Small Camping shovels:

The Cold Steel special forces shovel is a good contender for one of the best small camping shovels or survival shovels available.  It is highly durable, and its simple design works well and has no moving parts to fail.  modeled on the russian spetsnaz shovel, the cold steel special forces shovel is not only a workhorse but also a real nasty weapon in the right hands.  The sharpened blade on this shovel will inflict a lot of damage to whatever it hits.  

The head of the cold steel shovel is fairly small, but at 26 ounces, it is light, and can be easily strapped to the back of your go pack, or in your vehicle.  You would never know it from watching You Tube, but this shovel is actually capable of digging a hole, not just chopping watermelons and water bottles in half, or throwing at sheets of plywood.

An optional sheath can be purchased for around six or seven bucks, and is not a bad investment... not so much to protect the shovel, but to protect your other gear from the shovel.  Shown at right is a picture of the fastening design with the handle.  Hard to show in a picture, but its pretty substantial.  You would have to be trying pretty hard in order to break this handle off.

Some modifications made to the one shown at right include some grooves put around the handle, and removing the super slick finish on the wood.  Also a hole has been drilled so that a lanyard can be attached, and the top of the shovel has been painted red. ( because I cant see too well, and its just easier to spot when its sticking up out of the dirt in the middle of the woods surrounded by trees, leaves, etc)

Condor Knife and Tool makes some great, reasonably priced outdoor equipment, Including several small camping shovels, all of which are good, sturdy, simple shovels with no moving parts to break.  Most of Condor's small shovels weighs in at around 3 pounds, so if weight is a factor, this might not be your shovel.  With the round edged version, the edges of the blade are contoured up slightly and the round point makes it a less effective chopper, but a better "shovel" as far as moving material.  Condor also has a small pointed shovel, and several versions of each with a D type handle for better grip. 

When you are digging a hole, for whatever purpose, it's nice to be able to deal with a root without putting down your shovel and picking up your hatchet or root saw, but if you are in a desert, or lucky enough to be on a beach, you really dont give a damn about roots and chopping, you want to move sand.  If you need to fill sandbags, a small shovel like the condor will get the job done much better than the cold steel shovel, or the Marbles shovel below.  So not to sound like a broken record, but the more specific you get with your planning and thinking, the better your decision making process will be when you assemble your gear, even when it comes to a simple things like small camping shovels.  

Marbles Devil's tail Shovel.  A somewhat unique design, this small camping shovel is part hatchet, part shovel, part machete, and a pretty cool tool.  The full tang construction makes it all but unbreakable, and just like its cousin the marbles machete, you really cant believe the value you get for your money when you hold it in your hands.  The handle is somewhat short so you dont get quite the leverage you would with a longer handled shovel.  The devils tail comes with a tough courdura sheath, with 3 utility pockets, a sharpening stone, velcro handle closure, and a belt loop.  

The blade is flat, which makes it an outstanding chopper, but wont hold a lot of fine material or sloppy mud.  The other obvious down side to total flat design like this is that it can be bent more easily that a stamped and tapered type design.  This is probably the most significant weakness with this shovel.  The blade itself is quite large, about 8"x8".  As far as self defense, yes, it can chop a water filled milk container in half, and is lethally effective on menacing watermelons.

Another option, is to just go to a local hardware store and buy yourself a small gardening shovel.  Any shovel is better than none at all.  Ames and other garden tool manufacturers make some good products.  If you just need to dig a hole, and dont need any "Chopping" done, these shovels do the trick just fine.  Size is an issue, but if you are just looking for an emergency shovel to keep in your trunk, or back of your truck, jeep, etc... size is not as much of a factor.  You obviously would not want to haul one of these on your back for any distance.