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Spying

In pictures: top spy gadgets of the 60s and 70s

From ‘turd’ transmitters to the classic camera watch, here are some of the top Cold War gadgets from the KGB and CIA.
10.30am, 8 Jan 2012
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FROM JAMES BOND to Jason Bourne, spies on film know where to get the latest top-secret technology – and how to use it ‘in the field’.

But here’s a collection of authentic spy gadgets used by real-life secret service agents working for the Soviet KGB and America’s CIA in the 1960s and 70s, including a ‘turd’ transmitter and a poison dart-shooting umbrella:

In pictures: top spy gadgets of the 60s and 70s
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  • 'Turd' transmitter

    A CIA transmitter in disguise. Ew. (Image via photoshtab.ru)

  • Camera watch

    Sure where would any self-respecting spy be without the classic camera watch? (Image via photoshtab.ru)

  • Hidden-poison lasses

    The arm of these glasses could conceal enough poison to kill the agent, should the occasion arise. (Image via photoshtab.ru)

  • Spy instruments

    A set of tiny instruments which can all fit in the small capsule for, eh, 'bodily' concealment. (Image via photoshtab.ru)

  • Tree stump radar

    A device for picking up radar and air defence system signals disguised as a tree stump. It could relay information by satellite. (Image via photoshtab.ru)

  • Spy shoe

    A smart pair of shoes with a handy recording device fitted inside the heel. (Image via photoshtab.ru)

  • Secret space cufflinks

    From the KGB's collection: cufflinks with secret storage space for hiding (tiny) things. (Image via photoshtab.ru)

  • Poison dart umbrella

    An umbrella that can shoot poisoned darts, developed by the KGB. Bulgarian dissident writer Georgi Markov was assassinated in London in 1978 by a dart from such an umbrella. (Image via photoshtab.ru)

  • Glove pistol

    A small pistol with glove for convenient concealment. (Image via photoshtab.ru)
  • A CIA transmitter in disguise. Ew. (Image via photoshtab.ru)
  • Sure where would any self-respecting spy be without the classic camera watch? (Image via photoshtab.ru)
  • The arm of these glasses could conceal enough poison to kill the agent, should the occasion arise. (Image via photoshtab.ru)
  • A set of tiny instruments which can all fit in the small capsule for, eh, 'bodily' concealment. (Image via photoshtab.ru)
  • A device for picking up radar and air defence system signals disguised as a tree stump. It could relay information by satellite. (Image via photoshtab.ru)
  • A smart pair of shoes with a handy recording device fitted inside the heel. (Image via photoshtab.ru)
  • From the KGB's collection: cufflinks with secret storage space for hiding (tiny) things. (Image via photoshtab.ru)
  • An umbrella that can shoot poisoned darts, developed by the KGB. Bulgarian dissident writer Georgi Markov was assassinated in London in 1978 by a dart from such an umbrella. (Image via photoshtab.ru)
  • A small pistol with glove for convenient concealment. (Image via photoshtab.ru)

See more spy gadgets on Photoshtab >

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