What is this? Modified bayonet

[Jack7171]

When it comes to studying, learning and collecting civil war items, one of the many things I love doing is trying to put myself into the soldiers shoes, who used an item. I wonder who they were, and what they did. I also wonder, what were doing with a particular item. I love collecting modified bayonets because most often, if found in a camp, some soldier picked up a discarded unservicable bayonet (almost always missing the tip), took it back to camp, and created some clever gadget or repurposed them into something useful for camp life. Not every item has a definitive description, and with its original owner gone for +/-125 years, we are left to our own imagination to attempt to invision or interpret what function the soldier had in mind when he got a creative idea in his head to make something useful. Add in the fact that you are holding in your hand, an item that was the personal creation of a soldier whilst in camp during the war, and now you hold it yourself, adds a very romantic touch to an item, as opposed to it being a modern reproduction. This is where my fun comes in. I find modified bayonets to be very personal items, and many are obvious, or more well known, such as pot hooks and candle holders, but others have intended uses which are not so clear cut. So the imagination kicks in, I put myself in the soldiers shoes, and think to myself,, what would this be good for? This is a new bayonet to my collection, an 1842 Springfield bayonet, likely broken in half, that was heated up, and kind of crudely hammered to a very thin, quite sharp point. I was thinking meat skewer, but ramrods seemed to be the popular choice for that, and the sharpened thinned tip is only 3 inches long, or they would just used a sharp stick. I doubt it was re-pointed for its use as a bayonet, as the point is somewhat thin. The last thought I had, was "sideknife" or shank. At 12" long, it's about as long as a sideknife some carried, and it's quite comfortable to hold, and would make a fine hand held weapon. Anyone ever seen one similar, or have any ideas of its possible uses

 

[Cato3rd]

I believe it was you who had a very good write up on here breaking down the difference between a bayonet modified to hold a pot and one used as a body hook. I just thought that was a very good post. My question is, what's your most unique bayonet that has been modified?

 

[Jack7171]

I believe it was you who had a very good write up on here breaking down the difference between a bayonet modified to hold a pot and one used as a body hook. I just thought that was a very good post. My question is, what's your most unique bayonet that has been modified?

I did post about my hypothesis regarding the two, and thank you!
In my personal collection, I think my sickle that my grandfather found at the Wilderness battlefield is not only my most unique, but also my favourite

My current most sought after is a tent stake,,as posted by @redbob