Folding shovels, were an attempt to make entrenching tools compact and non-cumbersom. The design was for a shovel blade attached to a single pole wood handle that had a locking nut. When manipulated, the blade could be hunged from its stowage position to a 90 degree angle to act as a hoe or completely in-line with the handle to act as a shovel.
As this is an item that came out after 1943, the covers are going to be in the darker OD #7. Some will be of two-tone construction if that manufacterer had extra OD #3 trimming materials to use up. The button that holds the flap down is a Lift The Dot version.
Folding shovels are only appropriate for events taking place after 1943. In fact, a lot of the troops on the front line, as with other new improvements, didn't get these newer shovels until late in the war. Though they are nice to have, it's not recommended to seek one out in lieu of the T-Handle shovel.
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