I must say that this Swiss shovel is far and above the best made and heaviest duty of all of the military folding shovels that I have ever seen! This baby is built TOUGH and is VERY heavy! The leather carrier-sheath is very heavy, full grained, oiled leather. Like all of the old Swiss military equipment, this shovel and carrier was built to last.............and last.........and last...............
The shovel (klappspaten), looks like it has never been used, even once, to dig in the ground! The paint on the shovel blade is as new as the day it was painted on. The adjusting nut is heavy metal, and the blade rivets and mount are VERY heavy duty. The handle is heavy oak with octagon flats around the gripping portion. I think this handle is the thickest and heaviest of all the other folding shovel handles that I've seen.
The blade is is set up to lock at a nice angle for use as a spade, and locks at at a 45 degree angle for use as a hoe-pick. When the blade is locked in the closed position, the handle is held out and away from the blade by several degrees, like the WW2 German shovels.
The blade has a very small stamp mark that looks like it is possibly a "F C" in an oval. Definitely a "C", but not sure about the first letter. I can find no date on the shovel.
The leather cover is stamp dated 1958, along with the manufacturer's stamp and the Swiss cross. The leather has a great patina and is in outstanding shape. It was a bit stiff from storage, but after a light coat of leather oil, it limbered right up.
I would highly recommend picking up one of these shovels while you still can! The very last of these shovels are quickly disappearing and they will be "rare" very shortly. The military's of the world will probably never make equipment that measure up to these old-world standards again..........
7 comments:
I've been trying to get my hands on one. They are expensive and difficult to find for less than $80 shipped. I have gotten my hands on a cover, which I may use on a German WWII shovel.
Do you know the exact weight of it?
This weighs in at 1.3 kg for shovel only. 1.6 kg with leather cover on the shovel.
I picked one of these up today minus he leather cover, I agree very heavy well made entrenching tool. The one I have is stamped gschwind on the left side of the shovel face. This is one of most sturdy entrenching tools I have ever seen.
Today I had the opportunity to buy another one with a leather cover and I'm sorry I did not.
Hello Ken! Glad to hear you found one these Swiss folders! They are amazing! I actually have a large Swiss pioneer shovel that I published a write up on here on the blog. It was made by the same company as your folder. You may want to check it out as I have quite a bit about the company that produced in the article.
You can type this in the blog search bar,or cut-n-paste the link below:
Swiss Army Pioneer Shovel
http://sharky-fourbees.blogspot.com/2016/08/swiss-army-pioneer-shovel-circa-1943.html
I have one it's a great piece of history its stamped 1962 gschwind and has original leather case also stamped I found mine by a dumpster of all places it is great and reliable made well soon they will be hard to find
Just found one at a yard sale! Definitely "FC" on blade... Holder reads "HESS & SOHN" SATTLEREI ALPNACHSTAD 58
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