What's a good small offroading shovel?

Canada, have lived in Phoenix for 4 years, Africa for another four and spend a lot of my time out in the sun here in Alberta (hot and arid in the summer, fyi).

 

That is all you need.

 

Had this happen to myself. Sucks when you go to removed your axe/shovel and the axe/shovel is missing, because the quick fist failed.

 

At this point i am having fun watching the spork debate unfold.

 

yeah it does suck, especially when you see it come off on the freeway going 70mph...look in the rear view and see your axe spinning up in the air behind your truck, lol. I got really lucky I was out in the desert in the slow lane and there wasn't anyone behind me...was able to pull over and walk back a quarter mile and pick it up. Axe held up surprisingly well considering it bounced off the ground several times, luckily the Fiskars come with the cover on them.

anyway yeah I replaced all the washers with metal ones after that, haven't had an issue since

 

I had something similar happen with a spare tyre on a work truck. Cable snapped when going down the hwy, all of a sudden I feel the back of the truck lift up and bounce down hard, look in the rear view mirror and I see a tyre go straight up in the air. Talk about being lucky. nobody on the hwy, myself and my coworker couldn't believe that just happened, super lucky it didn;t flip us on the side/etc. or go shooting off down into another vehicle.

 

There is no question the shovel is a beefy mofo, and it digs. My reason for not never recommending it is that it makes no sense to own one when a regular shovel will do and save you a pile of money. I have one, like it but I would never recommend it to anyone as it is not worth it, and I feel it is a gimmick as it does not penetrate into soil better then a properly sharpened shovel, period. I may try sharpening the crazy beaver to see how it does. Might truly be a murder spork then.

As for smashing through ice with one, I shake my head, get a hatchet and think with ones nogging. You will get more leverage and penetration with a hatchet, carry a cheap dull one, the sharpness does not matter as you are smashing through, not cutting. your focusing the pressure onto a point. The krazy beaver it may look like your focusing it but you are distributing it across more surface area once the first point digs in, plus you cannot get the leverage on it to apply the force on the ice. We use to ice fish this way through 2 feet of ice up here before we bought an auger, it sucked.

Prying and filling in ruts, okay the ruts sure, prying the damn tree out of the way? Jesus, I would have pushed it out of the way with the truck, used the winch and a snatch block to pull it over. Or used a limb from a tree to act as a fulcrum to move the log. Lots of smarter ways to do things instead of breaking ones back prying with a two foot shovel.

 

Get out of here with all that sense you're making! You can't color match a dirty old tree limb next to a trail to your rig!

 

My grandfather was born in 1875 and he was a miner. Pretty much most of my shovels are at least a hundred years old give or take a few decades. I have this great screwdriver that belonged to my grandfather. You can see where it has a steel tip and then an iron body. Was probably made in the 1890s. I use it all the time.

Anyway, basically with shovels you might take along in your truck, you have small, medium, and large. Don't overthink it. Pick one.

 

I like my Krazy Beaver

 

I use a Home Depot round in summer, a square for winter. Mounted on home made brackets with Quick Fists. Works for me, but I’m not hard core, just old and soft. Both shovels have been painted to add durability and look cool.

 

The whole point of moving the log was to not "touch" it with my truck. Pushing it out of the way would defeat that purpose.

I suppose I could have tried the winch and snatch block, but I was second to last in line on the trail and there was no way to pass the two trucks in front of me. I was the only vehicle with a winch, that day.

Up here in the PNW, you'd be hard pressed to find a limb that isn't rotted away on the ground. It might have existed. But I wasn't exactly tripping over it.

The shovel worked great for this purpose. Neither it, nor my back showed any hint of snapping.

I perfectly understand those that don't see the value in the KB shovel. However, for my truck, I've used the buy once cry once method for all of my purchases. I personally, don't think $80 is that much money for a decent peice of recovery gear. Hell, people have more money tied up in one embroidered Taco patch on their headliner. To each their own.

I think the majority of people that have bought the KB shovel have been satisfied with it. A very small percentage have said they regret the purchase.

 

Mine is definitely used and thicker than a HD shovel!

 

I’ve got the Fiskars D handle shovel. It’s all steel construction, so it is practically bulletproof. It has a lot of well-thoughtout features: The extra wide D handle makes it really comfortable to use 2 hands for added pressure; It has an oversized foot step; and a hardened blade that is pre-sharpened. If you are able to damage it, it also has a lifetime warranty. All of this for under $30.00. An added bonus is that it looks cool on my rack!

 

spent 8 yrs in the PNW on vancouver Island off roading and hiking, I know what your taking about, we carried a pry bar as we tried prying with those same limbs and they all broke. l

 

Check out the shovels by Predator Tools. Seriously overbuilt!

https://www.predatortools.com/collections/shovels

 

I also keep a Glock E-tool under my seat.

$49 Glock Entrenching Tool with Saw and Pouch, Black,

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000KOOUOS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_KEd-Bb24V1SCY

 

That pioneer is legit!

 

I have their T-handled Relic Pro shovel.