Friday Videos — The Swiss Army Knife is Dead

By | April 30, 2010
2 Comments

Long live the Chinese Army shovel. You have to see this thing to believe it. Just keep watching.

I don’t which is cooler, that you can use it essentially to become Batman, or that you can use it to make dozens of julienne fries — just like that! When will we see the infomercial?

  • vv111y

    Phil!
    These kinds of shovels have been in the US army since at least the vietnam war, except for the wire cutter, I haven’t seen that feature. You can buy lots of different kinds on ebay, new and old.
    You’ll find some at outdoor stores, but they may not have all the little features on the pivot area.
    You’re off by about 50 years, or more.

  • https://blog.speculist.com Phil Bowermaster

    Thanks for setting me straight. It’s not surprising that these have been around for a while — all the technology is 19th century, I think.

    It’s interesting to note that the shovel is probably not optimal for any of the tasks shown. A real knife is easier to cut with than a sharp shovel blade, a real hammer is easier to use than pounding nails with a shovel, a real pair of sheers is a lot easier to move around with than a shovel, etc. But to have one tool that does all that — genius.

    This concentration of capability is a good example of what we discussed on the most recent podcast. This thing is like an early implementation of utility fog!

    Also, you just have to love the slicing potatoes and the rousing background music.