At first glance, the Pieps Pro+ shovel is a standard avalanche shovel of a slightly larger type. The telescopic handle engages with the familiar "push-button system" and is 81cm long when extended. The shovel blade is 25cm wide (=relatively large). The special feature: A saw is hidden in the shovel handle.
So a snow saw - well, all well and good. If you want to do snow cover tests or build an igloo, you don't have to take the snow saw with you as an extra part that flies around in your backpack. Instead, it is tidied away in the shovel handle and you don't have to think about it. The saw blade is 30 cm long and has a centimeter scale. You can attach the saw to the shovel handle, which makes it longer (I find this very practical).
I only realized that the intended use could go beyond activities in the snow when we finally arrived at the hut one day after a long hike with a heavy backpack, where we wanted to set up in the winter room for a few days. It was already relatively late, the hut was in the shade and the sun had just disappeared behind the summit. The winter room was dark and a bit clammy, the wet clothes were cold on our backs. Make a fire quickly!
Unfortunately, there were no pre-cut firewood logs, just a hodgepodge of broken timber and old boards, all far too big for the small stove! So what to do? Is there an axe or a saw in the hut? No? Breaking them definitely won't work. Does anyone have a Leatherman...? That's never going to work. Shit, without a fire it's going to be pretty uncomfortable. Hmmm, there's my snow saw, but as thin and small as that is, it's unlikely to work.... But lo and behold: the thin, dainty saw effortlessly turned solid boards into small pieces of wood and the evening was saved.
In addition to the usual snow sawing tasks, my model has now also mastered firewood with flying colors. You have to be a little careful not to bend the saw blade, but basically you could use it to fell small to medium-sized trees if necessary. According to the manufacturer's website, the saw has "special teeth for snow and wood" and it really works. After frequent use over the course of two years, the shovel and saw show the usual signs of wear, but still work perfectly.
Advantages: practical, versatile (snow + wood + ???), robust.
Disadvantages: slightly heavier than shovels without a saw (900g). The long shovel handle does not fit into the safety compartment of many backpacks, but I would blame that more on the backpack, not the shovel.
BCA has a similar shovel/saw combination (Arsenal shovel), but I have never tried it. The Pieps Pro+ was made available to me as part of a sponsorship program.
