Peter...thanks !! I couldn't remember the brand name of the tool, but this is it:
http://www.ripley-tools.com/tools.php?tool=BP_1A&category=Primary *****
Trumpy,
while I agree that a knife is a great multi-putpose tool for prepping cables, under certain conditions it can be dangerous.
My conditions were as such: 20 +/- degrees, dead of night (but with work lights), well into my 16th hour that day, skipped dinner break to "hurry up and get it done", lack of sleep, etc. This combination resulted in a trip to the ER. The injury occurred while sharpening my knife...and was it sharp! The Dr. on duty commented on how it was a "nice clean cut" (thanks, doc...LOL).
The shapener i was using was a hand held model - DEFINITLEY time to get a stone, and toss the hand held model in the garbage (I'll never toss the knives).
******
The end result...terminated 12 15kv cables, meggered, hi-potted, energized, etc in under 40 hours over the course of 2 days. The customer was quite pleased and impressed I finished as scheduled (even with the jaunt to the ER)
Thanks for the speedy replies.