I want to say marlin spike, but the offset handles elude me as to function. 
I want to say marlin spike, but the offset handles elude me as to function.
NOHOME said:I want to say marlin spike, but the offset handles elude me as to function.
I agree, that's the most similar appearing tool that I can think of. Could be coincidence, or an accurate guess.
What's that expression? The same, only different.
someone said tuning pegs a few pages back. I saw this video on reddit and I'm pretty sure they were right. Obviously not the same, but similar.
It's gotten to the point where I feel compelled to open this thread every time it comes to the top just to see if someone has finally figured it out.
I'd say rope tool is more likely than tuning peg, but hey, that's just like, my opinion, man.
As several others said, this looks like it is a marlin spike for making ropes. Just saw this today on Reddit:
Making rope with a Marlin Spike
When I saw this video this morning I was like "That's the tool no one could definitely ID on GRM from the library. Now where's that post....".
*Furious searching for this topic begins before my one working ADD addled brain cell forgets the post..*
This is hilarious, because I was just thinking about this thread yesterday.
The link goes nowhere, though- Reddit says no such group exists.
In reply to Brett_Murphy :
Lol, of course. They’re hiding it from us.....
Closer to what I'd call a Fid than a Marlin Spike, but I'm still not seeing the offset knobs. What particular type of marlin spike/fid would have those? Job specialty specific or regional-cultural? Sail making on a small island off the coast of Norway? Fishing nets on a stretch of South Pacific coast?
They're tools from the tropical island of Tong.
Tong is 50 miles long and 9 feet wide.
Their chief export is rope.
I can't take credit for that, it's an old Jonathan Winters bit but I can't seem to find it anywhere.
It's been a few years. Any insights?
Still convinced it's a hoax. More than ever.
I think it's one of the most wonderfully creative hoaxes ever conceived. It has kept tens of thousands of people confused for years.
There is JUST enough oddity and variation to rule out just about every idea possible.
In reply to SV reX :
It may just be a hoax or an early AI generated image.
Okay, I didn't make those, but I've made things that could easily fit in the photo. I can't promise that they are the same, but I made knitting needles for my arthritic grandmother with offset knobs at the end so she could manipulate them more with her wrists than her fingers.
Just revisited TinEye, Google Image Search, and tried Bing Image Search. I think it was Bing that got me to the Reddit thread which also didn't know what they were. No matches in the related image examples on any of those engines.
TinEye had four nominal hits, but they were all this exact image on another site, and all tagged "goggles" for I don't know why.
I'm still hopeful there's a real and positive answer, and that this is just an excellent example of how hard a combination of image search and small sample size is.
Amusingly, Dr Hess suggested Marline Spike on the first page...
Some day I'll get over to the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, PA. If some strange hand tool exists, the chances of that museum having at least one of them are high. The downside is it may take a week to find them (there's literally so much on display, it can be sensory overload). Before I go, I'll make sure to load a copy of the picture to my phone to ask someone there.
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