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

In this video I’ll show you how to make a custom DIY pry bar that you can easily carry with you in Patrol, SWAT, or Detectives. I'll also show you some easy ways to carry it on your SWAT kit, external vest carriers, or soft body armor.

I stole this idea from a couple of guys from New York City’s Emergency Services Unit and I’ve used mine for years. For about $10.00 and a little tactical elbow grease you can have an effective breaching tool with you at all times.

#SWAT #Police #Patrol #PoliceGear #Tactical #DIY #PryBar

Johnny Tactical exists to make law enforcement better from within and safer from without while helping you take your work seriously, but not yourself.

Live tactical. Be happy.

Materials:

- 12” pry bar
- Sandpaper
- Adhesive
- Paracord

Process:

Step 1: Remove factory handle
Step 2: Sand off factory coating on handle portion
Step 3: Apply a bead of adhesive to handle
Step 4: Wrap handle with paracord
Step 5: Cut and burn the paracord ends

Features:

- Easily fits in soft body armor panel pockets, MOLLE webbing, or in your Go Bag or backpack
- Light weight, around 5 oz.
- Inexpensive, about $10.00
- Small, strong, and versatile
- Able to pry doors open, force locks, or create space for larger prying tools

[peterbunnell]

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

[girthbrooks]

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!

[noelparra]

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.

[mikemanthey]

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

[Edge]

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.

[informedcitizen]

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.

[ShH]

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.

[livingwordchurchsanantonio]

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

[BFett-rikt]

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

[Piranhasuarus]

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

[kirkbrooks]

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.

[JensUlven]

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

[JohnSmith-gslw]

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.

[lucioweht]

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

[Valorius]

"Don't be an idiot." - 90% of the internet automatically disqualified.

[J.DeLaPoer]

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.

[chrismsmalley]

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.

[fritzynh]

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?

[electrophonic]

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...

[blcklstd]

Becoming a tactical stealth ninja sounds really dope