Cold Steel Special Forces Shovel, Hardwood Handle

This is the kind of thing you buy twice. In my case, I saved some time on my part and bought two for some strange reason. But anyway, despite being thoroughly canvassed by others as a multi tool, I cannot help but rhapsodize about its uses as well. It came out of the box sharp, though scuffed a bit and a little ragged on the edges. But man, or woman, those steely edges are strong! I immediately hopped away from the scene of opening with my new shovels, and started digging happily at the ice and snow on our patio, when I struck stone. And while the stone was damaged, to say the least, I slit my skin on the edge, though not hard enough to draw blood. I then went over to our local bamboo grove and started hammering at a fallen stand of bamboo. Boy is it loud, but man, does it work! I would suggest any special forces commandos out there, to purchase it, but not for covert operations, because loud noises tend to attract enemy fire, so I am told, though I could be wrong... anyway, this baby, or babies in my case, can be used for anything, virtually anything. The steel will fulfill all but your wildest destructive or constructive fantasies (in other words, no trying to split diamond). I would recommend getting a shovel blade bag for it, because the edges are factory sharpened to be relatively keen. Beware, though, this most likely qualifies as a weapon in the eyes of law enforcement, my dear mother will not let me leave the house with it even though I am a nearly full grown nineteen year old, and despite what my preceding reviewers said, it would probably be bad if you were caught with a razor edged shovel in your possession without a weapons license of some kind. So, be warned, this is more functional as an all around machete than as a shovel, though I admit it does dig well. If you are buying it because you want to dig holes, I recommend the inteletool system on amazon. If you are buying it because it looks, smells, and feels like it would beat the zombie apocalypse back single handled-ly, than this is well worth your money. Sturdily built, expertly tempered, rather inexpertly sharpened, this tool will nonetheless make you feel like a genuine one man army, if only for a moment before reality sets in. Just remember, once again, this kind of entrenching tool was used to decapitate the enemy in the army, use great caution when swinging it around people, because harmless, this tool is not. EDIT: I just chopped a fair sized branch in half with one of my two shovels, and it is a more than decent chopper. I spend every day honing the edges on one my shovels, so it works with a vengeance. But, in the end, a good kukri will still outdo the cold steel shovel in chopping, unfortunately. But a kukri cannot dig well, and a kukri can't slice like this shovel can. Peace.

For every reason imaginable you should have one of these in your car. It’s not a full size shovel but it beats the crap out of digging with your hands, a spade, some board you find, etc.It’s a great small camp shovel. It’s not for planting bushes or shoveling snow. It’s really good for a travel tool within easy reach. It appears reasonably indestructible. Unless you abuse it.Much is made of it being sharpened. It’s sort of sharp. It can be made really sharp. That makes it a better digging tool for a small shovel that you have to use with only your hands. You’ll never put a foot on this. It is an effective hatchet for limbs. It will not split wood. The handle on mine seems solid enough. A spare is not a bad idea which they sell.Need to get the cover to safely store it. No brainer emergency tool. It’s a great tool for its intended design - portability

Well, I am blown away. I like things that have multiple uses. Check. I also like things that either don't break at all or are easy to fix, and I like the sound of this shovel on both of those a lot more than a folding e-tool.I would recommend this as-is for heavy gardening and as a trunk tool, and as a camp shovel if you don't mind the size and weight. It can be made to suit a lot of other roles.It makes a very effective shovel, a decent hatchet, a good throwing weapon, and an okay handheld weapon if you know how to handle it.I took mine right out of the box, found a horrible spot in the frozen dirt with clay and rocks and roots, and I timed myself for 5 minutes and got a hole about 12" in diameter and 10" deep in the center. I refilled it inside 30 seconds. I then cut down a small sapling (it could afford to be sharpened for that - it comes very sharp for a shovel but not sharp enough to open up your hand).IF YOU WANT TO TOUGHEN IT UP, this is the section of my review on how to do it. I only have two complaints about this shovel: the wood (as opposed to synthetic) handle, and the available sheath. The head is an exceptional tool, so these two things are quite annoying. Luckily, they can be fixed.A reviewer on Cold Steel's site suggested using a polyethylene rod (available from McMaster-Carr, part number 8701K46) instead of wood. I agree. It is a difficult material to work with, but once you do the fairly light fitting it will need for this shovel, it will be nearly indestructible. A 16-18" long rod will be about the same length as the stock handle and will work great. I wouldn't go much over a 24" rod as the material is a tad flexible.As for the sheath, why would I want to put a dirt-, mud-, or snow-covered tool in a fabric sheath, even if it is nylon? That's just stupid. I plan to buy some sheet Kydex and some grommets and make myself one. You can very easily find how to do this and where to get materials (or where to buy one premade) with a quick web search.