The tip of the shovel has eroded over time. It got rusty depending on its time. The interior was later painted with yellow paint. The French trench shovel was designed to be one side digging and the other side shoveling. No inscription or stamp appears on it.

In battles, positions made to protect against deadly bullets and shrapnel from the opposite side may not always be favorable. Sometimes soldiers had to clash with the opposite side in a plain. So the soldiers had to dig in places to protect themselves or to set up tents with pickaxe shovels in their supplies. Because it was too dangerous to walk standing to get from some trenches to another trench, they could reach other trenches by opening a tunnel or a gap.