Stowing a Recovery Shovel

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An indispensable recovery tool every serious offroad vehicle should carry is a good shovel. I've only had to use a shovel once in an emergency off-road situation--but it was truly needed that time. Unfortunately, the shovel I had at the time was a tiny "fold-up" camp model that I kept in my truck's tool box. It was way too small for the job at hand, taking close to 30 minutes to dig us out of a sandy rut that should have taken, at most, 5 minutes with a properly sized tool.

So... for the Gladiator, I decided it was time to carry a bigger implement for the (hopefully rare) times when I will need it. I chose a modest 36-inch model that we already had sitting unused in a shed. The bad news is that because of the constraints of the tool box size on the Gladiator, I can't keep it locked up inside. Instead, I have to keep the shovel in the truck's bed.

The solution I settled on is to use a "quick fist" rubber tool mount that is screwed directly into the side of the bed. This rubber clamp is (surprisingly) sturdy and solid. The only genuine concern I have is the long-term durability of this unit, as it's exposed to the Sun and outside weather at all times. The good news is that the quick fist came in a 2-pack, so if this first one dries out or fails in the future, I'll have a backup ready to take its place. Hopefully, I won't ever need to replace it, but it's nice having the backup












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