My cars have 2 shovels in them year round. One foldable metal shovel (like this or this ) and the other is a collapsible plastic snow shovel (something like this ).

The plastic snow shovel is better at getting the looser snow out of the way quickly while the metal is better at breaking up and removing the hard packed stuff.

Actually, the plastic shovel was part of a pre-packaged car kit, similar to this one (it looks like they've modified the contents a bit since we got them). The nice thing about this kit is the snow shovel fits nicely inside the bag and the bag has room to keep a foldable metal shovel either inside or in its side pocket ... it also has plenty of room to add all sorts of stuff.

This keeps all the emergency gear in one, fairly compact, package.

Over the years I have looked at this multiuse gear set many times, but I do not see a snow shovel option:

http://www.billet4x4.com/pro-maxax.htm

I'll relate my shovel experience from trying to dig out my dakota out of snow in a pasture several times last winter.

1. I had a gerber e-tool and I hated it. It is too short to move any large quantities of snow. Plus the spade configuration isn't a perfect 90 degrees. It's designed to be an excellent hoe, but it makes it incredibly hard to use if you want to dig snow out from under your vehicle.

2. Normally I wound up using a run of the mill aluminum scoop shovel to dig myself out. These worked pretty good if you had to clear snow in front of you or if the snow was soft. It would still work in hard snow, but it took a lot of effort. Also the size can make it hard to dig out the underside of my truck.

3. One shovel I had along a few times would be a square headed steel shovel. It can't move a lot of snow, but it worked great on hard snow and for clearing the underside of the truck.

Ideally I'd want a fullsize version of a aluminum scoop shovel and a steel shovel since that an tackle most instances. The little folding shovels can do somethings, but I realized that I wouldn't necessarily want to rely on just one of those since they can't clear much snow. Of course just about everytime I got stuck, it was so bad that I was having to clear snow out from the entire underside of the truck(usually I was falling through hard snowpack), so a big shovel was a necessity.

When it comes to shovels.. 1 is none.

MANY times we've broken shovels with wood handles, or not been able to open the trenching shovels... big scoop snow shovel + trenching tool is a minimum for us in winter weather. Each rig that goes snow 4wheeling has at least 2 shovels, normally similar combo.

I broke my favorite powder scooper yesterday... going to go with a light-weight al handle to fix it UP

While I don't need one now, I was big fan of using a garden hoe. An entrenching tool does the same. Mostly I say this for under car/tire work, not making a road to get out.

Robert:

The question is, "will your girlfriend use the shovel?"
putting it in her car and haiving it is great but if she won't use it then it is not worth it. it may be better to by a AAA membership.

The trenching tool is great, but the worst snow shovel but an awsome way to move snow under a stuck car. I have a Black Dimond Avalance Shovel but that can be very cost prohibative.

Agreed on AAA. She and I are already members, but I feel the shovel is still important to have. Thanks for all the info!

I carry a long handled round mouth shovel in my truck all the time and add a very large long D-handled show shovel in the winter. For years I have used a plastic scoop version but had difficulty with crusty snow last year so yesterday I bought an aluminum version.

My shovels are kept in the back of my truck in plain sight and would be easy to steal. So now I spray paint them all black, you hardly notice them now as they blend in with the bed-liner or rear window cage. I did the same "camo" treatment to my Jack-All.

Mike

A good sized spade is what I would go with. A good spade is good in soil and sand and moderately effective in snow and ice. It is an all-purpose choice. A snow shovel is best for snow but about useless in hard dirt. Compact field shovels, entrenching tools, are minimalist adventures. Far better than nothing, and perhaps all one can afford to carry in terms of weight and bulk, but even the best of them is pretty poor in function compared to a full sized spade. IMO the Cold Steel version is hugely overpriced for what it is.

I would go for one with a sturdy fiberglass handle and these have gone down in price. Wood handles shovels break because they were shoddy to begin with or deteriorate in time. Test it before you buy, if it breaks in the store you're saving them the embarrassment of a return, then maintain, clean, oil and inspect, it regularly and it will be dependable.

Then again some people are hard on equipment by preference or technique. Not something to brag about or to be proud of. We had a young buck who would break the shovels to keep from digging. We welded up a piece of quarter inch steel to length of two inch pipe and had him dig with that. After a day of having to keep up or be fired, he could barely lift his arms, he treated his equipment with more respect. A valuable lesson.

I had to call AAA. And then I got a call from the tow people they first saidt hey could NOT make it down my street.. I let them know it was icey but plowed. I got a call later they were on the way. I talked to the driver a bit... less than a full night sleep in a week, 30+ calls per-day to pull people out who are stuck. If I had to wait for a flat bed it would have been 3-5 hours. AAA = awesome, but I wouldn't rely on them getting you out of the snow in a timely matter, or at all if it's real bad. Setup a good network of friends to call, check in with, etc..