Military Surplus Entrenching Tools

Post Reply
Toepopper
Patriot ⭐ Construction, Shelter
Patriot ⭐ Construction, Shelter
Posts: 1229
Joined: 16 Aug 2007 12:03
Location: Southwest Oregon

Military Surplus Entrenching Tools

Post by Toepopper »

Took a walk through a surplus store last week and noticed they had 4 kinds of surplus entrenching tools for sale. Actually they were not surplus but cheap reproductions made in Taiwan or China and sold as the real McCoy. I was amazed at the poor quality and asked the store manager if he had any real US military surplus E tools. He told me they had all been bought up but I might find an original for sale on E-Bay. I already have 3 surplus E tools, an M-43 folding shovel, a German Army collapsable entrenching tool with leather carrying sheath and a U.S. Army M 1967 tri folding shovel with its rubber carring sheath. Of these 3 shovels, the old 1943 model is my favorite. It has a tapered hickory handle and the blade can be turned to 90 degrees for swinging like a pick when you hit hard soil or a large tree root. It is well made and can take lots of abuse and is lightweight so its not too heavy to carry on my pack. The German Army E tool is much hravier, almost double the weight of its American made counterpart, well made and comes with a hardwood handle and leather sheath that will attach to your pack or web belt. Due to its weight I carry it in my pick up truck for emergencies. The third shovel is the M1967 tri folding E tool which was originally made for paratroopers but is now issued to all U.S. army troops. These shovels are painted flat black and collapse into a 10" long easily carried rubberized sheath that attaches to an alice pack. Its made from aluminum and is very awkward to use, the handle is too short to get any leverage and because of this it will wear you out before your hole can be dug. The surplus stores are full of cheaply made fakes, many have shorter, straight handles made from soft wood and have mis-stamped lightweight shovel heads that will chip or break with little abuse. They might be alright for a childs toy but will not last when some serious digging needs to be done so watch out if you go to buy one of these and try to get the one with "U.S." stamped on it for quality and reliability.
Post Reply