r/multitools • u/MyFiteSong • 3d ago
Buy a frickin pry bar!
This tool came into the shop for repair this week. It's a Gerber MP600. Every tool that could possibly be used as a pry bar is broken.
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u/Weird_Ad1170 3d ago
Yikes. Some people don't realize--multitools are great for light day-to-day stuff, or even in a pinch--but they don't replace real tools. Around the farm, I usually carry a small pair of linesman's for the heavy stuff, and the Snap-On pocket pry bars are amazing (though I recently discovered Lang--half the price and still US-made. They are the OEM for Matco's mini pry tools also)
Even if you don't need to paint--head to a Sherwin-Williams and ask for one of their paint can openers--they're free. They're basically a blunt-tip church key with a bottle opener and scraper--and a sizeable lanyard hole. I prefer them over more expensive options, since if I lose one, I'll just walk in the store and ask for another if I'm out.
A good US-built multitool these days is in the $100 range. There are few mini prybars that cost more than $20--including the ones off the tool trucks. I don't get people's reasoning.
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u/thomasbeagle 3d ago
There's some nice mini prybar tools that fit on a keyring. I've got a Liteize Doohickey+ - best of all it's cheap enough that if it breaks while prying, I don't really care.
(I also broke the tip off my original Leatherman Wave - got someone to grind a new tip for me and it's still going great.)
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u/PhyNxFyre 3d ago
I keep seeing those titanium mini prybars and have always thought they're kinda ridiculous but it looks like this guy could really use it
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u/buddyfriendo 3d ago
I use the ARC's for light stuff but nothing else really, it's one of the things the Surge lacks IMO, they could've combined 2 of the flat heads into one w/ a pry tool incorporated (thicker steel). Though I know you'd loose the smaller one, but that is also prone to breaking easily.
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u/grrttlc2 3d ago
Saw someone on here added the pry from a Super tool 300M to a Surge. Looked pretty stout.
I find the ARC and FREE pry tools to be quite sturdy
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u/MyFiteSong 3d ago
If you really really want a pry bar in a multitool, Victorinox is where to go. On the knives, the Alox flathead driver is good for that, and so is the combo tool on the Compact. The Swisstools have actual, thick prybars in them.
Best of all, if you do manage to bend it somehow or over time, you can hammer them straight again.
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u/EjjiShin 3d ago
Better, don't use your multi tool for prying, carry another pry bar. Rip my 2 prybar multi tools.
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u/MyFiteSong 3d ago
The file is broken soooo often on these tools when I get them. Apparently that's every Gerber owner's favorite pry bar. Either that or they're using gorilla strength while filing.
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u/EjjiShin 3d ago
If I'm remembering metal working correctly you want your files to be hardened so they don't wear down that makes em brittle.somthey won't bend they'll snap.
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u/sleepdog-c 3d ago
So you are a Gerber warranty tech or how are you so exposed to the depravity of mankind?
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u/thelastcubscout 2d ago
lol. I can imagine though...every one of these pry-attempts probably started with a little success...
...then a little more success...
...snap.
So, maybe each tool feels like a very useful prybar, even most of the time, until the threshold is met.
Combine that with a multitool shopping trip right after the thing breaks, and I can almost name all of my friends who would simply keep on prying. :-) Some might even say there is a twisted logic to it...
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u/NearlySilentObserver 3d ago
Files are probably the absolute worst thing you could possibly use as a pry bar given how brittle they are