Cold SteelSpecial Forces Shovel, Hardwood Handle

This is the kind of thing you buy twice. In my case, I saved some time on my part and bought two for some strange reason. But anyway, despite being thoroughly canvassed by others as a multi tool, I cannot help but rhapsodize about its uses as well. It came out of the box sharp, though scuffed a bit and a little ragged on the edges. But man, or woman, those steely edges are strong! I immediately hopped away from the scene of opening with my new shovels, and started digging happily at the ice and snow on our patio, when I struck stone. And while the stone was damaged, to say the least, I slit my skin on the edge, though not hard enough to draw blood. I then went over to our local bamboo grove and started hammering at a fallen stand of bamboo. Boy is it loud, but man, does it work! I would suggest any special forces commandos out there, to purchase it, but not for covert operations, because loud noises tend to attract enemy fire, so I am told, though I could be wrong... anyway, this baby, or babies in my case, can be used for anything, virtually anything. The steel will fulfill all but your wildest destructive or constructive fantasies (in other words, no trying to split diamond). I would recommend getting a shovel blade bag for it, because the edges are factory sharpened to be relatively keen. Beware, though, this most likely qualifies as a weapon in the eyes of law enforcement, my dear mother will not let me leave the house with it even though I am a nearly full grown nineteen year old, and despite what my preceding reviewers said, it would probably be bad if you were caught with a razor edged shovel in your possession without a weapons license of some kind. So, be warned, this is more functional as an all around machete than as a shovel, though I admit it does dig well. If you are buying it because you want to dig holes, I recommend the inteletool system on amazon. If you are buying it because it looks, smells, and feels like it would beat the zombie apocalypse back single handled-ly, than this is well worth your money. Sturdily built, expertly tempered, rather inexpertly sharpened, this tool will nonetheless make you feel like a genuine one man army, if only for a moment before reality sets in. Just remember, once again, this kind of entrenching tool was used to decapitate the enemy in the army, use great caution when swinging it around people, because harmless, this tool is not. EDIT: I just chopped a fair sized branch in half with one of my two shovels, and it is a more than decent chopper. I spend every day honing the edges on one my shovels, so it works with a vengeance. But, in the end, a good kukri will still outdo the cold steel shovel in chopping, unfortunately. But a kukri cannot dig well, and a kukri can't slice like this shovel can. Peace.

Yes indeedy, this shovel will dig holes, clear brush and decapitate zombies like a champ. I have one in my truck, one in my wife's car, and one in the goat house (shovels, not zombies).The one in the goat house gets the most use.I use deep litter in the goats' loafing pen; a mixture of pine shavings and peat moss (which helps to neutralize the ammonia in the goat pee). The Cold Steel Special Forces Shovel is the right size, shape, weight and balance to dig out the pee spots one-handed and scoop them onto the aluminum grain scoop barn shovel that I wield like a big dustpan, and thence into the wheelbarrow and out to the compost heap.Then I use the Special Forces Shovel to slice open the peat moss and pine shavings packages to put down fresh litter.As other reviewers mention, the glossy urethane varnish on the handles can be slippery in wet hands. I stripped the factory varnish and refinished them with boiled linseed oil, which gives more of an old school non-slip matte finish.Check the sharpened edges for grinding burrs; have had to take a file and touch up the edges on all of these shovels.Made sheaths out of cardboard and duct tape for the vehicle and bug out bag shovels. The Goat house shovel hangs unsheathed on the tool rack in the goat house.Also, be advised that the uncoated, sharpened edges of the carbon steel shovel blade WILL rust, especially when exposed to ammoniated bedding litter and humid Mount Goatmore Texas summertime weather. Not a problem and no surprise, just be advised. That said, I use the goat barn shovel every day. It's one of the most useful barn tools I have.UPDATE 03JUL15 - just bought two more which arrived today.UPDATE 22OCT15 - Texas-sized moles (they're not quite as large as a bunny rabbit, but they are darn big and dig tunnels that tear up the lawn something fierce, and then when it rains they wash through, and it's like watching a time-lapse animation of the Colorado River carving the Grand Canyon)) are one of the many banes of my good lady wife's existence. You can actually see the ground heave and crack when they tunnel, so you get a pretty good idea of where they are. The CSSFS is my wife's new implement of choice for mole dispatchage - she's got four to the cat's three (moles, not shovels).