stuck in mud or sand.
 
Here's something a little different for the shovel. Yesterday I picked up a proper English digging fork. The ones I find in local hardware stores all have flimsy welded tines. A good English fork should have cast steel or forged tines. This one is make by Jenks & Cattell. It had a 'Y' handle which is split and bent out for the hand grip.

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It is double supported - i.e. the metal splits and wraps both over and under the handle.

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On a side note I got my garden tilled this afternoon. I will hold off on most of the planting until late April.

Edit: Having image upload trouble again. I'll get the photos back up a little later.
 
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That's a fine looking old fork right there Pegs :cool:

It'll be awhile before we even think about gardening up here.
 
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