New items: Shovel, Compass, ThermoCup, Big Axe

[FreeSTONE]

Shovel - player could dig a hole to get extra food (e.g., roots), but also dig down to "entrench" in case of storm or to create snow wall (against wind)

Compass -  will help navigate, and may even be a little bit weird: e.g. not work in aurora, point to a car or other metallic objects, if they are close to player...

ThermoCup - hot drinks would stay longer hot

Big Axe - player could cut down trees for extra wood

 

[Leo Sky]

A shovel would be such a useful tool! digging snow shelters and food stores would be great! 

Unfortunately, in-game lore dictates that compasses don't work (geomagnetic stuff and all) but I think finding a compass to break into parts would be cool. 

A thermos would be such an added bonus for the game! to help keep your core temperature up by drinking a hot drink would add an extra level of preparation to the game and just a fun bonus of realism. I also think in terms of repairing thermoses, you could use sawdust. A thermos is pretty much the inside cup, and an insulated metal holder. So you could place sawdust in the insulated holder to help keep the drink warm longer. I think you would probably use tinder because that's the by-product of collecting wood so you could say it has some sawdust in it. 

As far as cutting trees goes, it would probably have to be smaller trees, and saws are actually more helpful to cut down trees. You might also want wedges to shove in the cut and push the tree in the right direction. If you don't use wedges, you can't control how the tree falls. I think cutting birch trees would be a good first step because they are smaller than the rest of the trees in-game. Of course, it would take a long time, and I think breaking down the chopping into cucks like they do with crafting would be good. 

[Cranky]

@FreeSTONE, 

Aside from the time and energy it takes to cut down and process a tree (which for a single person could take an entire day at the very least), what would be done with the wood? Not to get to hung up on realness but green wood does not burn, it has to be seasoned first (which takes a long time).

If the idea is to build/craft with it, then craft what? As it is everything craftable is more or less easily accessible in terms of the tools and ingredients. 
 

If the idea is because sticks burn too fast for you then I suggest you camp at Mystery Lake, the light house in DP, or the lodge in Broken Railroad and get your fire skill up higher so your burn times last longer. 

 

I too would love the implementation and addition of a shovel. So many useful ideas could be made and had with such a tool.