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Review: Torxe “Tactical Shovel”

2K views 10 replies 4 participants last post by  Blind_Io 
#1 ·
I’m posting this in here instead of the review forum since it’s not an actual vehicle accessory. I’ll break it down into several sections so I can review each part individually.

First is the carrying case. The exterior seems durable enough, although the dividers inside are a weak point. It’s super thin material that I can see tearing away from the case after some abuse. If you’re hard on gear, I’d wager this will happen. If it’s not beat up too bad, it’ll probably last a while.

The case comes with a detachable strap so you can give it the ole purse carry if you’d like. I just left it detached in the case in the event I need to carry it for a while. It’s not super light, so the strap could come in handy.

Overall, the case is good for the price.
 

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#2 · (Edited)
Next up is the spade. The 37 inch version, which is what I bought, has 3 digging “blades.” They’re not sharp, but angled to help cut through the ground as you drive it in. The other end (near the locking mechanism) is curled/bent, like any other shovel so you can slam it into the ground with your foot to get a good, deep cut.

Not much to say really, it digs holes. It can be rotated 45 degrees and locked into place, like a military e-tool as well.
 

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#4 · (Edited)
The last section of the handle comes with a glass breaker. Unscrew that from the handle, and attached to the other side is a striker for fire starting, and a whistle. My whistle didn’t work, so bummed. The striker works just fine though. I used the axe portion of the spade to spark the striker which worked great and threw a good pile of sparks on the ground.
 

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#6 · (Edited)
The knife/spear point was sharp. It can be screwed into the handle after the glass breaker is removed, or you can attach it to any of the handle sections for multiple uses, such as a knife or spear.

As I said, it’s sharp. It’s not something I’d use though. Reason being that the blade is fastened to the threaded end with a free spinning Phillips head screw. It kinda wobbled around and wasn’t sturdy. I may have received a defective knife point, but this was the part I liked the least out of the whole combo tool.
 

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#7 ·
Lastly, the locking mechanism. It’s durable, there’s no disputing that. I’d feel comfortable using it as a hammer (limited use of course because it’s not a hammer haha). It did loosen a bit after some smacking against the ground and while using it to chop some tree branches off my trees. Admittedly, my left thumb is shattered so I was unable to torque the hell out of it to get it super tight. Could only use my other fingers, which probably looked goofy to my neighbors. Then again, I was attacking my trees with a friggin tactical shovel so my goofy meter was pegged anyway.

Pics are coming
 
#8 · (Edited)
Overall, it’s an impressive multi tool. I can see it lasting for a long time. It’s mostly well made and the important stuff works. I wouldn’t get rid of a full size shovel, axe, or saw, but it’s going to be a great backup. I’d say if you don’t already carry full size tools, it’ll work just fine, but it doesn’t replace them. At 40 bucks, it’s well worth it. I also had a couple buddies play around with it and they too were impressed.

@Carid, just one dude’s opinion, I’d change the word “tactical” to practical for this thing. Or put “off road” in the name somewhere. There isn’t enough Velcro for this to be tactical :grin:
 
#10 · (Edited)
Decent review. For a first off tool might be decent enough; but sounds like there is room for improvement.
When you're healed, do a few videos so we can see it in action.

And don't say Velcro.

:D
So what do we call the stuff that is more plastic in nature and both sides are mushroomed top rigid pins that interlock like Velcro fasteners but are not velcro?

and, @XKNUT, I raise you a short animation about YKK Zippers
 
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