Well done! (Grant and Gerber)I used the triangle type in the Army, and digging foxxholes with those is no fun. Now I have a older (ww2 style) surplus one with a longer wooden handle, wich is much better to use. PS. If you throw some salt on the ice/snow and let it work for a few minutes, breaking the ice is much easier.
That was a neat little review! You should do that again next week with another folding shovel, and see how they stack up. I think both SOG and Cold Steel make some, plus the army surplus type.
I've got a few different army-type shovels. The ones that can fold into a T-shape seem the most useful for me, hauling dirt up from a hole, like when burying a beloved pet. I had to help my mom the other day with this, and the red one on the far left (that I found at a flea market as a camper's shovel) was what I had in the car. It worked suprisingly well for the job, since I had also brought along a regular shovel to break up the soil, but that wasn't enough for cleaning out the hole. The folding shovel works great for scraping the dirt to fill the hole, just pulling it.From left to right, is the camper's shovel (unknown vintage), WW2 era Swiss, WW2 era US, Cold Steel.Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk
That certainly looks like a great test Boss, and a real workout. I keep a compact snow shovel in my car winter kit, but it is a plastic head and would be utterly useless against ice. Time to upgrade perhaps?
That does look interesting but it also looks a bit flimsy at the junction of the handle and spade. I am not sure I could ever bring myself to use it that hard.I've also been looking at metal detectors lately and I think I may get one at some point.Def
but I think the ultimate one is by crovel,
Quote from: MadPlumbarian on February 18, 2017, 07:53:20 PMbut I think the ultimate one is by crovel, I had that one, not good.Crovel is a fine example of something that looks good on paper, but doesn't work in hand.1st, overall is too heavy to carry.2nd, Balance is horrible. You have a hammer hanging in the back when you use the shovel or have a shovel hanging in the back of you hammer. Just very clumsy. Not to mention the crowbar keep stabbing you when digging.3rd, Lots functions but none really works well.4th, just too expensive.
Quote from: Kampfer on February 18, 2017, 09:42:09 PMQuote from: MadPlumbarian on February 18, 2017, 07:53:20 PMbut I think the ultimate one is by crovel, I had that one, not good.Crovel is a fine example of something that looks good on paper, but doesn't work in hand.1st, overall is too heavy to carry.2nd, Balance is horrible. You have a hammer hanging in the back when you use the shovel or have a shovel hanging in the back of you hammer. Just very clumsy. Not to mention the crowbar keep stabbing you when digging.3rd, Lots functions but none really works well.4th, just too expensive.What about the 2nd one?JR
Quote from: MadPlumbarian on February 18, 2017, 09:50:14 PMQuote from: Kampfer on February 18, 2017, 09:42:09 PMQuote from: MadPlumbarian on February 18, 2017, 07:53:20 PMbut I think the ultimate one is by crovel, I had that one, not good.Crovel is a fine example of something that looks good on paper, but doesn't work in hand.1st, overall is too heavy to carry.2nd, Balance is horrible. You have a hammer hanging in the back when you use the shovel or have a shovel hanging in the back of you hammer. Just very clumsy. Not to mention the crowbar keep stabbing you when digging.3rd, Lots functions but none really works well.4th, just too expensive.What about the 2nd one?JR?
That is the one I was commenting on.
The forum members are facilitators - I just spent more money on a couple of shovels because of you people Several weeks ago we were parked in town and came across a lady who had pulled her car into a snowbank on the side of the street and got stuck. My wife and I attempted to help her by pushing however her idea of getting out was to use as much spinning of tires as possible. Eventually with a third fellow pushing we were able to get her back on the street. I was a bit concerned about getting run over in the process and when I saw Grant's (chief facilitator) article about the shovel, decided I needed one. One cannot of course put a price on safety As a result I am now the proud owner of a 1944 US army shovel and a German army shovel complete with pick and leather "scabbard". The German shovel was obtained by way of my favourite local army surplus store - I know the owner and he searched through his stock to find it for me. My camera battery died so I have only one photo (and yes my deck railing needs paint ).(Image removed from quote.)John.