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Gear reviews | Black Diamond Evac 7

Solid and large shovel, not just for emergencies

by Lorenzo Rieg • 01/22/2018
For me, an avalanche shovel must fulfill two essential criteria. Firstly, I want a large and torsion-resistant shovel blade made of metal and secondly, an extendable style with a D-handle. Especially nowadays, when people like to save weight even on safety equipment, such models are no longer so easy to find, which is why I used the same shovel for about 10 years up to and including last season.

In the current season, however, my old model was replaced by the Evac 7 from Black Diamond, reason enough to present my new shovel in a test report!

First impression

"Oh, it's really big" is probably not the only thing I thought when I unpacked the Evac 7. The rectangular shovel blade is really quite a bit bigger than that of my previous shovel, and no typical avalanche shovel is likely to have a noticeably larger blade, simply because otherwise it would no longer be suitable for backpacking. The handle also looks solid and can be extended to a nice length. Thanks to the curved end of the handle, the Evac 7 also has a chopping function. Of course, there are also holes for building an emergency sledge in the shovel blade.

The shovel from Black Diamond is also available with an even larger blade and slightly longer handle. This version is called the Evac 9 and has been developed specifically for professional use. The 30% larger shovel blade is also really difficult to fit into a standard freeride backpack.

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Test report

The shovel has been in my possession since the beginning of the season and has therefore been in my backpack. Fortunately, I haven't had to use it in an emergency yet, but I have dug around in the heavy and hard old snow at the ski resort parking lot and have already created one or two snow profiles with the shovel.

I would like to start by saying that you should pay attention to whether you can comfortably fit the shovel blade into your backpack. For some reason, the compartments for safety equipment on many backpacks are very tight and the Evac 7 takes up quite a bit of space. While the style can be easily stowed in all my backpacks despite the somewhat bulky bend at the lower end (by no means a matter of course for shovels with a D-handle!), the shovel blade is a different story. It fits easily into the Evoc Patrol backpacks or the Arc'teryx Quintic, but I have to pack very carefully with my older Arc'teryx Khamski and the shovel blade doesn't fit into the safety compartment of the small Arc'teryx Voltair 20. Apart from these potential problems, the shovel behaves inconspicuously in the backpack. There are certainly lighter models, but I don't count grams (especially not for safety-relevant parts) and the shovel isn't really heavy.

As expected, it has a high shoveling capacity in use. Thanks to the D-handle and large, torsion-resistant shovel blade, even large amounts of snow can be moved quickly. The large blade naturally has a very positive effect, especially in softer and relatively light snow, but the fitness of the shoveler is also important in harder snow, although a decent shovel is of course no substitute for power alone. The chopping function is also useful, although I rarely use it myself.

Conclusion

A great shovel that is well equipped for all situations. Whether you're building igloos, digging snow profiles or using it as an all-rounder for the little man, the Evac 7 won't let you down any time soon. And somehow also a good feeling for the (hopefully never occurring) case of an avalanche.

Advantages and disadvantages

+Large, solid metal shovel blade
+Long style with D-handle
-Large pack size

Information

RRP: €75.-

Compact telescopic shaft and durable, anodized shovel blade.
The shovel can easily be converted into a hoe for quicker snow removal during excavation.Compatible with a saw as a winter accessory (sold separately) that can be attached to the shaft to saw wood or free people from tree wells (dangerous areas with loose snow under trees).
Compact D-handle with comfortable dual-density grip.
The Evac 9 has a larger shovel blade for professional use.

Here is the Black Diamond website with more information. Here you can order the shovel from our partner store Bergzeit.de.

The Evac 7 was provided to PowderGuide free of charge for testing. You can find out how we tested it in our test statement.

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This article has been automatically translated by DeepL with subsequent editing. If you notice any spelling or grammatical errors or if the translation has lost its meaning, please write an e-mail to the editors.

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