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#229348 - 08/07/11 12:49 AM Re: Your favourite Military kit. [Re: Finn]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
One of my favorite tools for working in the dirt, especially if finesse is not required, is a Pulaski - a grubbing adze combined with a single bit axe blade.

I have had good results with various versions of the military e-tool, but if you want something a bit fancier, Glock makes a fairly spiffy version.
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Geezer in Chief

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#229366 - 08/07/11 03:20 PM Re: Your favourite Military kit. [Re: Am_Fear_Liath_Mor]
Nomad Offline
Addict

Registered: 05/04/02
Posts: 493
Loc: Just wandering around.
I have a modified US military shovel. Find one of the old ones with a wooden handle. Remove the stock handle and replace with a full size "as in long handled shovel" one.

This makes a very useful tool. I first saw these on fire lines. Used one for awhile and now have made several. Just make sure the handle is of very high quality wood as you will discover that it is an excellent "pry bar". I have one in my 4x4 and would not travel back country without it.

Nomad
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...........From Nomad.........Been "on the road" since '97

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#229380 - 08/07/11 06:42 PM Re: Your favourite Military kit. [Re: Am_Fear_Liath_Mor]
DanC Offline
Stranger

Registered: 04/29/11
Posts: 11
Loc: Kentucky
No doubt....
my 40yr old P38, ok I guess since it is part of my normal pocket stuff,
I guess it's not technically PSK. But, it resides comfortably in my key silencer next to the well used and worn mag. fire starter and the other stuff.
DanC
[img:left]http://my.opera.com/Fireman428/albums/showpic.dml?album=6741472&picture=120566242[/img]
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lol...(Living On Less)
simp...(Stuff In My Pocket)

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#229385 - 08/07/11 07:06 PM Re: Your favourite Military kit. [Re: Am_Fear_Liath_Mor]
DanC Offline
Stranger

Registered: 04/29/11
Posts: 11
Loc: Kentucky
Ooops, better picture here,sorry :~(

[img]<a href="http://my.opera.com/Fireman428/albums/showpic.dml?album=810723&picture=117769542"><img src="http://files.myopera.com/Fireman428/albums/810723/Photo07212127.jpg" alt="" /></a>[/img]


Edited by DanC (08/07/11 07:07 PM)
Edit Reason: correct picture
_________________________
lol...(Living On Less)
simp...(Stuff In My Pocket)

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#229391 - 08/07/11 08:27 PM Re: Your favourite Military kit. [Re: Am_Fear_Liath_Mor]
LesSnyder Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 07/11/10
Posts: 1680
Loc: New Port Richey, Fla
DanC... I have one Shelby stamped P38 on my key ring ...from TDY to JSPC, Torii Station, Okinawa in 72...I have to tape the blade shut... I would be very disappointed to lose it

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#229394 - 08/07/11 08:46 PM Re: Your favourite Military kit. [Re: DanC]
Jeanette_Isabelle Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 11/13/06
Posts: 2946
Loc: Nacogdoches, Texas
Dan. Is this the picture you intended to show us?



Jeanette Isabelle
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I'm not sure whose twisted idea it was to put hundreds of adolescents in underfunded schools run by people whose dreams were crushed years ago, but I admire the sadism. -- Wednesday Adams, Wednesday

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#229402 - 08/08/11 12:17 AM Re: Your favourite Military kit. [Re: Erik_B]
Aussie Offline
Enthusiast

Registered: 11/12/10
Posts: 205
Loc: Australia
Originally Posted By: Erik_B

i've been trying to find genuine, issue FREDs for a while, but all i can find are the cheap knock-offs. any way a Yank can get ahold of the real thing?


If you do an ebay search for "fred Australian Army" you should come up with a few genuine products. Some of those folk will ship internationally. I'm sure there are a few local company's here who sell them them too, but after a quick glance, most don't seem to sell genuine products ! (No affiliation to anyone - by the way)

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#229579 - 08/10/11 01:56 AM Re: Your favourite Military kit. [Re: hikermor]
cliff Offline
Sultan of Spiffy
Enthusiast

Registered: 05/12/01
Posts: 271
Loc: Louisiana
Originally Posted By: hikermor
I have had good results with various versions of the military e-tool, but if you want something a bit fancier, Glock makes a fairly spiffy version.


I was given a Glock folding shovel about 25 years ago. It collects dust in my closet today. They do look spiffy, are compact, have a gadgety saw in the handle, and weigh considerably less than the US/West German metal folding variety. BUT... They are pricy and do not stand up to hard use. Because the pivot point lock is plastic, on hard, dry ground the metal shovel blade will pop out of the detent as you torque it. Or, the handle bends. Yes, they weigh more, but the collapsing US metal shovel (AMES), or the old West German wood handle E-tool - with the shovel and pick - are my choices in the field. Neither have ever let me down. I haven't tried the newer Gerber 'NATO' folding shovel because they street for $40+, and well, I'm cheap. And the 'Spetznaz Fighting Shovel'...? Please.

Never think an E-tool can completely replace a full size shovel. If you have ever tried to dig anything more than a slit latrine or fire pit with one, you know what I mean. It is, at best, a field expedient compromise between size and utility, to make sure that when you, the soldier, need to dig for your life you have something on you to dig with.

That said, I always carry one in my car. You never know.

.....CLIFF
(like, who else?)

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#229604 - 08/10/11 03:21 PM Re: Your favourite Military kit. [Re: Am_Fear_Liath_Mor]
Crowe Offline
Journeyman

Registered: 12/03/07
Posts: 88
As for the E-Tool, I have dug a 6x6x6 pit with one as part of a team, 3x2x4 Foxhole individually, and buried one in a tree trunk deep enough that it was difficult to remove (it will hack roots quite well). Bending the head 90deg and using the hoe/pick function can help alot in gathering force. Granted most of this was done in the relatively soft/sandy soil of Ft. Dix, NJ, nonetheless, I have alot of faith in the E-Tool, and carry one in the car at all times.

The GI Poncho is a great piece of kit and pretty versatile, I normally use mine as a ground sheet more than an actual poncho, but I find it a good piece of kit.

The GI Patrol Cap will hold water, and makes an interesting improvised cup/sink in the field.

The GI Wet Weather Jacket a good piece of kit that emphasized to me the importance of good wet weather gear. I have since replaced it with lighter more breathable civillian equivalants, but the lessons learned were valuable.

Likewise, the GI dry bag is a good liner, unfortunately prone to holes, but made one of my first civilian purchases a Sea-Line Dry bag.

Some thoughts,

C. Rowe

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#229609 - 08/10/11 04:15 PM Re: Your favourite Military kit. [Re: Crowe]
cliff Offline
Sultan of Spiffy
Enthusiast

Registered: 05/12/01
Posts: 271
Loc: Louisiana
Crowe:

I've dug fighting positions with an e-tool, both hasty and standing with cover, and also with a full shovel off a 6X6. Latter is FAR easier, as I'm sure you know (!). Typically on FTX (Camp Beaurgard in Louisiana or Ft. Polk) the trick was to dig your position where someone else had dug one before and filled it in. But when you had to dig virgin ground in the dry season... my back just started aching from the memory.

I did chop down 2"-3" saplings with my US e-tool, so it did work as an ad-hoc ax. We often used ours as a monopod stool. (Fix the shovel blade (tight!) at 90 degrees, place handle on ground with shaft perpinducular to the same, and place your bottom on the flat of the blade.)

As for my favorite military kit, I use a US miliatry canteen/cup as my water bottle of choice, and I still keep a poncho and liner handy. They are, after the p-38 and 550 cord, the some of the most versitile kit the US military ever developed. I'm still torn between by BW Mess tin and Swedish satinless steel one. And then there's the British mess tins and Pattern 58 water bottle... O, the choices. smile

.....CLIFF
(like, who else?)

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