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#284360 - 04/30/17 03:23 AM Re: What Do You Dig? (with) [Re: Phaedrus]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
I think I will grab one. One nice thing is that plastic can be easily modified for specific occasions...

Thanks!!


Edited by hikermor (04/30/17 03:24 AM)
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#284362 - 04/30/17 02:15 PM Re: What Do You Dig? (with) [Re: hikermor]
wildman800 Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 11/09/06
Posts: 2846
Loc: La-USA
I carry an East German Army surplus folding shovel/pick in my camper, a US Army folding aluminum shovel on my backpack, and a miniature folding (chinese made) shovel in my dayhiking pack.

I carry folding ss hand trowels in my and DW's GHB's and in DW's BoB.

I was really impressed with the winner of Alone season 3's choice and use of his multi-purpose shovel. I think it had a saw blade on one edge of the blade and the opposite side of the blade was sharpened to be used as a machete. He was very practiced with that tool as well.
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#284367 - 05/01/17 12:23 AM Re: What Do You Dig? (with) [Re: hikermor]
unimogbert Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 08/10/06
Posts: 882
Loc: Colorado
There are different occasions for digging.

For backpacking/dayhiking I'll dig a cathole with my fixed blade knife.

I carry a Glock folding shovel in my Jeep at a bare minimum.

I carry a plastic snow shovel in the same jeep for winter.

For digging out sprinkler heads I use a metal trowel and a fixed blade knife.

When I was digging out roots left behind when a cottonwood was removed from the yard I used a full sized long handled shovel.

Would like to play with a backhoe sometime but haven't had the chance.

When I was a little kid I liked to dig a big hole and see how deep I could go. When it was about 3 feet deep my Mom would pay me to fill it in. And some time later I'd start digging again. Boys and puppies....

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#284402 - 05/01/17 08:17 PM Re: What Do You Dig? (with) [Re: hikermor]
roberttheiii Offline
Enthusiast

Registered: 02/13/09
Posts: 393
Loc: Connecticut, USA
Another vote for the cold steel special forces shovel. In fact I have on in my car and I have gifted them to my wife, my brother, my sister in law, my mother, and my step father to keep in their cars.

Basically, if I plan to dig something, I bring a real shovel. The cold steel is for that time you don't plan on getting high centered on a snow bank...

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#284521 - 05/10/17 10:16 AM Re: What Do You Dig? (with) [Re: hikermor]
tadcaster2014 Offline
Stranger

Registered: 05/09/17
Posts: 1
Spam removed.


Edited by chaosmagnet (05/10/17 03:36 PM)

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#284591 - 05/21/17 11:47 PM Re: What Do You Dig? (with) [Re: hikermor]
Ren Offline
Addict

Registered: 11/05/07
Posts: 522
Loc: Wales, UK

Can get Russian Titanium versions of the Cold Steel SF shovel if looking for a lighter option.

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#284595 - 05/22/17 04:07 PM Re: What Do You Dig? (with) [Re: Ren]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=467849

Ran across the above link discussing Russian vs. Cold Steel versions; one post mentioned some Rusky shovels have titanium blades. One intriguing post mentioned using a long shovel handle in place of the original shorty; when not digging, the long shovel handle would make a good walking stick - intriguing notion.....
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#284596 - 05/22/17 07:31 PM Re: What Do You Dig? (with) [Re: hikermor]
Bingley Offline
Veteran

Registered: 02/27/08
Posts: 1576
I'm amused by all the "combat effective" claims of these various tools. Marketing for the tough guys among us, I guess.

Generally things that are designed exclusively to be weapons work tons better than things that can be used as some sort of weapon in a pinch. Generally you do better with a weapon you know how to fight with (i.e., skill acquired from prior training) than with something you get from the internet -- even if the Spetsnaz can take down a whole battalion with it. You don't have the Spetsnaz training for that tool. So I wonder how these people are able to make the pronouncement that the shovel makes for a good "melee weapon."

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#284597 - 05/22/17 07:51 PM Re: What Do You Dig? (with) [Re: hikermor]
quick_joey_small Offline
Addict

Registered: 01/13/09
Posts: 571
Loc: UK
Many soldiers in World War 1 preferred a sharpened shovel as a trench fighting weapon.
The biggest advantage I can see is that it is NOT a weapon. I'd like something to clear thorns when camping and a machete is going to get me arrested in England.

Reminds me; anyone know of any truly thornproof gloves?
qjs

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#284598 - 05/22/17 10:23 PM Re: What Do You Dig? (with) [Re: quick_joey_small]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
From wild land fire fighting experience, a sharpened shovel is quite useful and versatile at weed whacking. Since the shovel blade is probably not some exotic super steel, you may have to sharpen it often, but a shovel can do a nice job of clearing small brush....

No good thought on thorn proof gloves- not sure there are any, short of medieval armor.
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