Home » Outdoor Gear Reviews » Other Suff » Garant Collapsable Shovel

Garant Collapsable Shovel

By Dave Roberts   

on February 3, 2012    No ratings yet.

Posted in Other Suff, Outdoor Gear Reviews, SafetyOutdoor Gear Review, skinflint, snow, winter gear, winter skills

Garant Collapsable Shovel

While we had a bit of a winter this week up in Snowdonia, it’s likely to be mostly gone after this weekend. It did however give us a chance to test out one of the bargains of the year so far, a collapsable snow shovel from B&Q for just a shade over ten quid.

cfon_talyfan_76_960

The Garant Collapsable Shovel comes in three parts – the shovel and wo handle sections, which slot tidily together to pack as well as to use which makes it a very easy shovel to transport on the pack as you can see from the images it packs easily. It also assembles with little or no effort, making it practical for using with gloves.

The handle is aluminium and the shovel itself is tough plastic. That means this isn’t going to cope with the rigours of a Scottish winter if you’re always out there but if snow is more of an occasional occurrence then it’ll more than likely last for years. I bought it as backup for a proper snow shovel and so that two can help build a snow hole. I wouldn’t shell out £40 for a second shovel to do something I’m probably not going to get an opportunity to do for a while.

cfon_talyfan_92_960
Not only is it ideal for the hills, with the last two winters we’ve had it’s handy to have about the house or the car ‘just in case’.  The main drawback is that the plastic isn’t particularly tough. After just light use, the shovel blade is starting to show signs of wear and it’s unlikely this shovel would cope with too much. That said, it’s a snow shovel for a tenner and if you accept that it’s only a practical option for light use then you can’t go far wrong.

Another point that needs making is that the shovel blade could be bigger. While you’ll be able to move less snow it does mean that it packs down nice and small whereas a larger shovel would not, so you’re either going to get a shovel that’s nice and wide or one that packs easily; not both.

The Garant Collapsable Shovel is ideal as a second (or third!) shovel in a group when building a snow-hole or if you don’t want to shell out for an expensive shovel that you may never get the chance to use.

Please rate this

Dave Roberts

Dave Roberts founded Walk Eryri in 2004, with the aim of providing routes that are off the beaten track. Walk Eryri is now part of Mud and Routes which continues to provide more off beat routes and walks in Snowdonia and beyond. Dave has been exploring the hills of Eryri for over thirty years, and is a qualified Mountain Leader. Dave also established Walk up Snowdon, Walk up Scafell Pike and Walk up Ben Nevis just to mention a few.

More Posts By This Author