I'm writing today specifically about the Cold Steel brand Special Forces Shovel. It is simply a medium-weight, rugged, steel and hardwood mini-shovel. I've mentioned it many times elsewhere but it happens to be one of my favourite and most useful pieces of kit that I regularly take the time to lug around. Normally it is "attached" unobtrusively along one-side of my vehicle BOB, or if TSHTF it would be in a belt holster on my right rear hip.
The uses for this tool are as endless as one's imagination. If I need to dig a quick hole in my garden for mulching/transplanting... when I am geocaching, hiking, surviving, or lookin' for Sasquatch in the wilderness and I hear a strange noise in camp... when I'm traveling on roads less traveled and unknown to me through the vastness of the country (and want to feel the reassurance of stout piece of oak just under my truck seat)... and in case of annoying attacks by those pesky flesh-eating zombies ('cuz it never runs out of ammo!)... my tool of choice is this Cold Steel Special Forces Shovel available at Amazon.com and other retailers.
This rather innocuous looking tool (a plain tiny spade) is really sturdily built of quality materials, and, with a little modification and imagination represents a whole tool chest worth of handy implements, weapons, and elements for other devices. If you are on a rapidly sinking ship (or happen to be a contestant on Survivor) and you could grab only one thing, you might strongly consider this little shovel.
I remember reading about "the little Spetznaz shovel" back in the 80s when I was in the Army. The Soviet version of the Special Forces (the Spetzialnoya Naznashenya <---phonetic Russian... lol), first widely deployed in Afghanistan, had these ubiquitous little spades in their kit. They used them for much more than digging trenches. They used the flat as a paddle and hammer. The hardwood handle became an improvised billy club for non-lethal blows. They sharpened all 4 edges of the spade and used it as an effective tomahawk, and even trained to throw the hardy, yet balanced tool, as a throwing axe. Cold Steel merely copied the basic design and used better quality materials to produce our own improved version of it.
The personal mods that I alluded to earlier are fairly simple and will instantly improve the utility of this already versatile tool. The handle is made of smooth polished oak which hefts very comfortably in the hand, but can quickly become slick with sweat (or blood). I wrapped part of the handle in black (hockey) friction tape for better grip, to subdue the brightness of the wood, and incidentally, make lifting prints more difficult. I have access to a professional rotary cross grinder machine, so I further sharpened all four facets of the blade, so the edges are sharp enough to slice paper. Finally, the handle swells at the end to a nice rounded pommel, which is already drilled with like a 5mm hole (I don't know why). I just screwed a large alloy eyebolt into the hole, which provides a tie-down anchor point for straps, rope, and cord.
The solid design yet short length of this shovel makes it an effective digger in various positions (kneeling, prone, supine, suspended), so I especially like it as my "universal" Search and Rescue tool. I can move a whole lot of dirt, debris, chop wood, probe, break car glass, bash concrete and cinder blocks, pry, and slice through cord and vegetation all without switching tools. I have chopped down a tree with it. I have built many complete "shelters" with it as my only tool. I have paddled a raft with it.
Besides the more obvious uses as the aforementioned shovel, axe, paddle and hammer, I have found use for it as a hasty tent pole, flag pole, camera tripod, and support for a wind-break or laundry line (anytime you need a quick and handy vertical stand to stick into the ground). It can be used as an impromptu ice axe or ground anchor, grapnel for climbing, or just a hook that extended the reach of my arm so I can pull myself up. Though not the best tool for this purpose, I've used it as a (heavy) field expedient machete when bushwacking. Like any sturdy stick or club the handle can be used myriad ways. I have used it as a step up over vertical obstacles. The flat of the spade I suppose can be used as a cooking surface, a fire poker, or spatula to retrieve hot items from a fire, or if nothing better is around, as a flat writing surface. And it can be used as an element in devices and traps (survival, early warning, defensive).
I believe the hidden advantage of this little shovel is it's compact size and unremarkable appearance as just a mundane, literally "garden-variety" tool. Yet, it is among the best hand to hand weapons I have in my arsenal, with a decent range, good weight, balanced, remarkable blunt/cutting trauma, can be thrown instantly and is almost always misunderstood or underestimated. It just hefts great in my hand. This little shovel would be about my #2 choice (overall, of all h-t-h implements). I am not by any means advocating carrying around sinister concealed dual-use implements/weapons, but I will repeat the adage "what's the best survival tool?"..... Answer: The one that you have with you. All I'm getting at is that people would tend to look at you funny if you walked around town sporting a chainsaw, baseball bat, big axe, a 9 Iron, or a knife/machete, and you'd certainly be eating asphalt in the felony prone position if you overtly carried a spear, broadsword, battle axe, or morningstar around with you. But few seem to notice or even care about what is obviously this mini-digging tool sitting in plain view in my truck, or attached to my rucksack.
No comments:
Post a Comment