Posted: 10/8/2008 12:54:09 PM EDT
| I just used my Wal-Mart e-tool (made in Taiwan) for the first time and it is already unserviceable. I need a tough e-tool for backpacking. Any recommendations? Anyone have experience with the glock one with the saw, or the gerber. Thank you for the help, FMJs-of-Freedom |
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Glock, Gerber, USGI, or the nearly identical German GI tri-fold will do the job. Save the last two, the different designs/materials have their plusses and minuses. Whatever you buy, make sure to get a carrier that will interface with your pack/LBE. Tool bad you found our the hard way about inferior quality items. Take it back, and demand at least a store credit. |
Yes, it does. However, it seems pretty stout. Keep in mind a few things: The Gerber is accepted as NATO issue, the metal handle on the tri-fold is not as strudy as it might first seem, and lastly that on ANY folding shovel the joints are most often the weakest link in the system. Make CERTAIN to snug things up tight before doing any work, and check periodically lest things work loose, and slow, incremental damage occur, often invisible at first. This incremental damage usually is accellerated wear on the rivets (which are often hollow), and on the holes in the handle/blade/shaft through which the rivets pass. Some folks solve the rivet issue by drilling out the OEM rivets and substituting Stainless Steel bolts and then double-nutting them. Be advised that drilling out and removing rivets is a definite PITA. If you have more time than money, and if the component parts of your GI tri-fold are in good shape, fixing worn rivets and elongated holes is do-able and much less expensive than a new, not worn-out GI replacement. Just measure the most elongated hole, and then select a drill size, and bolt size that will make things round (and tight) again. A USGI tri-fold (or an older, bi-fold) will have stamped on the blade: U.S., and below that Mfr name and date of mfr. It might be buried/obscured under paint, but if you look closely you should be able to make out some of it, at least. I assume German tri-folds are similarly stamped. FWIW, there are a lot of pretty good quality, older bi-folds on the market, usually of European origin, especially German. Some of the West German shovels have a fold-out pick, which can be extremely useful, depending on the type of material you find yourself engaged in digging. While the German and ComBloc square-bladed spades are useful, they are poor digging tools unless the soil is just right . Most soils require a point to the blade, and some a pick. Again, whatever you buy, and if you mean to carry it on your person, the shovel/e-tool MUST have a sheath/scabbard/carrier that protects you/your pack/gear against the sharp-bladed/dirty shovel, and which easily interfaces with your gear. Negative points for leather, cotton, and cotton thread, as some/all are probably old and ready to fail. Plus points for new, stout synthetic. New (or even fairly old) leather can be treated with Picard's leather oil which will preserve it for a good while. Does nothing for cracked, dead leather. |
Don't get an e-tool. It's heavy and you want use it much. It really doesn't justify it's weight. Honestly it hasn't justifies it's weight since Vietnam  If you really need something for cat holes etc- get a U-dig-it ETA: if this is more for a BOB or something- leave the pioneer tools to the farmers. You can find one when you need one. I can tell whether some are bugging out or prospecting  |
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Glock etool is very rugged, the saw works...hmmm just ok. BUT I've only used it on occasion and it's never justified the weight. Get a fiskars/gerber folding saw and a good LanCay or Ka-bar like knife and you will be able to get the same results with less weight. When I first started the survival mindset I read ALOT here, and weight was and is master. I had to "like many others" learn the hard way and man I'll tell you at one point 4 miles in to the forest in the water and mud with 65lbs on my back I about dropped that E-Tool and the axe I had! JMO... 
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For an e-tool I use the Gerber, I'm extremely happy with it. I've had two Type-56 usgi e-tool copies die horrible deaths. But for backpacking, find a garden trowel that is sturdy and comfortable in your hand. I recently acquired a Rothco stainless steel folding trowel fairly cheap, it has a thick wire handle that folds up. It's light and a real space saver. Otherwise the coleman orange plastic ones work well and are usually $.99-$1.50, just don't use them if the ground is frozen. |
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If you are simply going camping, unless it is with a fairly large group, then a trowel is best, as it is small and light. I'd shy clear of plastic units, as they react badly to rocks (common hereabouts), and extreme cold can cause them to fracture, possibly cutting the user far from medical help. Metal units, even lightweight aluminum types, can do double duty as light hammers, such as for tent stake insertion. Dunno if the Stainless folders will hold up to that. OTOH, if a "tactical" scenario was a possibility, then you are going to want more digging power than a simple trowel can deliver. |
| I like the Cold steel SF shovel. Own several and used them a lot(an aside you know there is hilly billy in your gene pool when 77 year old mom sees it in your car asks to look at it and the first thing she says is that would take a nice edge.........and then wants one for christmas. And a year later wants 3 more one for each car/truck and one for around the house so she does not have to keep moving it around). |