Xmas Shovel Review!!! :-D

5.56X45mm

Milforum Mac Daddy
Merry Christmas to one and all....

As a Christmas gift from my wonderful Girlfriend.... she got me the Crovel Shovel. Not the Crovel Extreme but the original one which they no longer make. It was the last ones they had out of five total. Grand price was $105 (that's with shipping). I have had the GLOCK Folding Entrenching Tool for a long while and I preferred it much more then the G.I. Issue tri-fold one I had in the Army. You can get the GLOCK tool between $40-$50 at most places. I paid $45 for it out the door a couple of years ago. So as a Christmas day gift to one and all here I decided to do a quick review.

The photos are from my crappy cell phone.... anyways enjoy!

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The GLOCK and the Crovel together in dirt bliss.....

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The GLOCK Shovel in it's carrying case. Made out of nylon it's fairly cheaply made. Has a "Made in China" label on the inside. The back of the case has a web strap that would accommodate a 2 Inch belt and also has two metal loops that would work wither either zip ties or a molle adapter to attach it to a molle ruck sack or patrol pack.

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Here is it in it's compact storage mode. Pretty small and light in weight.

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The hinge and locking part is a plastic knob that you turn to lock the shovel blade into place. The nice thing about it is you can lock it at a 22.5 degree angle, 45 degree angle, 67.5 degree angle, or a full 90 degree angle for straight digging.

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The handle is collapsible and locks into place by turning it counter clockwise. Inside the handle is a small serrated saw with a flat head screw driver bit on the tip of the blade. Once the handle is locked into place while it's extended it will not collapse on itself. The entire handle and body is made out of a polymer plastic that GLOCK uses in their pistols.

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At the base of the grip is a small end cap that you screw off the get to the saw blade.
 
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Simply flip the blade around and place in as a plug and screw the end cap back one. It does not matter what direction the blade faces.

Now the Crovel.... which was ordered from GearUpCenter.Com. They have a newer version of it with a hollow center that has a end cap to store stuff along with the chance to replace the end cap with a "Z Spike". My GF ordered the original one which I actually like more.

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This is a heavy SOB.... it weighs in at 5.5lbs. Much heavier then the GLOCK Shovel. Also not as compact. It's a Crowbar with a hammer welded to one end and the other is machined to a thread to screw on the the locking ring and it is further machined higher then at for the folding mount for the hex screw. It's made out of 10 gauge steel. The Shovel Blade is not riveted to the folding mechanism. It's welded to that too.

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The shovel blade can be removed from the shaft with a simple hex screw. Also the blade can only be locked at a 45 degree angle or a 90 degree angle.

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The shovel blade itself is a nifty piece of work. one side and the front is machined sharpen to a fine edge and can be used as an axe blade. The other side is a saw tooth to be used as a saw (duh!). Lastly it has a bottle opener.

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The other end has a good hammer claw/pry claw and a hammer. Good use for prying nails, ripping apart plywood covering a window or door. The hammer can also be used to break stuff... why? Because that's what hammers can do other then drive nails into stuff.

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All in all, they're both good products and I think are worth owning. The Crovel is more of a master of none, jack of all trades tool but it's worth something keeping in the truck and moving the GLOCK to my 72 Hour MOLLE Ruck Sack.
 
Brilliant 5.56, although it looks like a house breakers delight lol.

I have an original US issue entrenching tool somewhere. Not that I use it, any digging and I give it to the wife.
 
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