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The importance of a survival shovel multi-tool should not be overlooked and the Evatac Tactical Shovel is no exception. If only from the standpoint of sanitation you need to have some way to bury your waste.
Of course, carrying the average entrencher tool might not be for you. It might also be low on your list of items to buy for your pack. If that’s the case you are going to want to look for something that gives you a little more bang for your buck.
The Evatac Tactical Shovel is an impressive collection of different, but very helpful tools that will be critical for your survival plans. This multi-tool brings a lot more than simple shoveling capabilities to the battle for survival. In fact, this is a 15 in 1 tool!
- Shovel
- Axe
- Saw
- 2 x Hex
- Bottle Opener
- Can Opener
- Hoe
- Blade
- Mini Saw
- Magnesium Fire Starter Rod
- 120db Emergency Whistle
- Compass
- Flat Head Screwdriver
- Philips Head Screwdriver
- 440 Stainless Steel Shovel Head
- Aircraft Grade aluminum shaft and fittings
Uses for the Evatac Tactical Shovel
There is only so much room for you to store gear in your bag. What do you consider essential gear?
Not to be too disgusting, you better have some way to bury your waste or you are not only going to have trouble not being tracked, in a less apocalyptic situation you are not going to be able to dig catholes in the backcountry.
That means you will not be able to really camp anywhere that other people go. It’s against the rules.
Aside from the issues of human waste a shovel can be used for all sorts of survival uses:
- Creating a Dakota fire hole
- Creating a coal bed
- Hiding caches or digging them up
- Digging a fire pit
- Creating and setting traps
To name a few.
Evatac Tactical Shovel as a Multi-Tool
The Evatac Tactical Shovel is a very interesting multi-tool. What you have, in its base form, is a powerful steep spade that is built like any other backpack shovel or military shovel with an anodized aluminum handle.
This survival shovel also comes with a small pack of tools and extensions that allow you to saw, navigate, start a fire, and even some multi-tool options. I’ll get into the details of these below.
By unscrewing and adding the extensions you can get the Evatac about as long as a smaller backyard shovel. This turns the Evatac into a totally different kind of tool. Now you can carry out greater digging tasks and it’s easier on your back.
It’s important to consider a shovel in your loadout as you can have a real tough time finding an implement out in the woods that can do what your shovel does. At the end of the day, we only have so much room in our packs so this is going to be something we need to think about.
There are people out there who swear by carrying a shovel and there are those who don’t. If you do, the Evatac will definitely be up your alley.
Now, I will be honest, I am typically not a big fan of these survival multi-taskers. They tend to be cheap and the solutions that they offer can be less than 100%. That is something I cannot live with.
That said, I was very impressed with what was added to this survival tool. While simple things like bottle openers and button compasses are part of the Evatac, there are also more complex and important tools that make up this survival staple.
What Makes the Evatac Tactical Shovel Stand Out?
We are going to explore four of its strongest features below just to give you an idea of what this survival shovel is capable of.
Strong Steel Spade
The 440 stainless steel spade is going to conquer any of the digging tasks that you put in front of it. Having this reliable shovel offers you the ability to manage a number of things like sanitation, shelter, and even trap making. These are all important parts of the survival process.
Creating a dugout trap is a great way to get a big meal in a survival situation. Good luck digging a hole big enough without a shovel. You might even be worse off if you get halfway thru and your shovel fails. Then you will have expended all those calories for nothing.
Blade Redundancy
The Evatac Tactical Shovel also features a set of sharpened edges and serrated edges on the spade itself. Aside from that, there is also a blade attachment that is housed within the handle of the shovel. This can be easily accessed and offers a straight blade as well as a serrated blade.
In survival, you can never have too many edges or too many blades. While these will not stand up to your survival knife, they may be blades that you don’t mind sacrificing the edge on for other tasks.
Fire Redundancy
Another interesting attachment inside the housing of the shovel’s handle is a ferro rod. I can never have enough ferro rods.
I want to have something that showers sparks in every pocket! When it comes to starting a fire I think as a special operations soldier, I never want a fair fight. I want a fire as fast and as easy as I can.
Extendable Handle
This shovel can exist in the dimensions that most military entrenching tools do. It also comes with attachments that really build this tool out to its full capacity.
The handle at full length is over 2 ft and really changes the way you think about a shovel that can be packed in your kit.
There is an added pouch that you will need to carry to break the shovel down. That might be a big deal to you and if that’s the case, the shovel works well without the additional leverage.
Still, it’s a small pouch and it gives you the option to create multiple tools or just build out the Evatac to its full potential.
Evatac Tactical Shovel Hidden Tools
After field-testing the Evatac as a survival shovel I decided to test the hidden tools one by one. What I found is that they are all comparable to something in your own kit. I was very surprised.
The ferro rod is large, has a great handle, and shoots quality sparks.
The button compass reads true, the knives are very effective and could make quick work of anything that you might use your survival knife for, outside of splitting small firewood.
The whistle was actually one of the best whistles I have ever used.
The hex’s are all made out of 440 steel so they are going to work well.
I never found the Philips head screwdriver. I think it might be on the opposite side of the cutting tool. That was the only place I didn’t check.
Beyond that, the only gripe I really have about the Evatac is the fact that we are dealing with a relatively thin, aircraft-grade, aluminum handle.
While stress testing it in the woods didn’t seem to affect the handle much, I couldn’t help but wonder what something like a week in the woods, with this as one of the tools you relied on heavily, might do to that handle.
Conclusion
The Evatac Tactical Shovel is a great starter product for preppers who are just getting into the game. It allows you to check several things off your list in one shot. It’s small and doesn’t take up much space. For the avid adventurer, I think the Evatac shines by adding redundancy to some very important categories in the world of survival.
Full disclosure: We were provided with a free product in return for our honest and unbiased review. All opinions expressed regarding this product are our own and have not been influenced in any way.
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