Which Pry bar for edc?

powernoodle said:
Want an honest answer, or a feel good answer?

Here's the honest answer:

You aren't going to use an EDC pry bar, so it doesn't matter which one you buy.

We buy toys like this to feel good. To distract ourselves from reality for a little while. Nothing wrong with that whatsoever, because we all like to feel good. But once every 4 years when you open a paint can, you can use a wide screwdriver or the little gizmo they give you at the paint store. You'll never have an emergency pry job on the way home from Chic-Fil-A. "Thank goodness I had that 2" County Comm pry thing with me!"

The same holds true for EDC fire kits, water purifier straws and paracord bracelets. These are the grownup versions of binkies and blankies and pacifiers. They serve to distract, but that's about it.

I'm qualified to give an honest answer because I've spent 35 years buying and hoarding thousands of dollars worth of this kind of crap. I know what I'm talking about. You aren't going to use any of it. Its there to make you feel good.

So buy the one that makes you feel the best. You yourself said you wanted it to be "cool".

But just admit to yourself that you will never use it. Present company excluded, of course. You guys who use your EDC pry bars 20 times a day.

#paradigmshift
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An uncomfortable dose of reality. Guilty as charged on the paracord bracelet.
 
After trying several larger prybars, I found that 99% of the time I didn’t need anything more than the Leatherman Brewzer. Its $5, isn’t noticeable on a keychain, has a box opener/tape ripper that keeps me from having to clean residue off my blades,... plus it has a bottle opener to boot. :thumbsup:

 
Don’t know if you’re still looking, but I’ll chime in as I got bitten by the pry bar bug a month or so ago. First off, everything powernoodle said is absolutely true. But hey, if not for the power of the coolness factor and the urge for toys to fidget with, sites like this wouldn’t exist, same with custom knives, flashlights, etc. Here’s what I’ve got:

0Mj76Ks.jpg


From the top down is Prometheus Design Works, two Lynches and a Teale. The Teale is solid steel and probably has the most “pry” in it. The other three are all titanium. I’ve got a Pacific coming from Iron Bull Slingers, but after that I think I’m done with the genre. The Lynches are by far the easiest to carry; the Teale is kind of heavy and the PDW has too many angles and edges for a pocket. I clip It to a D ring on a pack or throw it in a gear bag. I’ve been carrying one of them for the past week or so. Used the PDW to open some beer bottles after an off-road ride in Ocotillo Wells. A little more difficult than with a Swiss Army Knife. That’s been about it. No doubt Lynch is king in this little niche world though.
 
What powernoodle said is true for him like I said when I chimed in I used a EDC prybar daily when I was working
 
A pry bar would've been useful years ago, when I had to pry open a side garage door to got into my house. I'd gone for a hike and forget my and keys and hadn't bothered to take my cell phone. It was evening when I got back to the house and it was getting real cold. The end result was a broken tip on My Spyderco Endura Clip it.


i-Hc3p3JM-X2.jpg
 
eginder said:
Don’t know if you’re still looking, but I’ll chime in as I got bitten by the pry bar bug a month or so ago. First off, everything powernoodle said is absolutely true. But hey, if not for the power of the coolness factor and the urge for toys to fidget with, sites like this wouldn’t exist, same with custom knives, flashlights, etc. Here’s what I’ve got:

0Mj76Ks.jpg


From the top down is Prometheus Design Works, two Lynches and a Teale. The Teale is solid steel and probably has the most “pry” in it. The other three are all titanium. I’ve got a Pacific coming from Iron Bull Slingers, but after that I think I’m done with the genre. The Lynches are by far the easiest to carry; the Teale is kind of heavy and the PDW has too many angles and edges for a pocket. I clip It to a D ring on a pack or throw it in a gear bag. I’ve been carrying one of them for the past week or so. Used the PDW to open some beer bottles after an off-road ride in Ocotillo Wells. A little more difficult than with a Swiss Army Knife. That’s been about it. No doubt Lynch is king in this little niche world though.
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I've always liked the look of the Lynch but the design raises some serious questions. Look at how little metal is actually joining the pry part to the handle part, all the torque is happening at an extremely weak part of the tool.
 
I agree; if I really needed to pry something and didn't have, you know, an actual pry bar, I'd use the Teale. That thing is pretty strong.
 
Pomsbz said:
I've always liked the look of the Lynch but the design raises some serious questions. Look at how little metal is actually joining the pry part to the handle part, all the torque is happening at an extremely weak part of the tool.
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I think you're way overestimating the amount of torque that is potentially being applied to the prybar. The thing is tiny and it is sufficiently thick, you'd be hard pressed to find an average person that would be able to apply enough force to break it, let alone finding an EDC situation where that type of force would be needed.
 
lieferung said:
I think you're way overestimating the amount of torque that is potentially being applied to the prybar. The thing is tiny and it is sufficiently thick, you'd be hard pressed to find an average person that would be able to apply enough force to break it, let alone finding an EDC situation where that type of force would be needed.
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Au contraire. Personal experience.

sharpwerksbroken.jpg
 
Love my Lynch Northwest. I keep it on my keyring. Since carrying it over the last couple of years, I've gotten out of the foolish habit of using a knife for prying or as a screwdriver. And contrary to the claims of some, I used it at least three times today (not including the opening of an adult beverage at the end of the day).
 
A real pocket pry bar should be thick and monolithic, almost as heavy as a cold chisel. No holes or notches that will weaken it. It should allow a steel pipe to be slipped over the handle for increased leverage. The pinch edge should gradually thicken into the shank. Best example I see online.

cold-chisel-tool-500x500.jpg
 
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