The Key To The City: A DIY Tactical Tool You Can't Be Without 

"The older I get, the more I realize I should carry a big screwdriver, just in case someone's screw is loose." :)

Genius idea Dooood!!!! Cutting the rubber grip off a harbor freight pry bar + arts & crafts time w/ glue and cord! Awesome tool creation, it's tacticool!

Turning a pry bar into a pry bar! 🤯

Take a few minutes with a drill and put a hole through the top of the bar to have a lanyard hole. Things that are not attached always find a way to come loose or get lost riding in the car or truck or while getting in or out.

I’ve carried one on my vest for the last 5 years and always recommend it to everyone. Only wish you would have came out with this video about 5 years sooner, it would have saved me some $$$. I bought mine already completed for around $30.

I made the exact same prybar over a year ago only I used a craftsman prybar. I didn't remove the finish under the wrap because in the event the wrap gets wet it still has some corrosion protection. The epoxy I used holds the wrap fine without having to sand.

I wrapped mine with paracord but left space as I wrapped, think stripes on a candy cane. Came back over that with heat shrink. Best of both worlds, grippy and space saving.

Thanks for the video I modified it a little bit but appreciate your advice. Got the same pry bars took off the handles and did not remove the paint. Then I simply used some hockey tape for the handles. When I do this I pull a 12" length twist it tightly and pre wrap the handle as it gives it more grip. Then I continue to wrap regular about three times. Good solid grip and great tool. Thanks again

The 550 cord makes it tactical af and it’s super useful if your breaking into your roommates bedroom with the paper thin doors to scare the shit out of him while you LARP

A drywall knife is also a great idea for bypassing interior door locks.

I'd like to suggest using electricians heat shrink for underground cables . Chop off the amount required , gentle blowtorch to shrink and glue on , job done no muss no fuss never coming off plus it'll give a better palm swell for grip . Rope isnt a good idea , prone to failure

Thank you for this great tip. Keep up the great work!

That spring loaded thing you're talking about are called cord locks . You can get them for dirt cheap off of Amazon in all kinds of sizes and hole configurations.

Great video!. I learned something new about attaching a long handled accessory to molle webbing. Fantastic idea!. Definitely has multiple uses. Thanks for sharing!. 👍🏻

Such a easy diy invaluable tool. Love the simplicity in this

Pour boiling water over it when you are done wrapping it. It makes it way tighter and won't loosen up.

Becoming a tactical stealth ninja sounds really dope

That's why I got a snap on 3 foot hammer cap prybar and the 21/2 foot adjustable ladysfoot

Thanks for sharing

I made two of these. Easy modification makes it easier to stash in my kit thanks!

These do make a great tool; I keep a similar one in my BOB and carry it when need is likely. I’d just suggest that time/effort in sanding off the finish etc would be better spent drilling: I put a hole in mine at the end of the “grip” area. That allowed me to do a tight & secure cord wrap grip without glue, plus add a lanyard.

Great video Pro tip : use a hair iron to make the paracord a little bit flat

Great idea! I have an old mini pry bar that needs to be replaced and I think I’m going to have to do this to it, simple and easy!

Genius.

Very nice tutorial and finished prybar. Thank you for posting this useful video. Subscribed.

As a firefighter I carried a Stanley 12" wonderbar. Worked great but what PIA in my pocket. This is a great idea. If the idea is just a more comfortable grip, how about some layer(s) of electrical heat shrink tubing?

Good info, thanks for the video.

Thanks for the idea. I pyramided the flat butt end on my bench grinder into a glass breaker. Works great.

I was impressed with this idea until I really thought about it. Loss of leverage, comfortable grip. When it gets wet the cordage will become soggy and will contaminate your hands every time you hold it. Contamination with dirt, muck, mold or waste fluids, human waste fluids. Can be used against you if taken away by a combatant while in a scrape. And Harbor Freight sells cats paws. Mini prybars longer than 6-8 inches in usable area above the paracord. I have a 16 inch Craftsman flathead screwdriver that I keep in my Jeep. Same clear handle, spray painted black to not reflect lights at night and has some gravity in it when holding the blade end and swinging the handle like a club. My work used to issue employees a brand new set of screwdrivers every year of employment. I have 5 full size rollaway toolboxes of nearly new tools. Why buy a $5 POS prybar at HF if possibly every pepper watching this video has tools on hand? Still a good idea though D⁹.

10/10 - I would recommend this 100% - pretty much the exact tool some junkie piece of shit used to burglarize my house a couple of years ago...

You just made me look tactical with your idea and innovation , thanks man , keep the content up

love this 💚

I like the look of the finished project, though I feel like cutting down a beefier bar would have worked out a bit better. As it stands, this bar is already so small that you've only provided the tool with a less comfortable handle while not really taking that much length off. The paracord wrap should be something that happens to this little thing once the handle inevitably breaks, not as an out-of-the-box mod.

try a series of half hitches. its FAR superior, looks way better, and gives you a better gripping surface. this is what any smart sailor uses. btw, did i say durable? you can cut a part of it and it unravels way harder than that method.

I really like it!

I appreciate the idea, maybe on a next video, list the pros and cons of your approach. People believe that you only did it for the "tacticool" approach, when in reality, the objective was to make it smaller, more portable. The only issue I see with this is that you lose leverage and I'm pretty sure you can hurt your hand if you use a lot of force. But it's a good starting point if someone wants to customize from there.

A lite scuff sand with extra fine grit should be enough. Avoid sanding off the finish to prevent rusting.

I have got to do this. And since I started tying knots a few years back, I'm going to make me a fancy handle, lol. I do love to modify stuff and this will fit nicely on my Maxpedition bag.

This is so cool

could have also ground the "pommel" part into a point to make a glass breaker, just an idea.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Great idea! Thanks for the video, brother.

Good tip.

I would like to see you open a locked door with it metal and solid wood door

Checo out Tactical Hyve - carrying a paint can opener.

great idea - thx

Solid content. Subbed. Thanks for this.

Thanks cool tip but I'd like to see a stress test of different brands of pry bars

Can you make a video on how you use it?

I keep a 24" bar on my bag, right through the Molle loops. Pulls easily, plenty of leverage, doesn't get stuck on anything.

Pretty Sweet!

This is one of those things that looks very useless and time consuming compared to the normal tool, but actually is worth the time to make.

I thought you were going to build the tool not just remove the plastic handle and wrap it with paracord

Good storage ideas.

I Carry a lock pick set in my kit and have become pretty damn good at most all locks. Little lighter then a pry bar and much for quite and quick.

I rather have a flat bar. It's far more versatile with 2 different prying ends.

So this super tacticool tool is for police to use as a Breaking and entering assist.. isn't that illegal?

Nice tips !!!!!

That retention clip on the shock cord is called a barrel lock.

I been wrapping tools knives, c even pistol gripswith paracord, leather, nylon, manilla-- even copper but I've never glued anything like all these urban combat guys do-- plus removing the finish means more frequently having to UNwrap to brush the rust off that will ALWAYS collect underneath the cord and cause itcto rot.

Congratulations you just made the bar shorter , therefore less leverage .

“Tactical Muscle”. Love it!!!

I used hockey/grip tape on mine. Ran a loop of cord on the top under the tape to secure it.

Too much work for me. I don’t see the factory handle as a problem.🤷‍♂️

You do understand that the work of a prybar is done by being a lever, right? The longer the lever the greater the force? You've also reduced the strength of the grip you can get on it. You've accomplished making a prybar less effective than it already was for its short length. The only way to make this more gear queer-y is to put a punisher skull on it.

Nice job.

This video earned you my subscription love this❤

I'd love to try and see you open an actual secure door with that. 🤣

So you took a perfectly good handle and replaced it with a crappy handle 👌

Taking a prybar and making a prybar...brilliant...

Nice, especially love that if you keep the cord much longer, in a pinch you can remove the "handle" and have a ready made noose, albeit; a small one.

I call this the key to the city.😎 Its literally a prybar with a paracord wrap 🤡

So, cops can go anywhere they want without a warrant and yeah seems like a criminal video to me.... Makes me angry. Thanks for the security update.

Great video with a great idea. I just found your channel and I’m subscribing. Being a retired lawman I have to support my brothers and sisters still in the fight. IGY6. Stay safe and I’ll see ya down the road.

Also plasty dip might be a good option too

Short length of appropriate sized rubber hose and construction adhesive neatly applied; ✅

God man you are a frikin funkin genius, wow, holy macarel. Thankyou for that

Good stuff! subbed

In my course of instruction I tell everybody to carry one of these I have the Broco Jimmy so important in a go bag or on your person.

Cool idea. I'd leave the nitride finish on it. More corrosion resistance sure but for one I'm lazy and the second but main reason is that coating will generally hold up longer than your paracord will. If you want some extra bite for the epoxy grab a center punch and dimple it up a bit. Also ding up the corners with a grinder, file or punch/chisel.

Everyone has suggestions and Monday morning quarterbacking (like most outside of law enforcement) but I don’t see them making any videos! Great idea JT! Nice video and very easy to follow. Also, I like how you critique yourself and give better advice on what the viewer should do to fix it when they make it i.e. longer cord. Many RU-vidrs don’t do this and just push out content. Keep up the great content.

Thank you thank you so much i Was going to spend 70 dollars on one from a military store in Europe...i got a Normal One from 15 dollars from a store 30 inches One but i needed One alot smaller to Carry on my backpack and chest Rig...and Also plate Carrier specially since the Old One hás alot of more wheight

I think i have the tools to make this laying around. Great idea!

I watched this over a year ago, but just got around to making one yesterday. Some thoughts. None of these are meant to be negative; I appreciate the time and effort of putting together the video. I think it is a great idea, even for non-LEOs. To the discussion about hardness, I can tell you the handle is either unhardened or has been tempered way back from full hardness. I hit it with both a belt grinder (removing the paint) and a file (to rough it up) and it is not knife-hard. I’ve been happy with the steel in HF axes, but I have no idea about the steel in these pry bars. Point is, you can drill a hole in the handle tip if you want to. Would not recommend drilling a hole farther up the shaft. Also recommend you round off the but end of the pry bar. That is going to come up against the heel of your hand, potentially under a lot of pressure. You want that round and smooth even if you will always use gloves. I found the glue to be unnecessary; paracord-wrapped knife handles never use glue and they are subjected to a lot more twisting, pulling, pushing, and general use than this ever will be. I put the tool in a vise and used both hands to do the wrap. You don’t need to kill it, but I think wrapping it tighter than shown in the video is key to getting a paracord wrap that won’t stretch and wriggle its way undone. Know that the pull-through of the cinch at the top will be very difficult if you get a tight wrap. Again, this is a good thing. But you might have to wrap the tail around something to give you some leverage. Speaking of the tail, go ahead and leave six or eight inches hanging out of the butt end. You can tie a loop and make an attachment lanyard. It was probably gilding the lily, but after I got the wrap complete, I soaked the handle area in Flex Seal (liquid rubber). You could also use Plasti-dip or other such similar stuff. To prep for this, right before I started the wrap, I hit the shaft with some lacquer thinner (acetone) to degrease. I didn’t do this to waterproof the handle, but to effectively lock the paracord in place, and add a little grip to the surface. It remains to be seen how durable this is, but I don’t envision a lot of twisting motion, or really a ton of use of the tool at all. Time will tell.

HF's Pittsburgh prybar is amazing.

Hey there Johnny "what's a half-hitch" tacticool - The whole point of adding Paracord to anything is so you can wind some off when needed.

The real key to the city.

Nice idea. I think I would/will use 2 or 3 pieces of heat shrink tubing with adhesive instead of the paracord.

ok now i need a bolt cutter recommendation.

Paracord super tactical yess

A window break on the handle end would be awesome

Nice video brother, got a new subscriber here 👍🏻

Heat shrink instead of paracord would be a grippy handle that would probably hold up better

Seems like you could double loop it to leave a small loop at the top. It could be clipped on to something or hung in a locker for storage etc.

Should leave a loop at the end and grind a groove like a nail puller

Wire wheel on the grinder to remove finish super fast

I like the idea of thinning down the handle a bit, but think there are better solutions than paracord. Like taking the existing handle to a belt sander and shaping it. Then adding a lanyard hole is never a bad idea. Those of us with 3D printers can also whip something up that glues on as a replacement.

Awesome! More of this please! Wow, $5?! I can't find one under $15 anywhere!

Don't know if you've tried it but bank line works even better. As a bonus...it won't soak up water/sweat and its slightly tacky so more grippy. Stay safe out there Brother!

it is an awesome tool for 5 bucks and little customization