Importance of The Paper Clip

[Captain Hook]

Who else regularly carries at least one paper clip on them? If so what have you used them for?
I have personally used them as:
*Swiss Army knife cleaner to pick in those hard to reach spots
*General hooky thing
*Zipper replacement
*Lock picks
*Scraper
*Makeshift pocket clip for SAK
*Knot untying device.
*Fingernail Cleaner
* Made some salad tongs out of two forks and a paper clip


I think the paper clip is something that gets laughed at when you tell people you carry one. But it can really save your butt when you need a small versatile piece of metal wire you can form into a number of tools. That is why the paper clip has my respect.

[Butch]

Who else regularly carries at least one paper clip on them? If so what have you used them for?
I have personally used them as:
*Swiss Army knife cleaner to pick in those hard to reach spots
*General hooky thing
*Zipper replacement
*Lock picks
*Scraper
*Makeshift pocket clip for SAK
*Knot untying device.
*Fingernail Cleaner
* Made some salad tongs out of two forks and a paper clip


I think the paper clip is something that gets laughed at when you tell people you carry one. But it can really save your butt when you need a small versatile piece of metal wire you can form into a number of tools. That is why the paper clip has my respect.

+1 

[ThundahBeagle]

Used to carry one all the time, wrapped around my key ring. Used to use them to hit the manual release for CD/DVD/RW  decks in computers when we had them on the shop bench with the power supplies disconnected.

Now, not so much. They would always find a way to unwrap from my key ring, make a hole in the pocket. I suppose one could wrap it around the keyring, and then wrap a little electrical tape around the paper clip... Too much hassle now that I don't use them regularly.

[Captain Hook]

Used to carry one all the time, wrapped around my key ring. Used to use them to hit the manual release for CD/DVD/RW  decks in computers when we had them on the shop bench with the power supplies disconnected.

Now, not so much. They would always find a way to unwrap from my key ring, make a hole in the pocket. I suppose one could wrap it around the keyring, and then wrap a little electrical tape around the paper clip... Too much hassle now that I don't use them regularly.

I carry two inside a a matchbox that also has a a rubber band wrapped around it. The matchbox also accommodates some safety pins and two band-aids. My fire source doubles as storage!   

[Douglas]

I keep a number of them in my work truck.  They get used for meter lead extensions,  jumpers, cotter pins, hooks, magnifing glass (I might tell how that works, if no one else dose first), cleaning picks and I can't realy remember all the other uses.  Just to many of them.
I guess the best is simply as a PAPER CLIP 

[Lynn LeFey]

I carry a couple with my sewing kit.

One of the best fairly heavy-duty wire readily available. I carry mini pliers, the IDL-T10, most specifically for shaping the paper clip in useful ways.

I've used the paper clip to make a number of things over the years.

But of all the things I've used them for... get this... one time, I used them to clip papers together.

[Captain Hook]

But of all the things I've used them for... get this... one time, I used them to clip papers together.

Whoa you mean that's what they're intended for!?!?! My life is a lie!

[theonew]

Big paper clip fan. I've have good luck using them to pick locks, though they aren't ideal.

[Gerhard Gerber]

Toothpick and ear wax remover 
 

[lister]

I did some lockpicking myself. Never had any luck with any improvised tools. When I see some US people on youtube they make it seem so easy. But tools they use wouldn't fit in any lock in my country. And when they talk about advanced security features such as mushroom / spool pins... I had two of those in the cheapest door lock I could find! I always wondered was it me, or is there indeed such a difference in locks between Europe and US? Well I never bothered to investigate this stuff any further, so if there are any experienced lockpickers around do tell me. 

[Etherealicer]

I did some lockpicking myself. Never had any luck with any improvised tools. When I see some US people on youtube they make it seem so easy. But tools they use wouldn't fit in any lock in my country. And when they talk about advanced security features such as mushroom / spool pins... I had two of those in the cheapest door lock I could find! I always wondered was it me, or is there indeed such a difference in locks between Europe and US? Well I never bothered to investigate this stuff any further, so if there are any experienced lockpickers around do tell me. 

Its tolerance... locks in the US are indeed of lower quality (that does not mean you cannot get decent locks there, just that there are many low quality locks around).

I played with the cheapest locks available here: padlocks. Never could get a shiv in, when using a real padlock (as opposed to those locks you would find on a diary and such), then bought one in the US... voila shiv was working. The story repeated itself with lock-picks... What works though is hammer and chisel

[El Corkscrew]

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/09/the-paperclip-was-used-as-a-symbol-of-resistance-during-world-war-ii/

[Gable151]

I keep a number of them fastened to the MOLLE webbing on the back side of my Maxpedition EDC toolkit that rides in my backpack.  Typical use for me is makeshift fasteners, or cubicle wall hangers.

[theonew]

Tolerances would definitely explain the difference. The downside of the paper clip is that it limits how much tension you can apply to the cylinder and still be able to work the pins since the paper clip yields easily. With a paper clip getting the magic balance of tension is crucial. I suck at it but given enough time and patience have been able to open most cheapier locks. I have never tried a higher end one or one in Europe.

[lister]

I did some lockpicking myself. Never had any luck with any improvised tools. When I see some US people on youtube they make it seem so easy. But tools they use wouldn't fit in any lock in my country. And when they talk about advanced security features such as mushroom / spool pins... I had two of those in the cheapest door lock I could find! I always wondered was it me, or is there indeed such a difference in locks between Europe and US? Well I never bothered to investigate this stuff any further, so if there are any experienced lockpickers around do tell me. 

Its tolerance... locks in the US are indeed of lower quality (that does not mean you cannot get decent locks there, just that there are many low quality locks around).

I played with the cheapest locks available here: padlocks. Never could get a shiv in, when using a real padlock (as opposed to those locks you would find on a diary and such), then bought one in the US... voila shiv was working. The story repeated itself with lock-picks... What works though is hammer and chisel

I envy the US. It's damn hard to learn anything if difficulty is set to nightmare mode from the beginning.