- Editor's ChoiceCarbon steel construction, 2-pound, folding design, and military-style.
- Best Tactical ShovelStainless steel construction, 3.97-pound, 7 adjustable angels, compact, 28-in-1 luxury kit, and folding design.
- Best Folding ShovelCarbon steel construction, folding design, compact, portable, ergonomic design, rust-resistant, 18-degree shovel movement, and multi-tool equipment.
- Best Multifunctional Light Weight ToolCarbon stainless steel construction, 3.55-pound, 23-in-1 tool, 180-degree shovel movement, and lifetime warranty.
- Best Value for MoneyCarbon stainless steel construction, 3.55-pound, 23-in-1 tool, 180-degree shovel movement, and lifetime warranty.
Have you ever thought about buying the best tactical shovel and taking it outdoors on your next trip? Some people think you don’t need these survival shovels because there are other tools you can use pretty effectively.
But these survival shovels are handy as they have a sharp end with serrated edges. Some of these shovels might feature a straight blade on one side and a serrated edge on the other.
With different configurations, you can use this survival shovel multi-tool for chopping and sawing apart from digging. So, it comes in handy in various outdoor activities.
This guide will look at some of the best survival shovel options available on the market. Plus, we will learn how you can use them in various scenarios. Continue reading till the end!
Editor's Choice: RHINO USA Folding Survival Shovel
- Perfect for snow, mud, sand, digging dirt, beach, gardening, camping, off-road, and other outdoor sports.
- Also accessible in three styles folding, recovery, and survival shovel, so opt as you want
- The best lightweight construction shovel allows you to rotate its head at 90 degrees
- Comes with a lifetime warranty and provides excellent customer services
- Made with carbon steel that makes it durable, sturdy, and reliable
- Shovelheads only move at 90 degrees
The company uses heavy-duty black color carbon steel during its construction. This carbon steel makes it durable, strong, sturdy, and rust-resistant. An ergonomic design makes it ideal to use during multiple adventurous sports.
This is one of the best lightweight shovels you can use during off-road camping or hiking. The versatile design makes it suitable for all conditions; it doesn’t matter if you are going to snowy areas. It works perfectly in the snow, mud, and digging dirt.
The handle of this shovel is ergonomically designed to make the user comfortable. You can carry it for a longer time without feeling any kind of strain or pressure on your hand. It is perfect for digging sand, beach, gardening, camping, off-road trips, and other outdoor sports.
Tightening the joint can adjust its shovel head at 90 degrees. Finally, you can twist the joint to lock it securely. It comes with a storage bag that provides safe storage in your backpack. This is budget-efficient due to its folding design and sturdy construction.
The RHINO USA folding shovel is made with carbon steel, but the shovel head only rotates at 90 degrees. Many other options are available that move around 180 degrees. Moreover, this is not a multifunctional survival shovel; you can only use it for limited purposes. For a multipurpose shovel, you can pick from below.
Best Tactical Shovel: Zune Lotoo Survival Shovel
- A reliable shovel is ideal camping gear that helps you in many situations
- Lightweight but sturdy construction makes it a multifunction survival shovel
- Handle made with rubber that makes it anti-slip and ensures protection and safety
- Designed with broader joint and increased thickness for enhanced durability
- Its head comes with a single cast making it 100% unbreakable
- A little bit heavy to carry
Zune Lotoo survival shovel comes with a structural design that combines premium quality and multifunction functional tools. This multifunctional shovel fulfills all requirements from basic to saving people’s lives. Additionally, the company uses martensitic steel in its construction, which is suitable for toughness, and HRC for shovels.
The best feature of this shovel is that you can adjust its angle with only one hand. The fast adjustment is available from 0 to 150 degrees angle. Thus, it is the best tactical shovel in the most pressured condition. Anodized aluminum tubes are made with aerospace-grade, which verify lightweight, high-strength alloy, and outstanding finish.
A reliable shovel is the best survival shovel, ideal for camping, archaeology, rescue, metal detection, off-roading, and much more. This is because of Precision Foundry technology. It is also easy to carry, and its sturdy construction makes it ideal for all situations. The handle of this shovel is made from premium quality rubber that makes it anti-slip.
We were impressed with its longevity, strength, and durability. It also comes with a lifetime warranty. The virtually indestructible survival shovel is ideal for surviving in different scenarios.
Many people want camping gear, and the Zune Lotoo Survival Shovel is the best option. You must carry it with your other essentials, but a compact design always matters here. This shovel is a little bit heavier as compared to others.
Best Folding Shovel: OAKVUE Survival Shovel
The OAKVUE shovel is constructed with 3CR13 premium quality stainless steel. So, it doesn’t matter which weather you are using this shovel; it shows its durability even in harsh conditions. The company uses a combination of carbon and chromium, making it rust-resistant and ultra-strong.
If you love outdoor adventures, this is an awesome pick. Lightweight construction makes it a multifunctional tool and gives you a comfortable carry.
The OAKVUE shovel is one of the most versatile and practical shovels, so you can use it for offroad, hiking, camping, and other adventures. The best feature is that it has a folding design and an adjustable handle. So, you can adjust its head by adjusting its angle, and it can be used as a shovel, hoe, and hook.
If you are looking for the best surviving shovel with a complete tactical accessory, then the OAKVUE is an ideal option. Plenty of other shovels are available on the market, but they aren’t folding and come with a complete kit.
In our opinion, lightweight construction is the biggest drawback of this shovel. This is because it breaks when you use it on different surfaces. Although it is not unbreakable, many brands offer unbreakable shovels as well. This is a multifunction tool because of the included accessories. You can use a multi-tool knife, screw driver, fire starter, window breaker, and compass.
Best Multifunctional Light Weight Tool: FiveJoy Military Folding Shovel
- Compact and folding design makes it easy to break down into parts for separate usage
- Heavy-duty and military road construction makes it sturdy and reliable
- Equipped with an all-in-one tool for making your outdoor adventures more valuable
- An ergonomic design makes it comfortable for hiking, camping, etc.
- Virtually indestructible for lifetime durability and maximum strength
- A flimsy construction shovel comes in a small size
FiveJoy Military shovel is one of the best tools that comes with a folding design. The company uses a combination of high-carbon steel and aerospace-grade aluminum.
This shovel comes with a heavy-duty shovel, paracord, hammer, serrated saw edge, and sharp. These tools cover all requirements of outdoor adventure. Conveniently, dig trenches with multifunctional tools, a rescue hidden knife and saw fire starter, bottle opener, emergency whistle, and more.
Looking for the best survival shovel multi-tool, the FiveJoy folding shovel is an outstanding pick. You can confidently use it for recreational gardening, backcountry hiking, and other adventurous sports. Additionally, the handle of this shove is made from aluminum and covered with a foam cushion. This construction makes the handle water-resistant, sip-proof, and quick to dry.
Few shovels available are an all-in-one solution or multi-tool surviving shovels. But, the FiveJoy Military shovel is one of them. You can break it down, giving you multiple tools, including a bottle opener, knife, hammer, and more. Others are offering separate means that you can attach with the shovel.
This is one of the best lightweight, compact, folding, and multi-tool shovels, but the shovel head is a little smaller and takes much time to do its task. Breaking down into multi-tools is also difficult for beginners. On the other hand, the folding design and case bag impress us very much, making the storage convenient.
Best Value for Money: Sahara Sailor Survival Shovel
- Military-grade carbon steel with aluminum tubes make it sturdy
- Folding and expanding features ensure secure caring and storage
- Tactical shovel is ideal for gardening, traveling, hunting, car emergency, and other outdoor survival
- Covers a lifetime warranty and gives peace of mind
- An ultimate multifunctional shovel allows you to do more than 23 functions with this gear
- Heavier and joints become loose quickly
This surviving shovel is made with solid military-grade steel and aerospace-grade aluminum tubes. This combination of materials makes it enough to study surviving activities. Additionally, the company uses a silver color to finish it and make it rust-resistant.
Looking for the best value for money shovel, the Sahara Sailor tactical shovel is a brilliant pick for you. Due to its 23-in-1 multifunctional features, this is the best equipment. It includes a shovel, 4-size wrench, screwdriver, hammer, fish scaler, knife, whistle, cleaver, bottle opener, saws, and hoe.
This tactical and survival shovel is suitable for car emergencies, expeditions, traveling, hunting, backpacking, gardening, hiking, camping, and other outdoor survival. Furthermore, the company gives you a limited lifetime warranty that gives you peace of mind.
In our opinion, a folding and twisting lock for expended makes it unique compared to others. In addition, this secure lock ensures secure carrying as well as storage. The good thing is that a reliable carrying storage bag also comes with your purchase, and you don’t need to purchase it separately.
Some beginners complain that it is a heavyweight shovel but suitable for others. Furthermore, joints for using it as another gear or tool become loose quickly. So, you have to tighten them again and again. Apart from that, this shovel ensures safe and secure camping.
Buying Guide
Now choosing the best survival shovel is not that easy as the market is flooded with multiple options. You must understand your needs and look for the right products or waste money.
This buying guide section will help you out in making the right choice. And later on, we’ll answer some of the most frequently asked questions by consumers when looking for the best tactical shovel for your convenience.
Features to Consider Before Buying a Survival Shovel
You must consider some important features when looking for the best survival shovel. There are so many options available to the market, but not every shovel is the right one for every scenario.
So, you must look for the right option for your needs and requirements. And in this guide, we will look at some of the features you should keep in mind when looking for the best option.
Shovel Head
Shovel heads can have different styles and designs, depending on what they are meant for. Still, most of them will be pretty much similar. Some will come with a serrated edge, while others will have a sharp point and a straight edge.
The sharpened straight edge is for cutting, a serrated edge is for sawing, and a sharp point is for digging purposes. Some will also come with a hook on their back corners.
But most importantly, these heads must be made of high-quality materials like the one by Rhino USA. So, one of the most suitable options here is high-carbon steel or something similar.
Shovel Handle
You need to look for a survival shovel with a stable grip. A stable grip is important because these survival shovels come with short handles. You will have to bend over to use them for digging.
Their head is smaller than the conventional shovel heads as well. So, you need to go for a handle that offers an excellent grip. You don’t want your hands to get injured while working with your shovel in the middle of a critical dig.
There are primarily three types of shovel handle you can choose from,
Steel
It is a good option if you are looking for a shovel handle because it is robust and long-lasting. But make sure to choose an anti-skid one, or you won’t be able to get any leverage.
Polymer
Some handles are made with polymer handles that are pretty lightweight and durable to use. This handle is also pretty sturdy but is also more expensive.
Wood
If you choose a wood handle on any survival shovels, it is better to leave it because it can snap or splinter, and we don’t see this type of handle mostly on these survival shovels.
Mobility
These survival shovels need to have a compact construction with a lightweight design. You need to consider three primary factors for any survival tool or kit. It needs to have an ideal weight, size, and usability.
Anything you pack should be effective and efficient, but it should also have a lightweight and compact design like the one by Oakvue. And similar is the case with survival shovels. Any additional square inch or grams on your shovels will take up more space than you could have used for the rest of the gear.
Multi-Tools vs. Dedicated Shovels
It’s time to talk about whether you should consider going for a dedicated shovel or a multi-tool. You have to determine whether you need to go for all the bells and whistles like the one by Zune Lotoo, or you just want to go for a more practical and durable option.
But a better choice would always be a multi-tool because you can bypass many other purchases each time you need one. And the good thing is that they are pretty durable, and their prices are not that high either.
Some of these tools include the likes of a knife, firestarter, wrench, whistle, screwdriver, compass, saw, bottle opener, and ice pick.
All these tools are commonly available in survival shovels. But you will have to spend more time setting them up, and they also don’t have the same compact portability that a regular shovel offers.
Buying a multi-tool is complicated, and more things can go wrong with such a tool. Therefore, a more straightforward option is better. On the other hand, a multi-tool has more threads, and some more screws and areas can break with such a tool. Therefore, a dedicated shovel is a better option.
FAQ
Why is a shovel important for survival?
A survival shovel is sometimes questioned for its usability and functions, whether required or not. But there are two primary reasons you shouldn’t buy a traditional shovel.
A survival shovel is a good option for a survival scenario; we need the best tools for such a situation. When it is a life-or-death situation out there, you always need to have a shovel that you can thoroughly rely on.
You can conveniently use these survival shovels to saw trees of firewood and can even scale fish for cooking. These shovels can allow you to chop vegetables.
Moreover, you can use your survival shovel as a combat weapon to defend yourself if you find yourself in an unfriendly territory. Furthermore, you won’t have to carry much stuff with you when you have such a multipurpose tool.
Do you need a shovel for backpacking?
You can also choose a shovel for backpacking as it is lightweight and compact. It will enable you to opt-out of multiple other tools because they all come in your shovel.
That is why you won’t have to carry much stuff in your backpack and can pack light while keeping the overall weight low and without missing out on anything.
Going for a shovel is a good option for backpacking or hiking because it is lightweight and compact. You won’t have to pack anything else with it, especially the tools it already has integrated into its design. It is due to the versatile design of this survival shovel, and it works pretty well for backpacking and various other purposes associated with the outdoors.
How do you use a survival shovel?
There are various ways to use your survival shovel. You will be able to carry your survival shovel long distances as they are pretty lightweight.
Moreover, you can dig large holes for shelters and trenches with the help of your survival shovel. You will need a survival shovel with a sharp blade end that allows you to cut through thick roots pretty conveniently.
Our Verdict
The best survival shovel available on the market today and our Editor’s Choice is the one by Rhino USA. It comes with a folding design featuring a pick. It is made of heavy-duty carbon steel and is an ideal option for camping, gardening, and digging in snow, mud, dirt, or sand.
The runner-up is the Zune Lotoo, a 28-in-1 premium quality kit that is a top choice for tactical camping. It is made of unbreakable martensitic steel that has 7 different angles and works great for outdoor hiking and in case of emergency.
Another option you can consider is the survival shovel from Oakvue. This one comes out of its carrying pouch and is a 180-degree folding shovel made of high carbon steel. Thanks to its lightweight construction and design, it is a pretty good option for backpacking and hiking.