Knife uses for pry bar

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brandonnash

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I see people talk all the time on this forum about having to use their knife as a pry bar but rarely see any examples of how it was used. Can some of you tell me how you have personally used a knife as a pry bar and which knife was used?


I am not looking to immediately run out and try to pry something apart/open, just curious cause I can't think of a time I said to myself, "if I only had a pry bar".
 
Pry open plastic panels on a car. Works good for sliding in between the push pins used on cars so you can pop it loose than pull the rest out with a pair of needle nose pliers. Also used it on several electronics to wedge it in the seam to pop the pins so I can work on the internals. That's what I generally use a knife in terms of prying. If I need to do any actual prying I get the right tool for the job, for these cases the narrow edge of a knife works best compared to almost any other tool at my disposal.
 
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I generally use real pry bars for pry bar tasks. Only on prybar task comes to mind that I might use a knife with any frequency..... prying up the lid of a can you just opened with a can opener so I don't get cut.

This brings me to the point that saying a knife is a pry bar (Kabar BK-2 is a good example) just means the knife is probably over built for knife tasks.
 
I guess I envisioned doors being ripped off hinges, cars wrecked together being pulled apart, various military applications, etc. Thanks for the responses. I will have to keep those in mind if situations like that arise. I work on electronics sometimes so its very valid.

Keep them coming!
 
I sold a Muela knife to a customer. the broke the tip off the dagger and wanted me to take care of it. Muela said he has no warranty because is was a knife not a pry bar so he is on his own. he turned around and bough anther one of the same knife.
 
I used a combination of a crowbar and an old Bowie knife to pry open a steel gun cabinet I lost the lock to.
I didn't have another crowbar, and was impatient...and it worked!
The knife got bent, but I bent it back.
Ah, the memories of being a teenager. :D
 
Knife + used as prybar = broken knife

Use the right tool for the job.

n2s
 
More then once I've had to use my pocket knife to break the wire seals on ammo or pyro crates using it not as a cutting tool but a pry bar to break the seals. Wire cutters, a pry bar, or even a stout screw driver would have been preferred but sometimes you have no choice and are forced to use what you have.

I also used my pocket knife to pry open the door of an elevator I was stuck in once. Got it open just enough to then use the handle of the knife and then my hands. Didn't feel like sitting in there for who knows how long. Didn't think my plan was going to work but surprisingly it did.
 
Very doubtful I will ever try it, but those cold steel videos are actually pretty impressive when they do the bend demos. Those things go to 90 degrees or more without breaking.

I have also seen a few custom knife makers demonstrate in person the toughness of their knives by bending them in half without breaking, but I do agree, definitely not the right tool for the job.
 
Light prying, like when cutting wood or debarking a tree, or prying a paint can lid is about all I have ever done.
Most of my knife damage comes from using the tip as a screw-driver. :rolleyes:

I don't see much useful leverage when heavy prying with a ~4inch blade, but I could be wrong.
 
Becker Machax I used while replacing the wood planks on my dock. Used it to trim cut outs and pry up boards that could not be unscrewed do to stripping or some where painted over. Didn't break, kept asking for more
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If you're going to use your knife as a pry-bar best to get one with a really thick blade throughout the blade length. Perhaps only use it for such purpose in an emergency due to warranty issues. :)

There are also pry-bar/knife combos mostly fixed (need a strong lock on a folder) like the Medford EOD-1, CRKT MAK-1 and KA-BAR Becker TacTool.

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brandonnash said:
I see people talk all the time on this forum about having to use their knife as a pry bar but rarely see any examples of how it was used. Can some of you tell me how you have personally used a knife as a pry bar and which knife was used?


I am not looking to immediately run out and try to pry something apart/open, just curious cause I can't think of a time I said to myself, "if I only had a pry bar".
Click to expand...

I've used a Busse SFNO for all sorts of prying tasks. Popping off fascia board and plywood, to untwist two Florida holly trunks that had got all twisted together during a hurricane when I felt it was too dangerous to cut as is, things like that. Also for breaking up the concrete that passes as soil in some areas down here. I'll hammer it in 7-8 inches and pry it out and repeat. A pickaxe would be more efficient, but that is not always an option and it is much easier than wailing at the hard pack with a shovel.

A lot of the Busse line has been called, usually with derision, "sharpened pry bars" and my SFNO certainly is. I think it's a good thing, personally. I've certainly got much use out of mine and, besides, I have somewhere around 50 other knives if I need to do any more delicate task.
Big Mike said:
That's the right answer.


The attributes that contribute to a quality knife blade make a poor choice for prying.
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Not always the case, at least in my experience. I've resharpened my Natural Outlaw to shaving sharp more than once. It'll take an edge like that and keep it long when used for more ordinary tasks. I just don't see any need to keep it that way any longer.
 
I moved into an apartment with a window painted shut with multiple layers of paint. I went out and bought a Cold Steel GI Tanto for the job. It combined strength with a sharp tanto edge to cut through the paint and pry the window loose. If you need a sharpened prybar then a cheap one is the way to go.
 
The attributes that contribute to a quality knife blade make a poor choice for prying.
Click to expand...


GronK said:
I moved into an apartment with a window painted shut with multiple layers of paint. I went out and bought a Cold Steel GI Tanto for the job. It combined strength with a sharp tanto edge to cut through the paint and pry the window loose. If you need a sharpened prybar then a cheap one is the way to go.
Click to expand...


Agreed, when using the wrong tool for the job at hand, a Cold Steel knife is a fine choice.

The key term in the above quote was "a quality knife blade". :eek:

Did you ever consider spending a little less for the appropriate tools, or was abusing a cheap knife just more appealing? :confused:





Big Mike
 
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