Cheap Pry bars

[TheNELocksmith]

Was doing a task today, where I needed to pry an escutcheon off, I used my surge's flat head then got me thinking about adding a small pry bar to my work edc. Looked online saw some from countycomm? i think it is but don't ship to the UK, then saw some cheap copies on ebay. I then remembered I had a small 5inch flat bar that came as part of a larger set. Being impulsive I've just been into the work shop and cut the curved nail puller off,removed most of the blue coating. Just needs some work to remove the grinding marks off the belt sander. Pictures to follow once I've finished it.

So who carries a prybar? There are some lovely Ti ones out there but anything I carry at work is likely to be abused and hammered (literally!)

[dks]

I do not carry any regularly, but, I use them. I have one, cheap Navy branded, in the kitchen that is used to pop up the lift tabs on cans, so my nails don't break and it also has a socket that fits a nut on some kitchen equipment, helping me take it part for cleaning.
I also have one in the garage that is used for opening the lids of paint cans.
Finally I have a few spread around, including in cars, just in case.

[powernoodle]

I have pocket carried them in the past, and have a fairly extensive collection of Atwood tools if anyone remembers those.  Atwood's website is still there but not functional for me.  I have carried various lightweight and Ti pry tools as well.

But I have limited pocket space, even with my daily 5.11 pants that have multiple pockets.  So I have to prioritize which toys I carry.  In my normal life as a keyboard pilot, I don't have a lot of use pry tools so don't carry them that much anymore.  The flat driver on a Rebar, Explorer Plus, etc. will do the trick for me when I need to pry.  But its still nice to have one on the key ring if you think its worth the effort of daily carry.

 

[nate j]

I carry a PWII in my wallet, and have for years.  To be frank, I don’t use it terribly often.  But it has saved the day more than once, and I don’t really notice I’m carrying it until I need it.  Sadly, they are discontinued, but still pop up on the US ‘bay from time to time.  Not sure about UK availability.

I also have a Griffin Pocket Tool.  They are well-made, still being manufactured, and come in various sizes and materials.  Again, not sure about UK availability.

Pics later if desired.

[MadPlumbarian]

I’ve got two of those mini flat bars, ones in my tools and another’s in my must haves, but I also have a unique one on my keychain, I have yet to use it since I carry it everywhere, of course the second I didn’t carry it is when I would soooo need it..
JR

[lister]

What happened to the pwii anyway? Last I looked the original was defunct and the copies all nowhere to be found...

[Antti Lammi]

I have one prybar from aliexpress attached on my Wave pocketclip


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[nate j]

What happened to the pwii anyway? Last I looked the original was defunct and the copies all nowhere to be found...

The original went out of business apparently.  Not sure if that was before or after their patent expired. But as you say, even the copies seem to have disappeared.

I got my first one in person from a vendor at a state fair in probably the mid-2000s.  Later bought some backups online.  They still show up on US ebay from time to time, but I couldn’t speak to availability in other countries.

Here are a couple of mine (top one is an original PW, not a PWII):

[lister]

I'we got one original, one fake and one modded fake. I bought two, expecting to smurf one up before getting the design right. I didn't buy one original to mod straight away, and then fell out of the whole edc thing for a bit. When I came back, all were gone... 

[nate j]

A few things I think still set the PWII apart from many competitors:

No sharp or jagged edges or ponts - This makes it comfortable to carry and use.  I don’t need a “package opener” on my OPMT; I have a knife for that.

Properly hardened steel - I don’t have the means to test, but I have my suspicions that hardening isn’t always done (or done correctly) on some of the cheaper tools.  Also, brass is pretty, titanium is trendy, but when the chips are down, I want my tools to be steel.

Unique wrench design - Unlike most OPMTs that rely on cutouts to handle specific sizes (and often have separate imperial and metric variants), the PW’s toothed design means it can handle anything within its size range.  The two disadvantages of this design are (1) it can mark up/mar the fasteners, though this isn’t usually a real problem unless you’re dealing with something that has to disassembled and reassembled repeatedly/frequently, and (2) it has a handed-ness to it, meaning it has to be facing one direction to tighten and the opposite direction to loosen.

Ruler - Often not found on OPMTs even when it would have been feasible to add it, but handy to have.  Further, the PWII version is engraved into the steel, not some surface thing that might easily wear off.

[nate j]

Belatedly, here my Griffin Pocket Tool.  This is the XL version in stainless steel.

It’s well-made and still being manufactured, though I personally don’t like the design as much as I do the PWII.

[Antti Lammi]

Here is my 2 cheap prytools and Vaughan mini prybar (paid 16€ of it), i carry one on my keychain, one is attached Wave pocket clip and Vaughan is on my edc bag

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[lister]

Belatedly, here my Griffin Pocket Tool.  This is the XL version in stainless steel.

It’s well-made and still being manufactured, though I personally don’t like the design as much as I do the PWII.

I couldn't decide... 

[Tuisto]

I have pocket carried them in the past, and have a fairly extensive collection of Atwood tools if anyone remembers those.  Atwood's website is still there but not functional for me.  I have carried various lightweight and Ti pry tools as well.

But I have limited pocket space, even with my daily 5.11 pants that have multiple pockets.  So I have to prioritize which toys I carry.  In my normal life as a keyboard pilot, I don't have a lot of use pry tools so don't carry them that much anymore.  The flat driver on a Rebar, Explorer Plus, etc. will do the trick for me when I need to pry.  But its still nice to have one on the key ring if you think its worth the effort of daily carry.

 

Oh boy do I remember Atwood. I wanted one of those so so badly but never found one. I've been on the lookout for one since ~2012. Which is your favourite and can you post a photo of it? Here's the pry bar that I carry daily — Böker Vox Access Tool. It's a very very good tool, albeit a bit light (but I think that's just because it's made of titanium). Here's a shot of it with a 91mm SAK for scale.

[Petri Lipponen]

Here is my 2 cheap prytools and Vaughan mini prybar (paid 16€ of it), i carry one on my keychain, one is attached Wave pocket clip and Vaughan is on my edc bag

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Have you ever compared the big one to Hultafors 190mm prybar? Its amazing btw but Id like it just slightly shorter

[Antti Lammi]

Sorry, i dont have that one, vaughn perform quite good on small nails havent uet tested how it performs on bigger ones.