Spade? I stopped carrying spades. Truthfully a small shovel is useful for clearing out the soil. If it's urban collecting I use a mattock and a big breaker bar (Called "St. Somebody's Staff")**. I have certainly used spades in the garden and field growing to promote root development, but in the wild, maybe blasting caps or dynamite would be a better option.
forgot my saints. It's about 1/2 way down this page, called a Digging Tamping thing here
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?acti...en/GardenToolBG
Regards,
Matt