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Ingenious Chinese Army shovel (video)
- JCThoughtscream 17y agoWhile multipurpose tools are always fun, how is the Chinese army shovel particularly noteworthy? I'm pretty sure you can get an almost identical model from, say, REI. Or the /US/ Army's surplus. ...actually, they likely all come from the same factory, huh?
- moconnor 17y agoI know it sounds plausible, but I've never seen one. Show me: http://www.rei.com/search?query=shovel&button.x=0&button.y=0 http://www.rei.com/search?query=shovel&button.x=0&bu...
- roel_v 17y agoThe thing is that these things are called 'entrenching tools', searching for that gives more results. See e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrenching_tool http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrenching_tool - the pictures there don't look like they have serrated edges to serve as a saw, but there are plenty on e.g. Ebay that do. I know I used to sell the folding model, with serrated edge, 15 years ago in the military surplus stored I worked at.
- gaius 17y agoDutch shovels, they're known as in the outdoorsy subcultures in the UK, probably because at one point some supplier like Millett's bought up a job lot of them from Dutch army surplus, and that's what everyone bought. For some reason olive oil in spray bottles is known as "Portuguese sunblock".
- reduxredacted 17y agoSeriously, though, you have to admit they thought of quite a bit more than just an entrenching tool . . . I mean, they at least deserve credit for offering it in "funny shade of orange" and fluorescent yellow. Though I did think the part where the guy used it as a shield seemed to be the least optimal for the situation at hand. Seems he could have used the blade more effectively, but then that would have made the scene a little less palatable for an infomercial.
- eonwe 17y agoWe had similar tool in finnish army. The only difference was that when used as a pick against frozen ground it quickly fell apart. I wonder how this fares against such a hard material.
- sdurkin 17y agoI agree. I have a US Army surplus entrenching tool in my basement right now, folding serrated edge and everything. My dad used to use it when my siblings and I were younger to dig holes at the beach. :) Ingenious design? Absolutely. Noteworthy Chinese super-shovel? Not really.
- mun411 17y agomy question is what can this shovel not do ?
- jonsen 17y agodigg
- MikeTaylor 17y agoTL;DW
- zach 17y agoAlso, you can use it to determine the height of a skyscraper.
- JoeAltmaier 17y agoDrop it off the top and time how long it takes to reach the ground!
- BoppreH 17y agoOr use it as a payment for the janitor if he tells you how high the building is!
- tokenadult 17y agoLower it on a string and measure the string.
- fleitz 17y agoLooks like a pretty standard multifunction shovel to me.
- ovi256 17y agoYup, most Eastern bloc armies have these or similar. Well, the one I saw, of the Romanian army, may not have had the bottle opener :) Or I may not have seen it among all those gadgets. FYI, they're also a close-quarters combat weapon, and were a favourite of assault engineers.
- mootothemax 17y agoI love the rousing music accompanying the video, it's like something from The Great Escape!
- gurtwo 17y agoIs that spam, at 4:55 ?
- flipbrad 17y ago<call a spade a spade joke>
- mapleoin 17y agoI see they're already preparing for WW IV. The Shovel War.
- joe24pack 17y agohow is this any different from any other army's entrenching tools? Yes there are a few extras added to it but it is not in any way more ingenious than what's already available elsewhere.
- mapleoin 17y agoWell, it looks like not many people were aware of these entrenching tools.
- juhgfghjklkjhg 17y agoNerds on hackernews not familiar with tools for digging infantry trenches! Hope nobody ever posts a fashion/haircare/style video.
- nroach 17y agoThe other armies' entrenching tools don't have a patriotic soundtrack.
- adolph 17y agoThe dudes in the video seem to maintain a high level of enthusiasm about it. I quickly grew tired of my e-tool so I have an appreciation for one that can make digging seem fun or worth doing for an extended time.
- tfh 17y agoThey forgot to show in the video that you could of course kill people with that shovel.
- JoeAltmaier 17y agoOr save them - use it as a splint on a broken leg!
- bediger 17y agoThat's what I thought when I saw the chopping and sawing parts. I seem to recall that in the Great War book "All Quiet on the Western Front", the author mentions that sharpened shovels get used as weapons extensively on the German side. The author makes some offhand comment about chopping deeply into someone's neck and chest with a sharpened spade or something.
- jarin 17y agoI am super scared of Chinese military now, because they can use their shovels to open cans of Spam. PROPAGANDA EFFECTIVE
- GiraffeNecktie 17y agoYou can buy similar tools on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.ca/New-Folding-Camp-Army-Shovel-Tool-Entrenching-/220593531774?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item335c662b7e#ht_4406wt_941 http://cgi.ebay.ca/New-Folding-Camp-Army-Shovel-Tool-Entrenc...
- reduxredacted 17y agoYeah, but that sort of looks like a cheep Canadian knock off. I don't think I've ever used that phrase in this context before.
- olefoo 17y agoIt slices, it dices, it opens cans, bottles and jars; but wait there's more; you can also use it as an axe, can your shovel do THIS, I don't think so! So call now, operators are standing by. Repeat above sentence with different features, repeatedly. Until someone buys every last shovel you have in stock.
- DanielBMarkham 17y agoEvery comment on this thread so far (20+) has said that this story is not noteworthy in some fashion or another -- and it has a lot of upvotes and is the top ten. ??
- stcredzero 17y agoMy theory: a 4chan group is starting to experiment with manipulating HN through reddit.
- DanielBMarkham 17y agoNeeds more cowbell EDIT: Sorry, that was bending the rules. I wasn't trying to be snarky. My point is that I think you are pulling my leg. If so, well done.
- bad_alloc 17y agoI see nothing new here because the German army used this in WW2 and possibly™ even sooner (they called it "Schanzspaten").
- mambodog 17y agoI love the video player they're using. Instead of 'scrubbing' over the video when you drag the playhead during playback (like most online video), it has something like the Red Book Audio CD 'search' algorithm; it plays a short sample over and over. Hilarity ensues.
- nfnaaron 17y agoPut a USB memory stick in it and I'll buy it.
- Jun8 17y agoDamn, the Chinese have invented everything! The compass, gunpowder, chopsticks, printing press and now this! Although, the fact that their inventiveness missed baking, opting instead to stir fry everything, is a point I bring up often with my Chinese colleagues during lunch.
- ekanes 17y agoThe shovel is pretty cool, but I kept on marveling at just how fast the soldiers work when a propaganda video is being made.
- sambeau 17y agoAre you absolutely sure that is not the same speed that the Chinese make iPods?
- ax0n 17y agoI have a few e-Tools too, but nothing like this. And the outdoorsman in me would really like one of these, versus the two anemic and subpar e-Tools I already own. So to all you guys who are like "oh yeah, just swing by REI" or "yeah I have one just like that" (yes, I'm hyperbolizing a tad) it'd be nice if you'd show us where we could get one that's more like this one and less like the ones you can buy for $50 at big retail sporting goods stores. kthx.