Paul, that's just neoprene drop wire, two conductors, 18-1/2 AWG copper coated steel. They stopped making if from Neoprene in the early 70s. The P clamps (wedge clamps) you're speaking of were originally made of copper coated steel as well, but later were made of aluminum or stainless steel. Later versions of this wire were plastic insulated, looking very similar to lamp cord or landscape lighting cable. Either one was just slit down the center. With the neoprene version, the outer jacket could then be removed. With the plastic version, it was just split and that was it.

You really didn't strip these wires since the jacket was glued onto the conductors. You would crush the plastic or rubber coating in order for it to split. You then peeled the split covering off and clipped it. You still had to scrape the remaining adhesive from the wires to expose the copper coating.

The P or Wedge clamps are still used today for two pair twisted pair drop wire and fiber optic drop wire. They make a larger one for use with six pair twisted pair drop wire. All are flat or oval in cross-section and the clamps rely upon the "Chinese finger" method of clamping down more based upon on how hard the wire bail is pulled.

I did the same thing that Sam mentioned, making a home made "nose picker". One end had one conductor cut off flush and the other was left about 3/4" long for removing dials and number cards. On the other end, a sharp 90 degree bend was made in it to form a hook for plucking wires from blocks, etc.

Ed Vaughn, MBSWWYPBX