Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Anybody know of a lightweight hand tool to level out a camp spot.

I hate sliding off of my mat at night it ruins my sleep.

I saw an 8.5oz. clawhammer type tool but can't find it .

HomeyD has hoes like this.

I saw a video - guy had something similar but only 8.5oz. .

I've seen those at lowes/depot - they're too heavy for backpacking.

Was it a latrine trowel?
Latrine Trowel

If I can't fix a spot with a lightweight machete, it's going to take too much to be fixed.

The extra weight isn't worth the benefit if you are backpacking any long distance or climbing hills. The only way you can do it is if you already pack a hatchet, in which case you need a hatchet on one side of the tool and a mattock on the other, so you are only getting a small weight increase.

I suppose a lightweight mattock could be made to be hafted like a tomahawk on site. It wouldn't do much more than a small 12" machete though. You could buy a small finishing hammer and cut the head off.

Garden hoe with the handle cut short ????

Guys on Gritty had a titanium ice pick that was really light but durable that's what they used it for. I'm not sure of the brand if you look at some of their gear dumps on YouTube it's on there.

Fiskars lightweight trowel works pretty well in soft dirt.
https://a.co/d/cKtv1w8

If you need to pick through hard ground and rock, an ice axe works well. They aren't really light, but depending on terrain they can be handy to have. Can also remove devils club and other fun shrubbery from a camp site if you end up camping in the rhubarb.

Call the folks at SMC...they used to sell their "capra" ice axe in a useful-walking-length of 100cm. I've used mine for this exact purpose, multiple times.

That's where I saw it , Brian Call dude , but it wasn't listed below. I watched about five videos of theirs - some 1.5 hours long didn't rewatched scanned through but didn't find it -so i asked here.

I use a little plastic rake from the gardening center at Walmart.

Brian Call / Gritty YTube channel clued me in. If you like wilderness backpack hunting check them out, they go deep Idaho/Montana wilderness and stay and hunt for DAYS.


https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Ice-axes/RIDE

I use something similar to these for backcountry trail building/repair. They have changed their tools a bit. Might be more tool than you are looking for but the heads come off easily w/o tools.



https://toolsfortrails.com/collections/backslope-tools/products/backslope-tools-mini-clyde

Some good looking tools - thanks for the link.

Find a better camp spot.

If you are only packing in 1-3 miles, use it. If you are on a remote backpack hunt, leave it alone. Use a rock or a stick or your boots to help level the area. I have been on a bunch of fly in and backpack hunts and I either toughed it out or used alternative options. You can usually find a level-ish type spot within a mile of where you want to be.

Depends on what you mean by light weight... any version of any make stirrup hoe is about the best bet. Here's one version with a one-, two-, or three-piece handle. About 1/2 pound without the handle, or about 2 pounds with the 3-piece handle. Use the handle for a tent pole.

Link

There's a video showing how easy it is to use.

Phil

TAG

If you carry a trekking pole, maybe switch to a black diamond whippet? I would think you could dig out a flat spot with one.

Specifically the "UL Alpine Whippet Adze Attachment" for the whippet

The Petzl RIDE Ice Axe is the one I saw the 'Gritty' guys using, he was getting pretty rough with the little tool. Prying dinner plate size 4'' thick rock out of the hard clay ground.

I use a cane type walking stick that Brad recommended and really like it.

The Alpine Whippet looks good, especially @ 3.5oz.

I've tried that a few times and failed - although it gave me experience in setting up camp in the dark ............

I think this one might weigh a little less

https://i5.walmartimages.com/seo/LI...ht=640&odnWidth=640&odnBg=FFFFFF

This

https://www.fiskars.com/en-us/garde...ls-and-machetes/brush-axe-19-378600-1005

I don't know the weight off the top of my head. Its not much. Some laugh when they see it. By the end they wan to borrow it for tasks.

I grind the back edge sharp like a true brush hook is.

Levels ground quickly used like a hoe to checker board an area. Can then scratch that stuff away level with a boot or the tool.

Its one tool I'm never without if I have a pack on my back and thats probably 2 months or more of each year as a guide.

I hope the 2 of you get out more often to experience all that nature offers. If you can always find a flat spot you aren't seeing all there is out there to see.

Yeacool Camping Shovel Foldable

Not being rude...but have you considered one of the newer issue trifolds with the plastic handle. I believe it comes in around a lb and a half.

Glock e-Tool is listed at 23oz.

You're backpacking, and want to till up the wilderness?

I don't know the weather, your gear, the elevation, your location.

If a log at the foot of where your tent/bed is isn't possible, if a cot isn't possible, if a hammock isn't possible, if putting your BACKPACK at the foot of your bed isn't possible, if finding a flat spot big enough isn't possible, then by all means, dig. I suggest bringing a transit, a line level, and do what backpacking is all about, making a big impact on a pristine place...

Brian Call suggested this? Do share a link....

"Backpack Hunting" forum.

Yeah what happened to “Leave No Trace”?
Some of these options are pretty entertaining to think of a person actually carrying to a wilderness area.

I have one of these that would work but take a while because its so light and small. It is sharp and cuts small roots fine. A small silky along with one of these will works on small projects. Available w/o the pick also.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/204531254816?epid=1769769966&itmmeta=01HQ6FJWAWJH15TNP3YTVA5W15&hash=item2f9f034620:g:LIMAAOSwkQhlSYNZ&itmprp=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4Ckc5HjGeeDt8rjrcBZyfkNllmY04BYEXaApozcdUmIYUFONQDwxaQHEb387h3%2BWvppDHz119Ir0d4Uu0BV0K%2FjJyMmXvtT%2BXKDOKCE9VQXnb3QOwKwqeGDCRA0cPyqA3BGIN3zbr2Dc5S25V8%2BYaaVZT08vPfQdw7SyxNBAB8tr0VFXs9jfyzPuXjuEc9zq4adh4b5jtVtArJKd%2FHNhszM0BDk5HDRhvbIz3Sqql%2B6AFVQDUuuGJ1Ce5%2FSE8ilsNPqu0q2qikDTuFN5mqmKGFDPMbzfXlsxH9rr5hNgkOEV%7Ctkp%3ABFBMxMXLz7lj

Best earth light movers I ever saw was a couple of 12 year old Vietnamese girls with shovels.

To be fair it is always handy to have access to a shit shovel. Saves leaving a mess for others to step in.

keys for a mini-excavator?

I was advocating to not start digging, grading, trenching, whatever a campsite.

Not everyone wants to be a greenie eco warrior, some just want a somewhat decent sleep when out hunting. Some of us even (gasp) light a fire and shit in the woods.

Talk about a pack of virtue signallers.

Campfires are fine. I will not carry a poop tube, however.

Shovel.


I had to google "poop tube"...people really do some weird arse shit in pursuit of their favourite religion.

I've backpacked the Sierra from one end to the other numerous times. How 'bout you? Never had a need for a "digging tool".

You havent had to place your camp in certain areas like we have then. Leveling a big tent for clients sure makes a few nights spikes so much better when you aren't rolling out of bed etc...

Of course if just simply hiking we could put tents anywhere. Not the case when hunting very often.

YMMV as it seems to.

And to clarify, or qualify my posts some more, I am talking about a backpacking size tent, not an outfitters size tent. A Bibler Eldorado in sketchy(er) weather, so finding a reasonably flat spot isn't that hard. Not much bigger than the sleeping pad. Summer a Black Diamond Mega-Mid.

2 1/2 months, 7900 views, and 45 replies.

What did you get?

For digging more than a hole to crap in, Glock e tool is the lightest closely followed by the Cold Steel shovel.

Got to thinking there are some Ti shovels that copy the USSR e tool that are light, but not sure how the Ti blade holds up and they are pricey compared to the steel.

To just level a bed in areas with trees, a contractor bag or 2 stuffed with leaves would be the lightest to carry and the least amount of work.

Lol my god you are an idiot lol

But good job on trying to diversify your posts, even if it's on something you're clueless about.

Turn your pad 90 degrees and put your head at the higher end. If you roll off that, you are on a dome and no one should be that clueless…

Do you really not know you can move the leaves in the contractor bags around to level(can even use them as a stand alone sleep mat) or is this just your Brady-Giglio side coming out?

Lol

So you're sleeping on contractor bags filled with leaf litter to level your sleeping area? You legitimately think that's a good idea?

How many times have you done this, MacGyver?


Might possibly be one of the dumbest ideas I've read on this forum. You would get better sleep by doing what shrapnel described.

It works.

Why is shifting contents inside a bag to interact with something on top of it(in this case a human) such a foreign concept to you?

Or, once again, are you just being dishonest?

Thought the name sounded familiar. No wonder you would throw in with him considering the similarities between the causes you both shill for.


https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...9164463/re-nra-haters-forum#Post19164463

"Throw in" with him? I wrote his idea would make more sense than the dumb shìt you wrote.

Happycrapper, you are out over your skies....pack up your leaf litter and go back to bìtching about cops.

Either that or get above ground with a hammock.

What's on the ground at 90°?

There's that too.