Review: restored Folding entrenching tool

 A couple of years ago, between lockdowns, I went for a bushwalk with the family, in the Churchill National Park just near my parents place, and on the way back we passed a couple of items, sitting rusting beside a tree. I'm a firm believer in the old Marine adage of "Gear adrift is gear a gift", and as it had obviously been left in the elements for some time, snapped them up. A good sized Dutch oven, and a wooden handled cast iron pot with lid, and beside them: a rusty entrenching tool. After some soaking, scrubbing, heat-cleaning and re-seasoning the pots have become a welcome addition to my outdoor cookware collection.

The entrenching tool appears to be a Bushtracks folding entrenching tool with Pick' which had seen better days. The screw-down locking bracket had partially seized but with a little elbow grease and liberal WD-40, I got it worked loose enough to unfold the shovel-head and the pick head, with a little extra work I cleared the screw threads of grit and get it working smoothly. 

The next step was to wash and scrub the rusted  shovel face and pick. Luckily the hinge and locking bracket were not especially rusted. Once the loose crud and dust was removed, I heated the shovel head over the gas range hood to drive off any remaining moisture and coated it liberally with linseed oil as a seasoning mechanism. I did this outside as the hot steel vaporized the oil into old-timey smelling white clouds.

The scrubbing and seasoning paid off  and the surface has remained rust-free despite quite a lot of digging, both in the garden and trips to the beach where I use it to fill ballast sand-bags for our sun shelter. I have previously reported on my black tri-fold e-tool and the much smaller tactical-dump trowel but i'll be comparing the two e-tools, as they're in the weight-class.

I'll start by breaking the tool down into its major elements: the shovel, the pick and the haft. 

The working end of the shovel is a triangular tipped square side shovel, with  a gentle scoop. The tip is rounded and the edges are quite wide for durability, unlike the tri-fold which has a decidedly sharpened edge. One of the square sides has a sawtooth edge cut into it. The shovel face is riveted onto the hinge piece with three hefty rivets. The shovel has three positions, folded flat, 90 degree "Pick mode" and full extension. when folded flat the "head" of the shovel between the rivets makes a half decent hammer face, perfectly suitable for driving tent stakes in, not so much for fine carpentry. 

The screw-down locking bracket features  a big washer to aid in keeping  a tight fit when tightened which has stood up to some enthusiastic hammering and digging.

When folded out in "Shovel mode" the tool stretches to a fairly decent 62 cm (24 2/5") length, slightly longer than the delta-handled tri-fold. Length is leverage and leverage is force, both have utility when digging, and the extra length has little impact on its pack-ability  at 42cm (16 1/2") fully folded.

The shovel face itself a little smaller than that of the tri-fold,, but the tri-fold has an inch or so "behind the shaft" so the usable length is all but the same. it certainly digs well and scoops tailings out of the way smartly.  It lacks as pronounced  a rolled-over back-edge to support a diggers boot-assist, and if you really wanted or needed to you could use the pick, folded down.  

At 860g (lbs 14oz) its a reasonable tool to carry around, especially if you know you'll need to dig more than a trowels amount (be it a fire-pit, latrine pit-trap or fighting position.) The wide edge does not lend itself to axe-like chopping in the way the tri-folds per-sharpened edges do ,though they could take an edge without too much effort (either hand file or powered grinding tool). The saw teeth could be sharpened up without degrading the robustness of the tool, but that's a project for another day. I have been primarily using this in the vegetable garden, tilling soil, digging up potatoes and shifting delivered soil into our raised beds.

The Pick tool folds and locks in place the same way as the shovel does. The most useful position being at 90 degrees to the haft. The spike itself is curved along the whole length of the pick for strength and extends out  21 cm (8 1/4") from the haft. 

It is possible to operate the tool with both shovel and pick extended, but its a bit cumbersome. Easier to use one tool and swap between the two.  The pick isn't sharp-tipped, featuring the same robust edge as the shovel, but its not expected to be a mining tool. 

The pick, when folded flat against the haft, can also serve as a hammer, though the rounded back face of the pick makes for a tricky strike surface, but possible.

The pick can also be folded "upwards" into a "spear" configuration, extending the tool into a length of 58cm. Good for getting to the bottom of a hole, reaching the top shelf or possibly ventilating an unwanted visitor to your trench.

Lastly, this tool can, when set into soft enough soil, make for a halfway decent stool, with some balance and practice. better than sitting in the dirt or mud, not as good as a proper chair. 

The original haft was held in place by a rivet through the throat of the locking bracket, and whilst giving the tool a good bash test, trench-club style, I managed to snap it off at the bracket. After sitting unloved in a pile of scraps for half a year, including a house move, I dug it out, ground down the rivet head with an angle grinder, whittled a new head to the shaft, fitted it after a little char-hardening and set it with a clinch-nail. This cost me 2-3 inches of over-all length, but with my longer than average wingspan, it's none the worse. 

Though it doesn't fold down as small as the tri-fold, nor stow away in its own belt pouch (though military surplus canvas pouches exist), this is a solid tool rich with utility and with years more life in it, both in the garden and on the trail.

At some stage I may throw a sharp edge on the shovel for root/brush chopping and i'm certainly going to try my hand at sharpening the saw edge, but all in all I'm very happy with this restoration and salvage of a "lost" tool.

For the God-Emperor! For Krieg!

Review: First Tactical - Diamondback Tanto Knife

I had a package arrive from First Tactical with two items, their very fancy and vicious looking Medium Duty Light, and this very substantial folding blade, the Diamondback Knife in tanto tip.


I have a few folders in my collection, though I must say I prefer fixed blades, I keep a CRKT Folding K.I.S.S. in my EDC, and the very snappy Boker folding scalpel which lives secreted away in my every-day pack. I also have a bunch of the hefty and brutally built Boker Plus AK assisted folders, for the bug-out-jars I've been putting together for Tactical Coyote. So I was quite impressed when I got the Diamondback in hand.

Read the full review on Breach Bang & Clear ....

Review: Shelham - 3099 Clasp knife

Way back in 1995 or so, for Giftmas, my gf's brother-in-law (who worked for the DSTO in some capacity) gifted me, and my gf's other bf a set of these clasp knives. For 20 years this has lived in my pockets, packs and car-glove boxes.

I did some research recently, to try to work out just exactly where they come from, as I've had different people tell me different things over the years. I have a good friend who was an engineer in the Army Reserve, who called it a "sapper knife".

[edit: a different friend, with 2 years as active an ADF Engineer told me on the weekend he's never heard them called "sappers knives" and only ever referred to them as "clasp knives". Primary Source FTW]

My knife is marked SHELHAM 3099 AUSTRALIA and  STAINLESS STEEL MADE IN JAPAN. Other versions I've seen online are marked with the knife's NSN of 5110-66-013-1930. Since the 1980's, Shelham (Sheldon & Hammond) have supplied the Australian Military Forces with this 3 blade stainless steel clasp knife.

The broad blade with its sheepfoot pattern, with a long flat edge that I've always been able to keep very sharp is paired with a hefty and deep biting can-opener / bottle opener. No can of beans, paint or Nuka Cola is safe.
The back plays host to the large marlin spike, perfect for working rope and knots, as well as punching holes in things, and acting as a leaver. Generally excellent as a rope and cable worker, I've abused this spike with other chores, and it has survived admirably.

Some surface pitting and a slight bend to the tip of the spike is the only evidence of its hard life. The shackle at the end has kept it dummy-corded to pants for longer than I care to remember, and the only other significant wear and tear evident is some slight bending to the shackle and some dents to the screw-driver end that sits between the blade and can-opener.

This is an exceptionally simple, hardy and useful tool, especially for anyone who deals with rope and cord on a regular basis.

Review: Boker 343 scalpel folder

A while back I added a couple of new folders to my collection of pointies. Folding knives are easy to carry, easy to pack and easy to deploy. I've had little folders, from Swiss Army knives, to a more traditional liner lock pocket knife my cousin gave me and I lost in the deserts of the Arabian peninsula.

This delicate and swan-necked blade is the Boker 343, as far as I can tell, a little hard to tell for sure as it seems to be a discontinued line, although it is very similar to the current  Boker Urban Survival knife

This full gray titanium coated, 440C stainless steel blade features ambidextrous thumb bolts for ease of opening. The 5.6cm edge is straight and scalpel shaped, and only 1.9cm at its widest. The long straight edge makes for easy resharpening, although I haven't found I've needed to do much to keep it keen.  This is a paring knife, not a machete, that's for sure.

Featuring a pocket clip on one side, the textured aluminium alloy scales are well formed and fitted, sitting nicely in the hand.

The liner lock has a smooth finish, with little to no wobble to the blade when extended, or when sitting folded. The bolts holding the piece together are very neatly set, and tie the whole look together very nicely.

I liked the feel of the blade in the hand, and the scalpel like wield it offered. Again, this is a precision cutting tool, not a hacker, or slasher.

Slightly too big to fit easily in PALLS/MOLLE webbing, this blade does however sit very unobtrusively and nicely in the pen-slot of admin pockets. The biggest problem I have with it is the slightly awkward opening and closing arc the swan-neck affords when you engage the liner-lock.





For what it is, this is an elegant knife, and sits without drawing attention to itself in my day-bag, waiting for a time when I might need a cutting tool more suitable than the knife in my multitool.

Review: 5.11 Tactical - Tarani CUB Master 2.0 Karambit

I am always pleased to be able to provide my loved ones with some cherished pieces of kit. My partner Omega was delighted to add a NukoTool Skully keyring to her keys, and last giftmas I was able to procure this beauty for her purse. She has a penchant for back-swept blades, and I wanted to get her something she would enjoy.

This is the 5.11 Tactical CUB Master 2.0 (Combat Utility Blade) which is part of their Tarani line. There is really something to be said for the claw like lines of the Philipino karambit and its simple functionality, even for something of an exotic design to Western sensibilities.


I was impressed with both the slight weight, at about 150g (0.35lbs) and easy size in the hand. The blade itself is only 7cm (2.87") long, which opens with an ambidextrous skeltonized opening in the back of the blade. An interesting feature of this knife is that the deployment is fully adjustable, by adjusting the tension in a spring-bar which is accessible by removing the scales. This is facilitated by the included TORX wrench, which was a nice touch.

The same wrench can also be used to flip the pocket clip from side to side.

The scales are made of FRN (Fiberglass Reinforced Nylon) which is a more flexible yet durable alternative to the more common G10. The grip is textured with the 5.11 logo, as well as three circular finger tip dips.Crenelations on both the inside of the handle and back  of the blade allow further positive grip.

Equipped to enable both a blade up and blade down grip, the large reinforced retention ring typical of this type of blade, giving both pinkie or index finger grips. That ring allows both a retention, and lanyard attachment point as well as being a blunt impact tool.

The linear lock set into the back handle allows the return the S30V Crucible steel curved, scythe blade into its recess, and the clasp tension is directly related to the adjustable tensioner used for release of the blade. The short blade is not an issue given the particular style of use this kind of blade allows, and for the particular uses Omega uses it for.

The glare and corrosion eliminating Teflon finish of the blade only adds to its overall slick production. That evil claw of a blade makes up for lack of length with style and stealth.

As you can see, it works nicely as the backbone of an EDC tool-chain, with a WTF and Eat'n Tool on a baby carabiner on Omega's one.