Best Survival Tool: OPMOD Survival Shovel

having the right tools can be vital. And it seems like at those times, it's hard to put everything together. One of the things I came across just recently was this OPMOD survival shovel. It's 21 tools together in this shovel. It's really high quality made. And really, I was kind of surprised when I found it. It was on Optics Planet. I was just looking through some optics and this just happened to come up on the page. And so I immediately after looking at it and watching a couple of their videos, this is a great little shovel. In fact, it exceeded my expectations. We can go from a nice compact carry case that unpacks to all the tools you see here and it expands out to a full length shovel. This has gotta be one of the most high quality multi-purpose tools that I've seen for survival. We're gonna go through and take a look at each one, but this is everything that's laid out and it all goes in that pack. Starts out with a shovel. This has a cover on it that is multi-cam. The tubing is a high grade aluminum. It's very strong, has good thick walls, knurling right here where you can grab hold of it. But the shovel itself is really good in quality. I mean, you can tell this thing is super sturdy and you can bring it out, use it as a hoe, pull down, extend it as a shovel, as a chopping tool, as a hatchet. It has an edge all the way up through here and all the way around the top. And then we have a saw all along this one side. And then we have a four inch ruler that's marked all along this edge. I'm not sure if you can see it, but it's laser engraved into the shovel. The lockup's incredible. Pull down, you can lock it. There are these posts here and here and this really holds together with the shovel. You can see it just locks it down. Release it. You don't have to worry about this thing coming loose. In this position, it's loose until you pull it around and then it locks on that flat surface. There's a place to get a good foothold when you're using it as a shovel as well. It's not an ax, but it sure can cut. And in an emergency situation, if this is all you got, you could do the job. Now that wasn't easy, but you can do it. A self-defense tool, even an old pumpkin head here. Now I've got a cyclops for my jack-o'-lantern. Now I can use it to pick up this pumpkin and feed it to the deer. And deer we have. Of course, a shovel can be used as a weapon. You can actually use this as a standalone piece. Just bring in your end cap, lock it down, and now you've got a real small portable shovel. They do sell this on the Optics Planet website as a standalone. The knurling's tight, it's well done, but they also offer two of these neoprene covers for comfort. The first piece, you have a removable screwdriver and it has flathead and Phillips head. It just snaps right into the end cap right here. Then you can just screw it onto your shovel head. Good solid threads. Next, we have an awl or an ice pick. This can be used for a number of different things. It's also inserted in with threads and it's removable. When you're gonna pack this, you'll need to remove this and you can put it in your pouch. Of course, it comes and slides right over as well. Now, on the last piece, it comes and it flares out. That gives you better gripping. Also, again, with your checkering. And then we have a saw blade and a knife blade and we have a pry bar and we have a bottle opener. And all this fits on here. Now, this is not removable. Not bad for feathering. Typically, I get my thumb behind it, but with the saw, I can't. But it gives me a good enough hold with this grip where I can do it and it cuts really well. And this is perfect for fire tender. And each section has a silicone gasket past the threads and this gives it a really nice fit. Again, it does just slide right into, screws right into place. But the end cap, not only does it have a hank of paracord on the end and it's a pretty decent length, it also has a fire steel. Get that Vaseline and cotton ball going and it won't be long, you've got a fire. And you can put that inside the handle of your shovel. Back in it goes. And inside that fire steel is a whistle. That's pretty loud. Got it handy when you need it. Now, there are two separate options for the end cap. For standard use, you have this one that we showed a minute ago with the fire steel and the whistle and then the paracord. But you can take their flashlight and this has a really nice flashlight. You just press a little bit and it goes to low. You press again, it goes to strobe. Press again and it goes to an emergency signal. But the light is really bright. We're gonna go straight to the bright. It's a very focused beam. You can set that at the end and lock that down. Now, there are a number of accessories with the flashlight. And before we get started, I wanna show you the battery. It's an 18650 rechargeable battery. And these are pretty common. These are great. I have these in a lot of my flashlights that fit the CR123. If it's two CR123s, it'll fit this. And I'm sure that you can place two CR123s in here. Threading solid has a black gasket. You also get a standard work light, which will thread onto the end of the flashlight. And this gives you a much more diffused light. With the shovel in the ground, you can use this. And of course, we can go to all the different modes. The modes are super easy. You just tap and it'll go through the different modes. Or we can go with the red, which is more of an emergency beacon light. And also you can see better for night vision. So you could use this in a night vision type dark situation or we can go with strobe and we can go with the beacon. And with the shovel in the ground, again, this is great to set it up and you're able to signal if you're in trouble. Take our flashlight and just put it on the end. Gives us a lot of light in a big area. Or we can take our red lens, put it over it, and we can signal. That's pretty cool. The bezel is crinulated. So this can be used as a self-defense tool. It does have a mineral glass lens. There's a hole cut in it and then you have the LED. But the body of the light, you can see, made of the same material as the shovel and with the checkering that goes right here, the texturing. And then of course you've got your paracord. You can hold it. And the end is magnetized. So that way you can put it to a metal object to be able to see at night. Now here on the side, there's a little port. And you pull that little cap off. You have your USB cable that just plugs right in and it has a USB charging port. That way you can charge the light without taking out your battery. And then we have another accessory where you can plug it in. And then you can actually charge your phone directly to this. And there's a small light to know where it is. You can see the light when I cover that with my hand. So as long as you have your charging cable, you can hook it right up to this and it'll feed off of the battery. And then last but not least, there's a small wall charger plus you've got a car charger. So you can slip this into a cigarette lighter. And you can, I mean, this is just really cool. And then you can put your USB cable right here. Whoever designed this, they put a lot of thought into this item. I mean, this is incredible. There's about a 25 foot length of paracord. You have a small chainsaw that you can use to cut wood if you need to. And it goes in this small little pouch. And then we have a length of surgical tubing that can be used for a number of different survival situations. It was a little two inch sapling, not too bad. My fingers aren't about to fall off either, which is a real chore for these little rings. But just adjusting my grip and able to cut right through it. The pouch itself is worth noting. It's a really nice sturdy pouch. Of course, with the two compartments, you have a hook and loop field. If you want to put some kind of patch on here. There's MOLLE webbing all along the sides, paracord pulls on the zippers. You have D-rings and then you have these swivels for your shoulder strap. And it's a decent wide shoulder strap. Of course, it's fully adjustable. Here on the back, you have a small little loop. You could actually put this on a belt. But a good solid little kit. And everything packs up in here really well. I have everything laid out. There's extra room for different items like your cones and your paracord and all the electronics. And then in the back compartment, your shovel and of course two of your post. So there's also a small little rubber piece that fits over your saw to keep it from damaging anything. And the kit, as you see it, is five and a half pounds. It's three inches thick, it's seven inches wide and it's 10 inches tall. On the OpticsPlanet website, the price on the OPMOD Emergency Shovel is 179.99. You know, that could be, seem like a lot of money. But when you put all of these different features together, I really felt like it was a great deal. Everything's well-made, very high construction. You can get just the shovel in one length of tubing and it runs 48.99, I believe. And that has a lot less features, but still I think that would be a very useful tool as well. And this little carrying case surprised me at how well it's constructed. So it really makes a great compact package and something you could really carry with you on the go. And I wanna thank OpticsPlanet for sending the OPMOD Shovel for the review. This has really exceeded my expectations, guys. I know it's 178.99, but honestly, it's well worth it. I mean, it is a solid built tool and so many different features. I know I said a number of times 21 tools, it's actually 20 tools in one package. But go to OpticsPlanet, they'll give you a 5% discount using Sooch00 at checkout. I'll have all the links down in the description, makes it really easy. Be strong, be of good courage. God bless America. Long live the Republic. In an emergency sit... And it expands out to this, and it can, plus there's more paracord. Now there's an extra, and then you have a length of surgical tubing. Pah, pah, pah. Wah, wah, wah. To keep in your shop or your pack. Even to go out. Next time you complain about your job, just be thankful you're not Rubber Dummy.