First, I never learned to name the different parts of what I'm going to speculate. In New Mexico, "white" people called my guess "bull pizzles." In sailing, they'd be "marlin spikes" (or all one word and for rope, not cable). I own three right now "just because" and I've never used them for their intended purpose: to separate the, say, three or however many, "strands" of wire rope or cable, for splicing together or ending a cut cable elegantly. I've never seen one like yours and I'm not confident enough to guarantee my guess is right-on, but that's what came to mind the moment I saw it. Oh, and none that I've seen had the "T handle," which could've kept the tool from going through the cable. Mine have biggish "buttons" on the very end.
