Romanian Border Police Folding Shovel, circa 1950's - 1960's

Today we'll be taking a quick look at one of my newest shovels in the collection.

This shovel is a veteran of the Romanian Border Police and dates to some time in the 1950's or 1960's.  
There is not much documented on these folding shovels, and I have not found any photos of them in service, so this posting will mostly be a "show and tell" view of this shovel.

This shovel is modeled off of the WW2 German and US folding shovels.  The blade and hinge portion closely mimics the US version, and the handle portion mimics the German version.

Overall this is a very well made and heavy duty shovel. 

The shovel is painted in the classic Romanian Border Police green and silver paint scheme.  
From what I can tell, looking at photos of these shovels, is that they were all painted in the same green and silver combo, with a natural wood handle.

This particular shovel has a very interesting tightening nut.  The nut is very heavy, galvanized, steel.  I am not sure if it is original to the shovel, or if it was a later replacement.  If it was a later replacement, then it is most likely an adapted galvanized pipe union fitting.  The notation "3/4" can be seen on the side of the nut, which leads me to believe that it is a pipe fitting.  No matter what, it fits nicely, and works perfectly.

The research continues............  I have a second shovel on the way, so stay tuned!

So for now, here's a closer look at these interesting Cold War Classics: