This fits nicely in my car kit. Haven't had to use it yet. Feels very sturdy.

When I was driving a pickup & had the space for it, I carried this.

Holy cow, Mike, have you been peeking into the back of my car?

Very similar setup here:

- A long-handled spade, always, for fighting "found" grassfires, liberating small pines under power lines, and chopping concrete snow from under a high-centred Mazda; also passable for parking lot deterrence/self-defense, I guess

- In winter: add a real snow shovel, plastic or aluminum but not too heavy; useful for clearing a 20' path through the occasional (but very dense) drifts that will otherwise bury a small car. In light, powdery Prairie snow, you don't exactly dig, but use a slow and steady sweeping motion to move the snow to the side, maybe 6" at a time, and switch left/right hands regularly to spread the load around (old farm trick to "rest" muscles while you keep working; same with switching sides in a canoe).

I have a square shovel (about 12"x12") that I really should carry, but I need to swap it to a longer and lighter handle. With a cutting bevel, it would handle most of the occasional spade work.

I have a Cold Steel shovel in each car too, but more for walking out than digging out. It sits in the "transfer kit" that goes from my/DW's car to the trunk of the inevitably unprepared friend/client in a second. Provided you are strong, flexible, and highly motivated, you could sweep away a lot of snow with one. Better than your hands by far. But absolutely no substitute for a genuine shovel.

(Sorry about the length, I seem to be writing a novel here. Sheesh!)

In the summer I only carry a metal folding shovel in my vehicles. In the winter, I add a collapsible snow shovel. Kind of like this (if the picture works right):



There have been a few times in winter where I was glad I had both. The plastic shovel is good at moving snow or road debris quickly and I don't worry when it comes to taking snow off the windshield with it. Whereas, the metal shovel has the capability to deal with stuff that's a bit harder like light ice and dirt.

Paul, I keep a shovel like that on my snowmobile, I have used it a lot when stuck in lake slush or powder snow.

Doug, how do you like the Cold Steel SF Shovel for year-round use (e.g. camping/ATVing)? I have been thinking about buying myself one for Christmas, but would have to order it unseen from a catalog store. Concerning the truck shovel likeness; Canadian Eh?

Mike

Hello new guy.

Speaking as a life long Vermonter, I carry TWO. One is the Cold Steel e-tool and the other is a full length, square tipped, 8" wide spade.

For years, I carried a normal, pointy tipped shovel that I cut down to e-tool length, and sometimes a grain scoop that I cut down to better fit in the car. Both worked. Sorta. Neither could get under the car well. The spade gets under the car well, and is a nice utility shovel. The e-tool takes a decent edge, so I could get the machete out of the car, and between the two of them I haven't found much they couldn't handle.

I'm fully on board w/folks who carry a handled, somewhat shortened, spade. Also, fiberglass is great. If I could design my dream shovel for car carry it'd had a stainless scoop and be a short spade with plastic D handle and fiberglass regular handle.

Anyways, all good advice. Everything considered, particularly the limited space in my girlfriend's car, I'm going to stick w/an E-tool for her. If she's home she'll have a snow shovel, etc, if she finds herself in a pinch and AAA isn't available or isn't available soon enough the e-tool will likely get her out. If the e-tool doesn't get her out, she can snuggly up in her sleeping bag and wait. We are in urban Connecticut after-all...

Thanks!

We've got a NATO-type folding shovel for each vehicle, along with an RAC card in each vehicle and each wallet.

It's unusual to get much snow here though.

Tag.

I bought two surplus Swiss e-tools a couple years back on-line. They are much like the Cold Steel shovel except they have a squared off blade. Compact but non-folding. One's in the truck, the other's a spare (good price and shipping was same for two).

Robert

The Cold Steel shovel is one of the finest pieces of equipment made by that company. You should definitely own one. As you probably know, the design was borrowed from the Russian Spetsnaz shovel.

the other Pete