The Battle of the Prybars: Peterson vs Technical Entry

[xeo]

Interesting note about the rusting. Thanks for adding that.

[dicey]

Well Logan, I also have oil on my hands many times and mine do not rust because of it. But then again I do not pick as often as you guys. Maybe you should use another product for your hands? Try Weleda.

[MrWizard]

Great review on both Prybars. I have wanting to get Peterson's but have put it off many times. I didn't know they were so crudely unfinished on the edges. Doesn't look like laser cut that looks more like they are cut on a cheap plasma cutter. The closeup pictures sure make them look really bad. The T.E. ones looks 1000 times better not only on the edges but the teeth and nice flat ends and not so rounded on the bend look light years better in quality. The thing I don't like at all is the center with that notch that ruins an otherwise perfect looking tool for me. That is not needed and in my opinion was put there to try to make it different looking in a small way from the Peterson. The other thing that is undesirable is to get the T.E. ones here it will be $33.96 vs Peterson's I can get both from my local lock supply for 8.00 each with no shipping $16.00 less than half the cost of the T.E. How hard is metal on the Peterson's to smooth out being it is stainless because I would have to fix that as it would drive me up the wall. Might end up getting both the T.E. and Peterson's to see what I like the best.

Thanks for the review.

Richard

[ARF-GEF]

If you are planning on getting both maybe you should get the ticker from one and the slimmer from the other. That way if you like both (most likely) you won't end up wasting money.
Unless you are a perfectionist like myself who would be annoyed by not having a neat complete set of manufacturer

[MrWizard]

Once I make up my mind, I'm full of indecision.

[jailersmith]

I've got two sets of Peterson prybars and filing the burrs took about 15 minutes per tool. That is hand filed,of course. A dremel tool would speed the time up considerably.

[uklockpicker]

As you can see from the photo, the Technical Entry prybars have a curved midsection. I honestly don't know what the purpose of this ........

Thats suppose to be for hard & light tension , i guess if you put your finger in the grooves that will be very light tension applied.

great write up & pics

[xeo]

I love my TE prybars; my only gripe with them is that oils from your skin cause them to lightly rust. I have yet to get a set of Petersons to see if they suffer the same or not.
BTW...
Great thread Xeo.

I can second this. I've been using these TE prybars exclusively for a while now and they are starting to show rust from skin oil. The metal is also darkened. Peterson tools do not do this.

[Oldfast]

I can second this. I've been using these TE prybars exclusively for a while now and they are starting to show rust from skin oil. The metal is also darkened. Peterson tools do not do this.

I can confirm this as well. Not complaining... just confirming.
It's not really an extensive amount of rust, but it is there.
For me personally, it's not really a turn-off or anything.
I have and use BOTH sets and I like them all.

[fgarci03]

I only have the TE pry-bars. And yes they did get rusty. As Oldfast said, not extreme, but it's there. And it did darkened the metal. Works like charm and doesn't leave stuff on your hands, but it's something TE should work on IMO

[IxViRuSxI]

Wonderful thread. I was about to order some peterson pry bars. Now I know to try out the Technical Entry. Thanks again.

[rai]

I don't have any petersen or the other company's tools,
but I found a piece of round wire that was about and eighth inch in diameter and bent it then ground it to a tension blade, but the thick round handle made it too heavy for my sets of pick so I ground that too and finished on a belt sander then a few sanding sticks, now it fits so nicely in the watch pocket of my jeans that you could miss feeling it if you were reaching in with a finger.
its about equal to any of the pry bars, but its a custom tool. I really like it and am on the lookout for more of that wire, perhaps its that piano wire some speak of.
The only piano wire I ever used came from a piano, and was wrapped in copper wire, the long ones on the base note end. that stuff worked great too.

[jeffmoss26]

I have a whole bunch of .078 music wire that I've used to make custom tension wrenches.
Cut to size, bend, grind to fit the lock. Just made one last night to fit a WB padlock.

[xeo]

I've also used .08 music wire to make tensioners. Probably due to lack of skill but I found it was far too difficult to make perfectly flat ends for TOK tension. I did manage to get a few decent ones and they weren't as great as I thought they would be. The feedback wasn't nearly as solid. I'm guessing the vibrations and shockwaves sent through the wire is dampened by how flexible the metal is. Nothing beats a solid rigid tool for TOK.

[cyrano138]

@ logan: The petersons do not rust. Have had a pair since I started picking and there is zero corrosion. And I am a sweaty mofo.

Great review, xeo! The Medeco pictures make me wish I'd had the nuts to crack some, but I've still never tried. I was super happy to have figured out Best cores. though.