I realise this might be a bit cheeky, but if anyone here is local to this store (Addlestone), is there any chance of someone grabbing an E-tool (the DDR one) for me and posting it on?
If it's the one I'm thinking of then, while £20 is a bit much, it's still an absolutely bombproof bit of kit and I would be glad to get my hands on one. I phoned the store again on Friday but they insisted they have no entrenching tools of that type in, they said the only ones they did have were a commercial copy not issued to any armed forces. Despite the two members here having sighted them - very odd! Also then they directed me to their website - which my ISP says does not exist any more.
I'm thinking it must be better to deal with them face to face than via the interwebz or the phone - but I am massively out of area from Surrey (N Wales) and have no real prospect of getting down there soon. If anyone who is on the spot is able to help me out (costs covered of course) I would be very glad.
Just to clarify so that there are no crossed wires the type of E tool is the East German (NVA - Nasjonal Volksarmee?) one, wooden handle, black head with keyhole nail remover in the middle, saw edge down one side, and if I remember rightly the other side of the head was formed into something of a chopping edge. My old one had 'MADE IN DDR' on the head, had a chocolate-brown plastic securing section for fixing the head in either position, and came in a canvas 'strichtarn' ("rain cam") cover with grey nylon webbing and steel/alu fittings, although I'm guessing the minor details probably changed with different years or manufacturers. Below is the best piccies I could find online:
mit cover
sans cover (keyhole hidden by handle)
Oh and I do apologise to tetraneon and all Russian spade enthusiasts for the massive thread hijack