spetsnaz shovel

I would really like to purchase Cold Steel's special forces shovel. Any suggestions on the best place to buy? Cold Steel offers the shovel and sheath for $35, and by the time you add shipping it's over 40 bucks!

I see them from other online stores for between $14 (botachtactical.com) and $20 or so, but no evidence that they come with a sheath.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

If you go to their Special Projects site www.ltspecpro.com they have it there for $25 (with sheath) before s&h (look under 'specialty items'. I think tho you have to order at least $25 in stuff and the shovel is $24.99, so add a sharpener or Delta Dart or something. Certainly I love my shovel, good as a tool or weapon.

Matt in Texas

Looks like a piece of cheap crap (but then it's a copy of Soviet kit, so what do you expect). The steel is probably hard enough to sharpen, but not to hold an edge if you ever used it. The head doesn't fold either, so you'll trip over it and you can't use it as a mattock.

Best portable shovel I've ever seen is the German pattern. I don't know about the WW2 pattern, but mine is '60s West German. Similar size to the 'spetznaz' thing, but the head folds to shorten it. It can be used folded out as a shovel, or half-out as a mattock. There's also a pick head that folds out, so you can use it to dig through stony or frozen ground. Unlike the well known NATO 3-section E-tool, the lock is a spring plunger, not a screwed ring, so you can work it with winter gloves on.

Don't hold back- tell us how you really feel

SNIP

Looks? Have you actually held one?

The steel is probably hard enough to sharpen, SNIP

Probably? Do you know, or are you just guessing?

The head doesn't fold SNIP

Not if I keep it out from under my feet.

Bottom line, I am trying to make an informed decision. If you have information that will assist me that is based on your experience, I'd like to hear it and will be grateful for it, otherwise...

Please let me know which it is, so I can decide whether to accept or disregard your opinion.

Sounds like you are more into Cold Steel than wanting a shovel from the way you phrase that.

I'm with you on this Andy. If it's small enough that it doesn't need to fold, then it's not much use as a shovel.

The NATO E-tool is way cheap, well under a tenner even in high street stores. If you grease it right, it's easy to use and fold with or without gloves. Mine came with a surprisingly useful and robust saw edge on one side, more use than a blade ground edge unless you are thinking of CQB.

The mattock function you describe would be jolly useful for digging in under fire though.

***Cheap, yes (from Discount knives), crap, no. I have two. Once upon a time when thawing ice threatened to flood my office (below street level) I had to dig a sizeable trench through the ice with it to divert the flood water. The ice was 8-12 inches thick with concrete underneath. The tool did the job admirably, there was not even a dent in the blade. I was glad of the sturdy handle, too. I have never felt the need to fold the blade.

I am not sure how it would sharpen and how it would hold the edge - never seen the need for it. For edges there are Cold Steel kukris

I have several Cold Steel items and find them more than satisfactory considering their price. They have made some duds, but which company has not.

I wish Cold Steel paid me for this article, but they don't.

Hope this helps,

Mike Koblic, Campbell River, BC

No, actually that is me being friendly. Angry is _much_ louder.

It;s a piece of crap, but it's only $30 so what do you expect. Go buy something mil-surplus instead where Uncle Sam/Erich/Helmut has already spent $50 of your tax dollars on it and you can buy the result for just another $5.

'See with your eyes, not with your hands.' I dunno, what does it mean to

I have used one, comes with poorly formed edges, they don't meet. However it can be sharpened with a file, though will take some work. Steel is thin, however I have done heavy prying with it with no harm. It is unground stock, and very wide so easily as rigid as a decent 1/4' knife.

I have done limited chopping with it, some felling and limbing. It works well, not great, easily exceeded by even a halfway decent machete, but no it won't blunt after cutting through a tree, you could easily cut down enough wood to make a lean-to without resharpening.

I don't know why you would trip over it. Being able to fold and thus be longer would be nice, as would a 90 degree head lock for picking, as long as the lock was strong of course.

This works fine as a small emergency tool, not a replacement for a regular shovel or axe, but a lot more packable.