To you it may look like a clever folding shovel that can have either a short handle or a long handle, but this one was designed and tested in ’Straya! Not only that, but the company that makes it, Extreme Outback, makes stuff that’s so tough its products have NATO stock numbers and are used by the armed forces. They’re put to work in wastelands like Uganda, Indonesia, Iceland, The Falkland Islands and Fitzroy.
The three-piece outfit features a multicore, steel-reinforced fibreglass shaft (giggle), and when the job requires only a spade, the D-handle’s steel threads screw directly into the 193mm heat-treated blade section.
If you’re in a hole, or need to be in one fast, this is the equipment you want to have working for you. We were gutted when we couldn’t find any Australian stores stocking the top little digger, but that’s the sad truth. It looks like the only way to get one into The Land Of Sweeping Plains is to log on to extremeoutback.com and stump up US$129.95. Even then Extreme Outback wants the buyer’s address so it can send a unique quote for international shipping.
Here’s a unique quote for Extreme Outback: ‘Send us one, you bastards!’