REVIEW: GLOCK FIELD SPADE

In today's time, folding shovels are more commonly used as a derogatory term rather than for the tool itself. This is probably because most of these tools are much too heavy to be of practical use. For example, if we take the Bundeswehr folding shovel, you have to lug around nearly 1.5 kilograms of weight. Ideal for the car, no question about it – the thing is proven, durable, and affordable, but simply too heavy to carry in a backpack. Glock, on the other hand, comes up with a much lighter and more clever version: the Glock folding shovel. We tested it.The company Glock, known for its legendary and globally used polymer pistols, has reinterpreted the classic folding shovel based on its military experience and work with polymer and metal.

For those unfamiliar with the Bundeswehr or US folding shovels:

• 3-Fold folding shovel, aluminum frame with a shovel blade
• Shovel blade with a width of approximately 17cm
• Total length 60cm
• Folded approx. 24cm
• Weight approx. 1.4 kilograms
• Locking is done by a lock nut that must be turned above the shovel blade. This also secures the rear part (handle)
• Handle is triangular
• Shovel blade has an emergency sawtooth
• Can be angled and screwed in place to be used as a hoe.

In addition to the high weight, the screwing is a bit fiddly and you feel like you're turning forever until everything is secure. In use, you may need to tighten it more often to keep everything in place. The sawtooth on the shovel blade is kept so flat that you'll probably cut through a branch faster with a Swiss army knife than with the folding shovel. Furthermore, you are limited in the use of length. You can unfold the shovel to its full length or angle it in an S-shape. This allows you to get into smaller holes, but efficient work like with the Glock folding shovel in the video is not possible.

All of these disadvantages seem to have been carefully considered by Glock and they have tried to improve them. So, the Glock folding shovel comes in at 650 grams total weight, making it one of the lightest in its class. This is of course due to the polymer used, which is extremely robust despite the low weight.

The folded format is almost identical to the 3-fold shovel, measuring 25cm x 16cm. This makes the shovel blade one centimeter narrower than the competition.The locking of the system is two-part, meaning the blade and the handle are locked separately. For the shovel blade, there is a large screw on the side that, with almost two turns, holds the shovel in position – and securely at that – you don't have to tighten it again later.The handle is two-part and telescopic. Pulling on the knob extends the 20cm handle to a full 40cm of usable surface. To lock it, you twist the upper part counterclockwise and you're ready to go.Normal shovel operation at full length:

While you hardly notice the missing centimeter on the shovel blade, the nearly 5cm longer handle is immediately noticeable. Here, you have a bit more leverage and the work progresses well and quickly – even with harder soil. We were initially skeptical of the knob, as the triangular handle (Bundeswehr folding shovel) seemed to provide more grip, but the knob is the right size and shape to fit well in the hand.

Shovel operation at half length:

For example, if you need to cook over a fire pit, you will need an air vent tunnel. Digging a tunnel with the Bundeswehr shovel – a difficult task. With the Glock shovel, you simply turn it to half length and continue. Here too, the tool is very easy to handle and grips well, as the lower handle part is thicker.

As a hoe:

When the shovel blade is locked at 90 degrees, you have a decent hoe. This operation works just as well with the Glock shovel as it does with the 3-fold folding shovel, so no improvement here, except for the faster screwing to secure it.

For chopping wood:

The shovel is stable enough and handles everything well, but with the wood we used, there was hardly any result after a short processing time, well – it'll work for removing bark or splitting softer wood. A shovel is simply not an ax.

Saw:

While a regular folding shovel has a coarse serration on the shovel blade, the Glock has a proper saw integrated in the handle.While it only has a relatively shallow serration, it is much more usable than the shovel blade serration – and it's also three centimeters longer – a total of 16cm of sawtooth.To work with the saw effectively, it is inserted back into the handle hole and secured with the knob nut. This also works smoothly.The flat sawtooth requires more time and effort than, for example, the Fiskars handsaw (HERE in the review), but it is definitely better than nothing. The saw module weighs 50 grams – leave the saw at home and the shovel weighs only 600 grams.

Note on the saw:

We came across a nice site on the internet that provides some ideas for replacing the flat saw (Link

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