special forces shovel

[Flea]

I was introduced to this for the first time in my class on Saturday and I fell in love with it! It would be very practical for me because I do a lot of camping. And, well, you know ... :angel:

I've shopped around a little online, but the only brand name that keeps coming up is Cold Steel. Are they any good? Surely there are other companies out there that make them?

If anyone can recommend a good brand for these, or maybe a good set of reviews, I'd appreciate it.

 

[Xinglu]

Try looking for "e-tool" or "entrenching tool" that is what the american military calls it, and that should be easy to find

 

[Omar B]

Ah, the entrenching tool. What a nasty little bit of utility that is.

 

[Carol]

Glock makes one as well. Also they are easy to find at an Army/Navy store.

 

[jks9199]

Yep; I keep one in most of my vehicles, especially in the winter. Useful tool....

One note -- if you get the folding version, don't go too cheap. I've found that some of the cheaper ones don't tighten up and lock as well as one might like.

 

[MBuzzy]

yep, I'm in the e-tool camp (obviously), the one in the video looks a bit clunky and you can't even fold it down!

 

[Bill Mattocks]

The Marine Corps e-tool is the finest implement every invented.

Special forces? I dunno. We used ours to perform high-quality hazing and harassment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrenching_tool

 

[Brian King]

Flea, . For Systema you will not want the folding type of shovels. the cold steel shovel is good to go. It is a bit heavy and the handles are large and round. If you like working with wood you can trim a part of the handles down to fit. Ask around at the your school perhaps someone is a distributor and you can save a few bucks. There are some better shovels out there (better steel) but they are usually more costly (I am thinking of both Russian and Bulgarian from WW1 and some Russian from WW2 era). I recommend you getting two. One live and sharpened (not razor sharp but sharp enough to easily cut skin and flesh) and the other dulled. You can also get away with getting one shovel (live) and a cover to go with it.

Regards
Brian King

 

[Big Don]

Cold Steel makes some cool stuff.
I used to have the "Bad Axe".
One night, I got pulled over, and the cop asked if I had any weapons in the car. I had the "Bad Axe" and a shotgun in the trunk. He asked what I paid for the axe and I lied and he paid me $10 more than I paid for it, and wrote me the damned ticket.

 

[Tez3]

The Marine Corps e-tool is the finest implement every invented.

Special forces? I dunno. We used ours to perform high-quality hazing and harassment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrenching_tool

But do you have a racing spoon?

http://www.arrse.co.uk/Forums/viewtopic/t=26270.html

Bill I know you'll get this but

Warning do not open this site if easily offended by squaddie humour.

 

[lklawson]

This year at the Cumann Bhata WMA "Recreational Violence" seminar, Randal Gustitis taught a class on the russian method of shovel/e-tool.

I shot video if anyone is interested, I'll DVD it. (actually, I have video of EVERY class for EVERY year - German Longsword, Spear, Tomahawk, Pugilism, Shillelagh, Shasqa... the list is long)

But the short of it is, it's kinda like a short axe, but if that's all you use it as then you are cheating yourself out of a lot of really interesting and useful application. There's some very nifty slicing, balance manipulation, and hooking on top of the usual "chop and thrust" type stuff.

I suspect that a lot of Cinqeada (and Gladius) work would translate almost directly.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

 

[Omar B]

The one Fiskars makes is great.

 

[Korppi76]

My friends liked their Fiskars folding shovel while they were in army. (It was lighter than the earlier version)
I had older version while I was in army. When I got it one side was so sharp you could use it as an axe

 

[Flea]

Thanks everyone. From what I've seen I prefer the KISS principle; the more parts it has, the more can go wrong. That, and if it has the capacity to fold, it has the capacity to fold when I don't want it to.

It's good to know about all the available designs though, and fun to think about how adaptable a simple frammis like a shovel can be.

 

[Jenny_in_Chico]

The Marine Corps e-tool is the finest implement every invented.

Ahhh...the Marines make everything fun!!!

 

[Tez3]

Ahhh...the Marines make everything fun!!!

Ah you've met the Royal Marine Commandos then.... :ultracool

 

[dianhsuhe]

The "E Tool" is not exclusive to the Special Forces, it is standard issue in Army Basic Combat Training.

FYI

 

[Jenny_in_Chico]

Ah you've met the Royal Marine Commandos then.... :ultracool

I wish...***drool***

 

[Xinglu]

Thanks everyone. From what I've seen I prefer the KISS principle; the more parts it has, the more can go wrong. That, and if it has the capacity to fold, it has the capacity to fold when I don't want it to.

The "E Tool" is not exclusive to the Special Forces, it is standard issue in Army Basic Combat Training.

FYI

Roger that, and I never once had a problem with the folding mechanisms failing on me. They are made FOR combat after all. It's not like the military is issued cheesy e-tools.

 

[Carol]

Roger that, and I never once had a problem with the folding mechanisms failing on me. They are made FOR combat after all. It's not like the military is issued cheesy e-tools.

True, but not all folding e-tools on the open market are mil spec.