Who carries at least one prybar as part of your EDC gear?

What make/model do you carry and how/where do you carry it?

I carry a Stanley Wonderbar II in my kit and a Pocketwrench II in my jeans pocket.

I'll throw in that I also carry leather driver gloves as part of my EDC. I pull them on when I feel the need to deploy one of my prybars.

-- Craig

I carry a Vaughan mini in my work bag and a pocketwrench II in my pocket on the weekends.

todd

I have a small one in my desk, a medium one (24" maybe) in my truck, and a full size heavy bar in my storm shelter. I carry the little one in my pocket if I think I'm going to need it for work, but in general I do not EDC it.

Its not edc, but I have one of those 30' monsters for rescue work. Cheap and nice to have

TRO

EDC Prybars ???? <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

For me, a prybar is a crowbar and I can't image myself wandering in the city with a crowbar pointing out of my pant pocket !! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
So I decided to find an illustration on the net, for the tools you mentionned.
I disregarded Google's advice to search for "stanley wonderbra" <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> instead of "wonderbar" and finally found a stanley retailler web site, with pictures.
It gives a 7" length for that tool, but no weight. Have you assessed it ?

And is such a short prybar effective ?

Another question : it's often problematic to EDC a knife in an office environment, without being called a terrorist ; wouldn't EDCing a prybar would make you look like a burglar ?? <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

TIA

How comfortably does the pocketwrench II sit in your jeans? It usually resides in my back pocket, but with one pair of jeans, it's plain uncomfortable.

I had to attach the pocketwrench to a snaphook which is attached to my belt via a leather snaploop. The pocketwrench simply hangs within the confines of my front pocket while my belt takes the weight.

-- Craig

Make sure it does not point out of your pocket. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

The Stanley Wonderbar II is, indeed, seven inches long. That's the shortest I could find and the longest that would fit easily into my shoulder bag.

Seven inches would not be as effective as a longer prybar. A seven-inch prybar, however is better than no prybar in an emergency.



Don't let anyone know you carry a prybar. Don't make a show of it. Don't deploy it unless you REALLY need to use it. Keep it in your kit.

We had an occasion in my office where a prybar was sorely needed. We needed to remove some old, swollen batteries from their stands. Being swollen, they would no longer slide. People were whacking then with everything from shoes to staplers.

I pulled out my Stanley Wonderbar II, handed it to the guys working on the batteries, and our troubles were over. They raved about it and said they didn't know the office had one. I said the office didn't. I did. They know me and laughed about it and thanked me. When they were done, I put the prybar back in my shoulder bag, where it remains.

If I need to use a blade, I use the smallest one necessary for the job. I don't pull out my Blade Tech Mouse Lite to open mail. I use the letter opener or I rip the envelopes open.

-- Craig

Hi,

I carry a Peter Atwood Prybaby on my little "PSK Keychain" (along with a Wenger Peizo lighter, Ritter mini-grip, 10X Bausch and Lomb magnifier, Leatherman Squirt P4, safety pin, Sliver Gripper tweezers [lots of ticks here], an Arc-AAA, and about 10 feet of paracord in a braid. I've also added a little roll of duct tape, wrapped around a nail:





I also have a bit of a larger "bug-out bar" that he makes, although mine doesn't look like the one on his site now; mine has a 90 degree bend on one end, like a mini crowbar.

Walkabout

My EDC Pry Bar



I had one, put lots of wear and tear on it. Traded it for a larger version of the same knife, never carried the larger one, came to my senses, traded the larger version for a smaller version identical to the one I had originally (minus the wear and tear) and now I'm happy again. Yes I do carry it. Have it with me at my desk right now (tucked away discretely of course). <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Tucked away discretely and carefully, I hope. Looks like you could slice your own leg off with it.

Nice keychain. Well done.

-- Craig

Could you give some more information re: these knives please?

I, too, carry the Vaughan mini in my Proteus...



M

Looks like a Chris Reeve Shadow.

Yep. Its the Shadow III. The Shadow IV is the one I tried that was way too big for EDC so I went back to the Shadow III and I'm loving it. www.chrisreeve.com It's also my backup kit when in the woods as the handle contains a few necessities.

Craig-
It's pretty comfortable in the watch pocket of my jeans. I occasionally carry it tucked behind my Wave in it's sheath.

todd

Cool rig. I'm slightly jealous. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

What compass is that... and is that an ArcAAA?

Hi,

It's actually not a compass but a small magnifying glass (for fire starting, taking out splinters, etc... my eyes are getting old!).

Yes...the flashlight is an Arc AAA

Would the strong crate opener on the swisstool qualify as a EDC prybar....?

Just ordered one of thes [img]http://www.duluthtrading.com/items/35264.asp[/img] e for my backpack.

The little Wonderbars can be very effective you can jamb or hammer them in somewhere and then stand on them with your boots. They can be bent almost straight if you put enough pressure on them. Even if you can only catch one side of the claw it will still take that kind of punishment for a while without breaking. I have seen a 200lbs guy stand on one bending it flat to the floor many times. They can and will be broken this way sooner or later but are cheap to replace and can get into places nothing else can.
I carry a 24-inch Ti Bar in my truck a 24-inch steel bar in my car and keep two 36-inch bars and a 48-inch bar around the house. My tool bag in the truck usually has several sized smallish bars or hive tools etc. that come in handy.

I found the item, but the image link in your post does not function.

The Japanese Cat's Paw is my favorite of this type of tool - the 6" model is quite effective for it's size and it's 4oz. weight...

<img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

(PS: Okay, I'd been hoping to figure it out on my own, but I give up - what does E.D.C. stand for?)

EDC means Every Day Carry. Something you carry on your person or in your kit every day. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

-- Craig

Wow - 30' ! What in the world do you lift with one of those "monsters"? You must be a fan of Archimedes!

("Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world." -Archimedes, Pappus of Alexandria)

In addition to the titanium claw bar (cool) there are some cool pry tools from Peter Atwood:

Basic Prybaby

Titanium Prybaby

Micro Bug Out Bar

Bug Out Bar

-john

The colors for the Ti Prybaby are awesome. I wish I could get my Sebenza scales done like that...

I think you might be able to find someone who will do it for you. Look through the Chris Reeve Forum on Bladeforums. Certainly I recall someone doing the Ti coloring of slabs of a Sebbie. Maybe not as wild, but I wouldn't give up hope.

-john

Just cut loose on them with a torch. Good practice is on Ti sporks.

How's he getting the pattern on there? What's he using for a mask?

I'm not sure what value these have. They are basically nail pullers and they appear to be designed for nails used in nail guns. These nails have smaller heads than regular common nails. Well any way just throwing out the question since I feel that you really would want to be able to pry apart something with these small bars. This type of bar is really a nail puller and do to the configuration of the claw ends you'd have a hard time prying apart anything. Now if you had a hammer and needed to remove some nails well you'd be set.

Just an observation.

Adam

I think the main point is the ones I listed are solid enough to pry with and are small and light enough to carry in a pocket, bag or purse. While if we are ever trapped in a fire or earthquake, we might wish to have a full sized Hooligan bar handy, even the small ones would be awkward to carry due to shape and weight.

For what it's worth, I have a "real" 3' crow bar in a duffle under my desk at work (earthquake/fire). But that only helps if I'm at my desk.

-john

I have never done this or read up on doing Ti flame coloring, so I'm not sure how much you have to heat the metal, but a thing to be careful about is that parts of the Sebbie are specially heat treated. I understand the business part where it locks the blade is hardened and the "spring" is treated to make sure it does it's job.

-john

John, it does not take much heat at all, but in truth and reality I was joking. I would never do that to my Sebbie.

Well i havent read this entire post......but the cats paw is similiar to an item called the Exhumer by Dead On /tools......its a great carpentry tool............in my opinion an excellent tool, but for anytype of use than prying nails its a little small esp. for particular survival situations, but otherwise I LOVE IT! I got mine at the local LOWE'S hardware chain.

FWIW, I was very close to ordering this 6" pry bar for my Fatboy. The size works out because the Fatboy is only 6" tall.

However, I just got my shipment notice for my Maxpedition Jumbo which is 9". I stopped by my local hardware chain (Lowes) and picked up a fairly lightwight 9" bar.

Hopefully it fits well, bit it looks like a pretty good tool (better than the Bug Out Bar) and was only $13 (the Bug Out Bar is $70). It has the same shape as the Ti bar I mentioned, above - just smaller and steel instead of Ti.

So, it looks like the Bug Out Bar is about as big of a pry tool as you can fit into a Fatboy, but the 9" bar should fit in the Jumbo.

-john