Camping trips

[Krensky]

It's a small folding shovel. One of many items soldiers are issued with that they always seem to loose since no one digs foxholes or trenches on the fly any more, the thing weights a ton, and is an awkward shape to pack.

This causes no end of hilarity when an officer or, god forbid, a sergeant decided he needs one or more of them while away from base.

[ThunderMonkey]

Huh?

E-tool... E-tools... both are used to shovel... (then you fill in the blank, but it goes along with latrine).

Punchline humor is hard to do on the internet sometimes.

[Merxiless]

Yes, Entrenching Tool.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrenching_tool