I have an old *I think* German surplus entrenching tool from 1964. Think I picked it up at Cheaper Than Dirt before I officially boycotted them for mass idiocy.

I thought it might be interesting to compare it to it's full sized cousin. Common sense dictates that the larger shovel head, combined with a longer lever, will make the task of digging that much easier. The question was...how much easier.



Here are the combatants. Standard rack-grade spade from Home Depot on the left. Been in my arsenal for 7 or 8 years at least and has dug many a hole. On the right is the old-school entrenching tool. It comes in a leather case with buckles and sports a pretty standard maple type wooden handle. It has both a spade/shovel head and a pick portion as shown below.





The head pivots up/down around a spring loaded pin. The pin is partly round and partly square. The square portion locks the shovel. pick into position, the round allows it to move.

Pretty standard stuff.