Camping with $100 Survival Shovel Kit - Worth it!
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Date: 2024-09-04
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Comments and reviews: 20
ADI121195
I like the construction of this shovel compared to the others how it screws together all the way makes it solid mine has a fold out shovel head and it loosens over use this because it’s a solid shaft that all screws together I think a bit of something on the treads would make it stay together but make it so you can still unscrew it the idea behind this design has to be the best iv seen for been solid apart from all the gimmick bits in it the main structure I’d say is good if they just made it into a shovel and mattock/pick I think it would be really good for camp craft use eg digging the fire pit or toilet hole that it’s probably most suited to iv seen mtb mountain bike trail tools that all screw together like that and have been really useful for people out in the middle of nowhere where they have to ride to where there going in the woods and build there best option for a super light tool but that’s no reflection on this shovel without using and testing myself but it does look pretty sturdy overall apart from the folding shovel head that’s the only weak point
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I like the construction of this shovel compared to the others how it screws together all the way makes it solid mine has a fold out shovel head and it loosens over use this because it’s a solid shaft that all screws together I think a bit of something on the treads would make it stay together but make it so you can still unscrew it the idea behind this design has to be the best iv seen for been solid apart from all the gimmick bits in it the main structure I’d say is good if they just made it into a shovel and mattock/pick I think it would be really good for camp craft use eg digging the fire pit or toilet hole that it’s probably most suited to iv seen mtb mountain bike trail tools that all screw together like that and have been really useful for people out in the middle of nowhere where they have to ride to where there going in the woods and build there best option for a super light tool but that’s no reflection on this shovel without using and testing myself but it does look pretty sturdy overall apart from the folding shovel head that’s the only weak point
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loragunning5394
At 70 years old, I'm more of a glamper than a bare bones camper. all my camping gear is lightweight, fairly high tech, and sets up very quickly. Still, in a survival situation, I would want a kit w/very sharp tools and a honing stone to keep them that way. Dull tools are close to useless, IMO. If one carried a so-called survival pack such as the one you reviewed in this video and actually ended up having to use it for actual life vs death survival, one may survive for a day or two. until someone found you and rescued you, which I guess may be their purpose. Otherwise, with a way to sharpen dull edged tools not being part of the kit, if rescue takes more than a few days, I don't think you'd make it. The lack of a striker for the fire stick in this kit reviewed is a huge problem. If a person can't make fire, you're basically dead, regardless of the fishing kit, which (as you noted) gives you 2 chances to catch a fish.
In many ways, the entire idea of survivor kits seems a bit gimmicky to me.
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At 70 years old, I'm more of a glamper than a bare bones camper. all my camping gear is lightweight, fairly high tech, and sets up very quickly. Still, in a survival situation, I would want a kit w/very sharp tools and a honing stone to keep them that way. Dull tools are close to useless, IMO. If one carried a so-called survival pack such as the one you reviewed in this video and actually ended up having to use it for actual life vs death survival, one may survive for a day or two. until someone found you and rescued you, which I guess may be their purpose. Otherwise, with a way to sharpen dull edged tools not being part of the kit, if rescue takes more than a few days, I don't think you'd make it. The lack of a striker for the fire stick in this kit reviewed is a huge problem. If a person can't make fire, you're basically dead, regardless of the fishing kit, which (as you noted) gives you 2 chances to catch a fish.
In many ways, the entire idea of survivor kits seems a bit gimmicky to me.
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eyeofthetiger4184
G'day Mike, totally fair appraisal there mate. I do think its better than noth'n and there's a LOT worse out there.
Gotta be said though making your own kit will always turn out FAR superior.
Btw; I reckon a mini mattock/pick is a very underrated tool for camping or survival and better than mil type entrenching tools IMO, though of course you sacrifice, fold up, flat pack. Cheers Duke.
P. S. perfectly cooked snags and heat bottled sauce, one tends to just chuck it on cold. but why not in the same way as gravy, . why didnt I think of that; )
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G'day Mike, totally fair appraisal there mate. I do think its better than noth'n and there's a LOT worse out there.
Gotta be said though making your own kit will always turn out FAR superior.
Btw; I reckon a mini mattock/pick is a very underrated tool for camping or survival and better than mil type entrenching tools IMO, though of course you sacrifice, fold up, flat pack. Cheers Duke.
P. S. perfectly cooked snags and heat bottled sauce, one tends to just chuck it on cold. but why not in the same way as gravy, . why didnt I think of that; )
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ronwingrove683
A friend of mine came to a camp out with one of these. Almost everything we did, he said I have a tool for that! and we'd wait for a good 5-10 minutes while he unscrewed section after section to find the knife/saw/FAK, only to find that the tool itself didn't work worth a damn. The most useful it was, like you mentioned here, was to put all the pieces together to make a long pole, which we then used to prop up one end of the tarp.
I think most of us here would agree that the more functions something has, the worse it performs at all of them.
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A friend of mine came to a camp out with one of these. Almost everything we did, he said I have a tool for that! and we'd wait for a good 5-10 minutes while he unscrewed section after section to find the knife/saw/FAK, only to find that the tool itself didn't work worth a damn. The most useful it was, like you mentioned here, was to put all the pieces together to make a long pole, which we then used to prop up one end of the tarp.
I think most of us here would agree that the more functions something has, the worse it performs at all of them.
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stevenclarke2592
I would say the slot looks like the slot on my rigging knife for undoing shackles. The flatter side of the pick looks like an adze for woodworking. I would add spices to the steak before digging the fire pit to enable the dried chilli flakes to hydrate them and penitrate the meat more. Looks an interesting bit of kit, definitely better than the previous 2 but price reflects that. In the bottom of fire pit we used bigger logs. Don't like fire steel being loose but that also means it is replaceable. Great video.
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I would say the slot looks like the slot on my rigging knife for undoing shackles. The flatter side of the pick looks like an adze for woodworking. I would add spices to the steak before digging the fire pit to enable the dried chilli flakes to hydrate them and penitrate the meat more. Looks an interesting bit of kit, definitely better than the previous 2 but price reflects that. In the bottom of fire pit we used bigger logs. Don't like fire steel being loose but that also means it is replaceable. Great video.
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taoutdoors
Hey Mike, hope you and the family are well.
The fact you used a Dakota fire hole made me smile. They're amazing if done right.
The survival tool you used, I had one similar. It had some good things to it, but for the price it was overall shote.
I had similar issues you did, but a few pole sections did break over time.
I saw a comment about making your own kit. I agree.
Would love to see your take on various price ranges of self built survival kits
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Hey Mike, hope you and the family are well.
The fact you used a Dakota fire hole made me smile. They're amazing if done right.
The survival tool you used, I had one similar. It had some good things to it, but for the price it was overall shote.
I had similar issues you did, but a few pole sections did break over time.
I saw a comment about making your own kit. I agree.
Would love to see your take on various price ranges of self built survival kits
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taoutdoors
May I ask what are the better firesteele's
Because I have noticed now that there are def differences between firesteele's and I just can't seem to find a decent one, somehow now for the 3rd time in a row I have had no luck with them.
(Yes, the coating is off but they are rubbish
Thanks for reviewing these kind of kits, I really think that it is going to take quite some time before you will find one that is over 95% or even over 90% useful at least.
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May I ask what are the better firesteele's
Because I have noticed now that there are def differences between firesteele's and I just can't seem to find a decent one, somehow now for the 3rd time in a row I have had no luck with them.
(Yes, the coating is off but they are rubbish
Thanks for reviewing these kind of kits, I really think that it is going to take quite some time before you will find one that is over 95% or even over 90% useful at least.
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ManInTheWoods76
The quality question wouldn't matter much to me, good or bad.
I'm holding a shovel that I made from an old garden shovel. It was free to me; just labor. The short handle is a whole carved ash branch. Give me that and $30 worth misc pocket items. I am better set with that than those shovel novelty things. As a bonus, my pocket items as are inside the shovel. Mine actually work
Wonderful review. Thank you!
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The quality question wouldn't matter much to me, good or bad.
I'm holding a shovel that I made from an old garden shovel. It was free to me; just labor. The short handle is a whole carved ash branch. Give me that and $30 worth misc pocket items. I am better set with that than those shovel novelty things. As a bonus, my pocket items as are inside the shovel. Mine actually work
Wonderful review. Thank you!
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anthonyzummo867
I bought one of those 5. 99 fold up shovels that comes in a zipper pouch from Temu and people made fun of me, saying it would fall apart and it's too small to do anything. I ended up using it to make Dakota fire holes perfectly due to it's small size. It's not like I'm digging trenches lol. So my cheap fold up shovel still works perfectly for my needs. This shovel looks like it has so many more uses to it.
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I bought one of those 5. 99 fold up shovels that comes in a zipper pouch from Temu and people made fun of me, saying it would fall apart and it's too small to do anything. I ended up using it to make Dakota fire holes perfectly due to it's small size. It's not like I'm digging trenches lol. So my cheap fold up shovel still works perfectly for my needs. This shovel looks like it has so many more uses to it.
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skeetsmcgrew3282
In defense of the useless crap in the shovel handle: $100 for a survival shovel, an axe head, and a pick is already pretty good. Id actually prefer if it had zero extras and make it a few bucks cheaper. I can make up a little fishing kit, add some kevlar rope and fire starting materials, all for practically nothing. The fact that it has a bunch of hollow tubes useful for storage seems good enough to me
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In defense of the useless crap in the shovel handle: $100 for a survival shovel, an axe head, and a pick is already pretty good. Id actually prefer if it had zero extras and make it a few bucks cheaper. I can make up a little fishing kit, add some kevlar rope and fire starting materials, all for practically nothing. The fact that it has a bunch of hollow tubes useful for storage seems good enough to me
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carnivorecaveman
Even before watching the video, I was pretty sure that the main problem with the stock would be the bolted needle pieces loosening on the first serious hit. That alone would be reason enough for me not to buy it. The other errors are just negative extras. For sure, not only for that much money, but I SHOULD NOT HAVE IT FOR FREE.
I didn't look it up, but I'm guessing it's of course made in China.
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Even before watching the video, I was pretty sure that the main problem with the stock would be the bolted needle pieces loosening on the first serious hit. That alone would be reason enough for me not to buy it. The other errors are just negative extras. For sure, not only for that much money, but I SHOULD NOT HAVE IT FOR FREE.
I didn't look it up, but I'm guessing it's of course made in China.
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MisterKisk
Usually how it goes with combo tools and twist together handles in these kits. If you had absolutely nothing else, you'd be very thankful to have it, but otherwise dedicated tools with solid handles will almost always function much better and make your life less difficult (which if you're in a survival situation, making your life easier is always a good thing.
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Usually how it goes with combo tools and twist together handles in these kits. If you had absolutely nothing else, you'd be very thankful to have it, but otherwise dedicated tools with solid handles will almost always function much better and make your life less difficult (which if you're in a survival situation, making your life easier is always a good thing.
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BartBuzz
Another very informative survival kit test. My main takeaway from this survival shovel kit is that it's smarter to buy a separate and higher-quality shovel, hand axe, and knife. I agree that this kit is a bit gimmicky. It looks practical but you quickly discover that it's not. Looking forward to the next survival kit video.
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Another very informative survival kit test. My main takeaway from this survival shovel kit is that it's smarter to buy a separate and higher-quality shovel, hand axe, and knife. I agree that this kit is a bit gimmicky. It looks practical but you quickly discover that it's not. Looking forward to the next survival kit video.
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briankane6547
I saw you brandishing an Axe & calling it a Hatchet - SO - I had to check. First check - a Yankee gent comparing an Axe Vs. a Hatchet.
In on hand he had a Felling Axe
In the other hand he had a Hand Axe.
All THREE were Yankee
ALL THREE call a Hand Axe a Hatchet
ALL THREE call a Felling Axe an Axe
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I saw you brandishing an Axe & calling it a Hatchet - SO - I had to check. First check - a Yankee gent comparing an Axe Vs. a Hatchet.
In on hand he had a Felling Axe
In the other hand he had a Hand Axe.
All THREE were Yankee
ALL THREE call a Hand Axe a Hatchet
ALL THREE call a Felling Axe an Axe
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lorkainenkingg8497
I stay away from gimmicky survival gear. I avoid this type of segmented tool like the plague mainly because the handle sections come loose - as you demonstrated - during use. I would only use this kind of kit if it was all I had available in a survival situation. Great video in any event. Thanks!
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I stay away from gimmicky survival gear. I avoid this type of segmented tool like the plague mainly because the handle sections come loose - as you demonstrated - during use. I would only use this kind of kit if it was all I had available in a survival situation. Great video in any event. Thanks!
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dazad1972
i may be wrong but i think the only purpose for that cord was for a wrist handle for ther pick, i realy dont think it was supplied for any other purpose. i wonder if the axe would come loose if it had a left handed thread try using your other hand there maybe a twisting effect when you strike the timber.
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i may be wrong but i think the only purpose for that cord was for a wrist handle for ther pick, i realy dont think it was supplied for any other purpose. i wonder if the axe would come loose if it had a left handed thread try using your other hand there maybe a twisting effect when you strike the timber.
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tobiasmills9647
You'd think for that price they'd have included a small file or oilstone inside one of the sections. I feel like companies that sell survival equipment you can't use out of the box should be held accountable for liability. The whole point of an all in one kit, is that it's ready when you need it.
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You'd think for that price they'd have included a small file or oilstone inside one of the sections. I feel like companies that sell survival equipment you can't use out of the box should be held accountable for liability. The whole point of an all in one kit, is that it's ready when you need it.
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jamesellsworth9673
Generally, reviewers have been unhappy with this type of kit. Your problems are ones they had as well. The ax head worked as a short-handled hatchet and that was about it. The 88-pound price gives you a good bit of leeway in purchasing items for your final take on a useful survival kit.
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Generally, reviewers have been unhappy with this type of kit. Your problems are ones they had as well. The ax head worked as a short-handled hatchet and that was about it. The 88-pound price gives you a good bit of leeway in purchasing items for your final take on a useful survival kit.
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toddablett4493
To bad you didn't have a shovel or something to fill that hole back up with (kinda proves what you thought of the shovel. another great video and thank you for taking us on the journey. I can't wait to see what you are going to offer when you make your own survival kit.
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To bad you didn't have a shovel or something to fill that hole back up with (kinda proves what you thought of the shovel. another great video and thank you for taking us on the journey. I can't wait to see what you are going to offer when you make your own survival kit.
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acbigal
I took a survival shovel you were supposed to be able to chop with and I mean compared to US Ames quality and broke it in 5 whacks. US military new old stock is the only way to go with those shovels. I'm more interested in the wood splitter addon than anything.
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I took a survival shovel you were supposed to be able to chop with and I mean compared to US Ames quality and broke it in 5 whacks. US military new old stock is the only way to go with those shovels. I'm more interested in the wood splitter addon than anything.
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