UST poo shovel review

[Gerhard Gerber]

Hi

Back at home, flu, shouldn't have gone to work in the first place....

Since I can't sleep now......I'll share my experience.

I just had to have something like this 



High quality sheath is falling apart despite having never done anything except being unpackaged

[Gerhard Gerber]

Still, stainless steel and it looked solid enough

[Gerhard Gerber]

Went fishing and camping this weekend at Otjivero dam.

No facilities, these days they only allow 5 parties per weekend.

Bait fishing for carp is not really my thing, but this was an attempt at a boys weekend and long overdue get-out-of-town trip.

Wonderful place, the greenery belies a severe drought we are experiencing. The dam is about 30% full and in better shape than most.
Our capital city (where I live  ) is expected to run out of water later this year.  Prepper much?



Choose your spot, bring rocks and make a fire.  We had to bring wood since there's nothing to collect, bit of grass,kindling made and fire started with Mora Bushcraft only..

[Gerhard Gerber]

Has somebody guessed the problem......and the relevance to a little shovel?

[Gerhard Gerber]

We got stuck almost on arrival 

Everything we were driving on for 5 minutes before is normally under water, we all know that, and WE experienced on previous occasions what happens when you disrespect the muck.......we helped out the poor souls.

I wasn't driving and my vehicle small as it is at least has the basics.   

Turns out the UST poo shovel was the only digging tool we had, it did the job along with a scissor jack, rocks, blood, sweat and swearing. And beer.
I won't say much more since I'm still pissed off 

[Gerhard Gerber]

........ the greenery belies a severe drought we are experiencing.

Looking at the photos I realised you all probably think I'm nuts for mentioning greenery.......well that is green for us

[Gerhard Gerber]

BTW.....the pics of the shovel are after-photos......not bad at all. 

[styx]

since you're posting this, i'll take it you survived. so would you trust it on some harder ground or will you be making sure there is something larger with you even in a backpack?

[Gerhard Gerber]

Backpacking is something I hope to do someday, car camping is more of a reality here.

Theoretically I would take this and make and use a digging stick too loosen tougher ground, then the shovel can be used to move the dirt.

We were digging sand and muck, but there were loose stones in the mix as well, almost sure if the tip was going to collapse it would've somewhere during this exercise.

[Poncho65]

Thanks for sharing the experience with us  Glad to hear it didn't fail on you that would have been awful

Anything type of digging tool is better than trying to hand dig IMO

[Aloha]

Little shovel for digging a poo hole and getting the truck out of a poo situation sounds like a win to me 

[SteveC]

Look into an Ames Entrenching tool.

[Gerhard Gerber]

Look into an Ames Entrenching tool.

If I ever find a good one I'll buy it for sure 
Had something LIKE that, first time it got wet and dirty it was FUBAR. Whatever I threw it at did not deserve it 


Just BTW, none of us had any sunblock, I felt the burn while doing the digging and went full survivorman, gave my arms and legs a coating of clay, went for a swim afterwards to wash it off.....and no sunburn!
Back under the beach umbrella for some "fishing".

[styx]

there is a Gerber folding shovel that is also quite good. and the Glock one is excellent if you can find it. old German e-tools are heavy but hard to beat and ofc there is always the CS spetznaz/special forces shovel

[rishardh]

You had beer, so there was no need to stress  Unless there wasn't enough to go around.

[Gerhard Gerber]

You had beer, so there was no need to stress  Unless there wasn't enough to go around.

We did a phone-a-friend with a 4x4 and a kinetic rope which weren't necessary, the extra beer he brought was.....

[shark_za]

An ice cold Tafel makes you forget your friends lack of preparation; as long as he buys.

[shark_za]

We found these stainless spades at a local 4x4 shop; they have a bottle opener and tot measure in the handle and can be used for making breakfast.

Oh and for digging.

[firiki]

+1 on the Glock entrenching tool. I got one after I got unexpectedly stuck in the sand with nothing to help free the front wheels. It's a solid bit of kit and a good size too.

[SteveC]

[Alan K.]

The poo shovel was better than nothing. It's good you had it along.  You should get a proper E-tool though.  Mine is a commercial model from a sporting goods company and I have used it extensively for several years, mostly for digging out fire pits.  Has a shovel with serrations for cutting roots, and a pick.  They fold along the metal handle.  I prefer the straight handled E-tools to the D handled models because I think it is better for leverage when digging and gives better control and longer reach when chopping with the shovel or pick.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I have the Cold Steel SPETZNAZ shovel, the Gerber folding shovel and the SOG E-Tool and I like them all. 

The SOG E Tool is nice because it has a nice spike so it can be used as a pick axe to break up harder ground, and it's the cheapest of the bunch.

I like the Gerber because it has a nice hammer head and the handle feels a bit sturdier than the SOG, although since it is telescoping I am always a little leery of driving it too hard in a straight line, although I will admit to having done it a number of times and there hasn't been an issue with it at all.  The ergonomics of the handle are also nicer than the SOG.

The Cold Steel version is probably my favorite, although it is also the most expensive.  It is also the least convenient since it doesn't fold up, so you need to have some space to keep it in.  It also doesn't have any additional tools like the spike or the hammer head on the other tools, but it is virtually indestructible and you can beat on it as hard as you like and it seems to come back for more.  It can also function as an axe in an emergency, which is also a nice thing.  I would be very careful when using the CS (or any shovel for that matter) when digging around tires as the edges of the CS shovel are sharp and it wouldn't take long to tear out a sidewall and just add to your problems!   

For a vehicle EDC I think I would opt for the Cold Steel shovel, but for personal carry I would take either the Gerber or the SOG.

Def

[ironraven]

I have had an older version of the U-Dig-It for years, and I'm pretty impressed. It isn't a shovel, it isn't even an e-tool. It's a trowel that has a hinge. Within it's limits, it has dug plenty of toilet and fire holes, been used to shovel about hot coals, and used to scrape rather using a knife blade.

I've also looked at one of the new ones. I can't put my finger on exactly what UST has done wrong.  They used to make pretty good gear, now they seem to be runnigng around the world buying good stuff and making it suck.