Gerber Gorge Folding Shovel - Outdoor

Good one. Nice build product.

Proved to be very handy & effective during my recent camping trip to Rajasthan. A must have in the list of camping gear.

I bought this because I wanted something a little like a shovel I had in the military but with recent technology and design. To be honest, it could be better. Whilst it feels quite sturdy initially, I think some of the components will wear relatively quickly when stressed on hard ground. I've knocked only half a star off for this because for my purposes of wild camping, I carry it only for light work and latrine duty so it's not getting hammered digging large holes. If you're looking for a more substantial digging tool then don't go for a folding one....go for a draper short handled spade. The weakness on this shovel is the pivot point and the plastic nut that secures it....not the shovel head.That said, this packs up small (but kinda heavy), so fits easily in the side pocket of my bergen, does a simple job relatively well and with light/medium use is well worth the money I paid.A quick and easy 'mod' to this shovel is to get one side of it sharpened..... then the weight of it becomes an advantage and it can be used as both a shovel and a hatchet.

Ideal size for either digging a personnal field latrine, Metal detecting (digging up buried treasure) and as an emergency hand shovel. It has the added advantge of a small hammer head for knocking in tent pegs etc. The strong pouch prevent damage to the inside of car boots etc. The 'blade' is strong and rigid and could be sharpened but this is generally not neccessary. Just use lubrication/water repellant spray (WD40 etc.) to insure that the fixing note is easy to operate and does not stick and remember to clean afteruse. The paint is relatively chip resistant. Not sure what the glass-filled handle actually does.The shovel is not the lightest on the macket but it is strong. UPDATE (may 2015) been using for a while now and ideal for making a 'fire-pit' i.e. removing the top 2-3 inches of turf, surrounding the edge with stones/rocks (ideally igneous - to prevent risk of exploding if they full into the fire) and replacing turf when you leave remembering to mix the ashes into the soil and cover with water to insure that the replace turf survives.

I bought this shovel to keep in my box of handy knick-knacks for Scout camp. Intended for digging out firepits, de-turfing the ground for open fires, and potentially burying unwanted 'waste' when away from civilization. It isn't the lightest shovel, and it never really matched my idea of what Gerber quality actually was.It was irrevocably damaged during one of the first camps by a couple of small Scouts in digging ashes out of an old fire-pit, so proved to me that it really wasn't tough enough.

The Gerber folding shovel is ideal to keep in the car during winter months when travelling in areas prone to snowfall. It'll help get you to dig out around wheels ext out but you may want something bigger to move large amounts of snow as this is very small (about the size of my spread out hand). It packs away nice and compact so takes up little room in my car organiser. It's well made and sturdy and easy to deploy from folded, it can be used as a hammer too.

Bought this for £22 because it was supposed to be much betterc and sturdier than the lat cheep one I bought. It's very heavy but I accepted that as it's supposed to be heavy duty. Today I used it for the 3rd tine and the shovel he'd snapped off.