Thinking about ditching e-tool/shovel in load out kit

[Legs]

Should I abandon my truck I would grab my Get Home Bag and a baseball bat I keep behind the seat. If in an urban area I will also take a crowbar I keep in my rig. Only digging device in my GHB is a trowel with folding handle, along with small Gerber hatchet. The trowel will be handy for clearing small fire pits and sleeping area. Always have a set of leather gloves and a set of cloth gloves too.

 

[cookie]

A towel and soap and clean clothes so you can stop at the gym on the way home for a work out and a shower.

 

[Flymph]

Should I abandon my truck I would grab my Get Home Bag and a baseball bat I keep behind the seat. If in an urban area I will also take a crowbar I keep in my rig. Only digging device in my GHB is a trowel with folding handle, along with small Gerber hatchet. The trowel will be handy for clearing small fire pits and sleeping area. Always have a set of leather gloves and a set of cloth gloves too.

I would ditch the baseball bat, as you seem to have plenty to hit people with.

 

[clearconscience]

Sharpen the edge of the shovel and you will have a bad anus zombie weapon

 

[Flymph]

Sharpen the edge of the shovel and you will have a bad anus zombie weapon

Just don't expect it to make a good wedge!

Edit, I think i'm going to order one.

 

[JeremyK]

Sharpen the edge of the shovel and you will have a bad anus zombie weapon

Not sure what was going on with Twisted Sister and his blonde wig in that video...

 

[Flymph]

Not sure what was going on with Twisted Sister and his blonde wig in that video...

Probably just to show us all who are wondering if it is actually good for digging or not. I would say yet!
Helps to be able to dig a hole fast when you gotta go!

 

[Siglvr]

Not sure you could chop trees down with it but the Cold Steel would be a respectable self-defense tool if you were driving home and got stuck in a riot. I have one in my car next to my water filter and walking shoes in case of emergency, but that doesn't mean I have to take it with me if I am forced away from the car. BTW, what led me to it was that I tried to dig through a backroad landslide with that little PS Gerber folding shovel and it sucked so bad it's not worth discussing. Except it was cheap. Cheap and useless. The Cold Steel would do the job and is still fairly compact.

Review of several:Review…Crovel Extreme vs Glock E-tool vs Cold Steel SF Shovel

 

[AMProducts]

This is one of those kinds of things where it's probably not required, it's a big, heavy, bulky item.

I've very much been in a "less is more" cycle, trying to eliminate things I never use, will never use, but for some reason I throw them in because they might "come in handy".

In 99% of cases, what are you going to use a shovel for? Digging up a cache? How deep is said cache burried? Can you use a stick? Can you get to it digging with only a stick? Do you even have caches? There's really only one thing there's a legitimate "need for a shovel" and that is digging a hole to poop in. This limited use doesn't really warrant an entrenching tool, and I'm notoriously negative on multi-useless items. An axe is an axe a shovel is a shovel, you can dig with an axe, you can't really chop wood with a shovel (before you say anything, they also show people putting screen-doors on the bottom of boats on TV).

Lets broaden the topic a bit... What are the 5 dominant "tools": Shovel, Axe, Saw, Hammer, Pry-bar. In no order:

* Hammer - Great for building and breaking stuff, large and heavy. Most of us aren't building anything, and we can usually just go around rather than break through

* Shovel - Digs holes better than a stick, is handy in a place where you have no sticks.

* Axe - Chops wood, doubles as a hammer, Is not useful if there is no wood.

* Saw - Cuts wood, can do very precise cuts on wood, but takes longer to use than the axe, but it's also small and light. Can be used to make shovel.

* Pry-bar - It's like part of a hammer, and kinda like the other part of the hammer, isn't a saw or an axe, useful for breaking stuff.

Depending on where you are, the pry-bar would be my first choice in an urban or semi-urban environment, because it's both useful and menacing. In the woods my preference is going to be for the saw, especially a folding pocket saw, like the Fiskars Laplander. I spend most of my time in the desert, for this a shovel is immensely useful, if you're in a vehicle, same applies to axes if you're in the wood.

 

[CombatMechanic]

Whether a Glock shovel or a SOG one, they are both pretty heavy. That's about 2 lbs of food or other fighting gear I could carry or just reduce my kits weight.

Then again it COULD come in handy for a caches, shelter building, digging a stuck car out, fire management, and even a last ditch weapon.

What say ye?

I say train like you're gonna lose all your equipment unintentionally within the first ten minutes of a disaster.

 

[Certaindeaf]

This is one of those kinds of things where it's probably not required, it's a big, heavy, bulky item.

I've very much been in a "less is more" cycle, trying to eliminate things I never use, will never use, but for some reason I throw them in because they might "come in handy".

In 99% of cases, what are you going to use a shovel for? Digging up a cache? How deep is said cache burried? Can you use a stick? Can you get to it digging with only a stick? Do you even have caches? There's really only one thing there's a legitimate "need for a shovel" and that is digging a hole to poop in. This limited use doesn't really warrant an entrenching tool, and I'm notoriously negative on multi-useless items. An axe is an axe a shovel is a shovel, you can dig with an axe, you can't really chop wood with a shovel (before you say anything, they also show people putting screen-doors on the bottom of boats on TV).

Lets broaden the topic a bit... What are the 5 dominant "tools": Shovel, Axe, Saw, Hammer, Pry-bar. In no order:

* Hammer - Great for building and breaking stuff, large and heavy. Most of us aren't building anything, and we can usually just go around rather than break through

* Shovel - Digs holes better than a stick, is handy in a place where you have no sticks.

* Axe - Chops wood, doubles as a hammer, Is not useful if there is no wood.

* Saw - Cuts wood, can do very precise cuts on wood, but takes longer to use than the axe, but it's also small and light. Can be used to make shovel.

* Pry-bar - It's like part of a hammer, and kinda like the other part of the hammer, isn't a saw or an axe, useful for breaking stuff.

Depending on where you are, the pry-bar would be my first choice in an urban or semi-urban environment, because it's both useful and menacing. In the woods my preference is going to be for the saw, especially a folding pocket saw, like the Fiskars Laplander. I spend most of my time in the desert, for this a shovel is immensely useful, if you're in a vehicle, same applies to axes if you're in the wood.

The bugger that won $500,000 on Alone sure loved his CS shovel. Matter a fact, after he got back he carved and served the family's Thanksgiving turkey with one. lol
Here's a video of him describing his 10 chosen items with the shovel being between minutes 9 and 16..

 

[AMProducts]

The bugger that won $500,000 on Alone sure loved his CS shovel. Matter a fact, after he got back he carved and served the family's Thanksgiving turkey with one. lol
Here's a video of him describing his 10 chosen items with the shovel being between minutes 9 and 16..

For his application, I don't disagree with his choice, however there is a very important difference between what this guy is doing and what we're talking about: Moving. This guy was in the woods, for .... days (I've never watched the show) and had to relocate all of his gear .... miles over a 2 day period.

The goals of a bug-out-bag are more similar to an ultralight pack, your concern is about having just enough stuff to keep you going while you cover a lot of distance. The goals of a expeditionary trip where you're going to need to feed, clothe, and shelter yourself for weeks or months are very different.

Personally, I'm at the point where I don't carry anything for woodcutting, I do not plan, or do I make a fire if I'm hiking. A camp stove meets my needs for heat while cooking, and I have LED glowsticks for other light needs. This easily knocks half an hour to an hour off the time I need to setup camp, because I need to spend zero time foraging for wood. This means I don't need to carry the gear for doing it, and I don't need to spend time doing it.

On average, on a hike, depending on terrain, you're going to cover about 1-2.5 miles per hour. You will cover more ground as you lighten your load, and spend less time foraging. On a typical backpacking trip, I will cover 10-15 miles per day. This isn't an exaggerated pace, I'm just spending more time putting one foot in front of the other, if I'm doing a hunting trip where I'm "living off the land" and carrying more gear, I'm maybe covering 5 miles per day.

The take-away here... tune your kit, learn what your needs are, and the most important need from the outset: low weight.

 

[KKG]

...* Shovel - Digs holes better than a stick, is handy in a place where you have no sticks...

Clearly, you have never been stuck on a road with your vehicle "High Centered". Because it you had been you would not have made this statement. Lots of things can be made to do different things than what they might have been designed for. A number of shoulders have used entrenching tools for something other than simply digging holes in the ground.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

I carry a East German E-Tool in my truck...or tucked in or on my ruck , if need be.
Its small and fairly light ...can be used to:
Dig ...
Chop roots...
Cook with...
Move that "icky" , don't wanna touch it item away from you at arm's length...
Last ditch "head knocker"...
I have too much of being a former Infantryman in my background to not have a E-Tool handy.
Andy

 

[Certaindeaf]

You want to go as light as absolutely possible.. so you can carry more 500gr .45-70 griz whompers. yep

 

[AMProducts]

I carry a East German E-Tool in my truck...or tucked in or on my ruck , if need be.
Its small and fairly light ...can be used to:
Dig ...
Chop roots...
Cook with...
Move that "icky" , don't wanna touch it item away from you at arm's length...
Last ditch "head knocker"...
I have too much of being a former Infantryman in my background to not have a E-Tool handy.
Andy

But now we're "back in the truck". You should carry a shovel in your truck,

 

[AMProducts]

Clearly, you have never been stuck on a road with your vehicle "High Centered". Because it you had been you would not have made this statement. Lots of things can be made to do different things than what they might have been designed for. A number of shoulders have used entrenching tools for something other than simply digging holes in the ground.

I've never managed to high center myself while on foot. I've also never managed to high center myself on dirt, but I've done so on rocks plenty of times, but I also don't carry a hi-lift jack while on foot.

 

[KKG]

... but I also don't carry a hi-lift jack while on foot.

I just can't imagine why not! You're just taking all the fun out of backpacking. It's just so much more fun if you carry two - one for each hand.

 

[AMProducts]

I just can't imagine why not! You're just taking all the fun out of backpacking. It's just so much more fun if you carry two - one for each hand.

Have you ever run a Hi-Lift as a winch? Holy hell that's labor intensive. I once had to drag my truck out of a creek it slipped into one icy night, took me all damn day. But hey, I managed to self-rescue with it. I then did the same thing later with my jeep in a muddy spot on a trail, after that I went and bought a winch I could mount to the trailer hitch and ran electrical for it.

 

[KKG]

I spent 10 years in SAR so I have had my share of adventures in the woods. Also spent some time as a Fisheries Patrol Officer so had a few WET adventures. Fact is I have taken family members to watch the crazies at the boat launchs a time or two. The things people will do to save a buck!