A shovel for the hovel

[John Joseph]

I have a few GI folding shovels, both a newer tri-fold and the old wooden handle ones, but they seldom go camping.
Mine are either US or German Army surplus as I learned my lesson about worthless Chinese copycat folding shovels.
They are properly entrenching tools after all and kind of heavy for back packing----for this old guy anyway----a trowel for cat holes are lighter and more compact..
I suppose for digging ditches to keep rain run off from breeching your tent an entrenching tool would be efficient, but I'd prefer just locating my tent away from
such hazards if at all possible, like they used to teach in what was formerly the Boy Scouts.

For car camping however, I admit to going old school----a D handle round point shovel, with about a 30"+/- handle that's still easy to stow (easier than a full size shovel anyway,) yet much easier on my poor aching back than an entrenching tool.
IIRC my particular shovel is either an Ames or a True Temper. The paper label wore off long ago and I'm not going into the garage right now to see what markings are visible.

What do I use a shovel for?
Digging down to mineral soil for building a camp fire.
Extinguishing camp fires
Destroying evidence that there ever was a camp fire
Digging latrines if needed
Clearing off slide debris that's obstructing the road/trail
Digging the car out of deep snow
Chasing off thieving raccoons
and probably other things that have slipped my mind.


So what is your favorite camping shovel and why?

[Happy Joe]

No surprises here;
The steel U.S.G.I. trifold e-tool; resides permanently in each vehicle for travel and camping.


It folds for compact in vehicle storage, its tough enough to survive G.I. (soldierly) abuse and therefore reliable.
It works to remediate winter (snow) stucks and can dig a vehicle out of sand or mud (as long as the vehicle is not too mired.
Its primary use, used to be, for digging cat holes (push it fully in to the ground in a square; then lift/pry out the plug)... since I acquired the port a potti though its primary use is to dig out (clean) existing fire pits.

I have long driven a small Jeep (the WWII flat fenders are the smallest, my current one is a much larger TJ, which is more than 40 inches longer) off road; so onboard storage is extremely limited (IMO real Jeeps have 2 doors and, sometimes, a tailgate). I can always find enough room to store the trifold E-tool, usually in its carrier, along with a roll of TP in a water proof jar. even the compact/tiny garden spades take more room than I want to dedicate.
Although full sized tools make work easier, I don't normally travel the back country looking to do construction.

When we used to do winter snow runs in the mountains (to see how stuck we could get) I used to carry a full sized sand shovel on those trips because the long handle makes digging out a high centered vehicle easier.

Enjoy!

[Denni2]

I inherited my dad’s trenching shovel and we carry it in the van. It is a space eater but very substantial. It has a long wooden handle with a shovel and pick that folds flat.

[MacGyver]

I'd been using a hand mattocks for years, mostly for latrine duty and removing rocks where I want to pitch my tent. Not too long ago I discovered this gem on Amazon - a hand adze, with a wider, longer and sharper blade than the mattocks. Makes quick work for digging those cat holes!