r/Firefighting 6d ago

General Discussion What do y’all call this ?

Post image

What do y’all call this tool

129 Upvotes

212 comments sorted by

208

u/RowdyCanadian Canadian Firefighter 6d ago

A pry bar?

47

u/6TangoMedic Canadian Firefighter 6d ago

Big pry bar.

25

u/fish1552 FF/EMT who thankfully doesn't have to do medical 5d ago

Hey, some departments don't have large ones. They have to work with what they have. And it's the motion of the bar, not the size.

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8

u/labmansteve 5d ago

I was also going to say big pry bar.

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49

u/choppedyota Prays fer Jobs. 6d ago

Spud bar.

12

u/Desolator_X 5d ago

This is what we call it

20

u/Coinbells 5d ago

spud bar are you making mashed potatoes with this thing?

4

u/TacoDaTugBoat Backwoods Volley 5d ago

For digging up spud shaped rocks

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5

u/burningboarder 5d ago

This is the term I learned early on. I just looked it up and it seems like the term "Spud" is one of the earliest for a bar like this which is interesting since, at least in this thread, it's not as common as it used to be. Etymology is cool.

1

u/disturbed286 FF/P 5d ago

I've always called/heard it called a spud bar too. I've never once used it for anything.

3

u/meleemaker 5d ago

We had em on the ARFF trucks. I used it specifically once to behead a rattlesnake that got into the station

2

u/disturbed286 FF/P 5d ago

That explains why I've never seen it used. No rattlesnakes where I am.

2

u/ZalinskyAuto 5d ago

Run it through 100’ LDH for an easy 2 man carry

2

u/disturbed286 FF/P 5d ago

Correction. I've used it for that. Or to roll it off of for loading.

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1

u/themakerofthings4 1d ago

Technically it's a pinch bar, although it could be mistaken for a spud bar because they're similar. Spud bars are longer, have a wider head, and have a round cap/pommel/whatever on the opposing end.

43

u/K1776 Career Firefighter/EMT 6d ago

A pinch bar. Truck carries them.

2

u/GatorGuy318 5d ago

Pinch Bar for sure

36

u/hshawn419 KS Volly FF 6d ago

Rock bar

6

u/19TowerGirl89 5d ago

This is the way

23

u/Upper-Gift-3598 6d ago

Pinch bar

12

u/FCFD_161 5d ago

This one. I believe they were used to pinch rail cars along. Massive lever at the end means a person can insert between the wheel and track and move the car and few inches for help coupling / decoupling on a switch yard.

2

u/Upper-Gift-3598 5d ago

Exactly!! I’ve even used one in that exact way on the rear dual while 5 other guys were pushing on the front bumper to get the broken engine back into the app bay….

20

u/bdrft45 5d ago

Tanker bar

7

u/fish1552 FF/EMT who thankfully doesn't have to do medical 5d ago

19Ks know this. :)

5

u/Ima_Novice 5d ago

So do artillery men. These dirty civies think it’s called a pry bar lol

3

u/SoCalFyreMedic 5d ago

Tanker medic here. A rose by any other name. Still a tanker bar

19

u/nutbagger18 Hick on the Stick 6d ago

Looks like a spud bar

39

u/throwingutah 6d ago

Nothing, because I have no idea what that is.

22

u/salsa_verde_doritos 6d ago

Type of pry bar for…prying things.

13

u/throwingutah 6d ago

It looks like something for spreading mayonnaise on a very large sandwich.

11

u/Candyland_83 6d ago

I called it a lot of bad words the last time I opened the compartment door and it fell on me.

“Items in the overhead bins may have shifted during flight”

2

u/malice427 5d ago

So question, did someone forget to latch them down with that stretchy latch thing or did that stretchy latch thing just give up (I have no idea what the actual term for that securing device is)

2

u/Candyland_83 5d ago

The stretchy latch thing gave up. Then I rearranged all the stuff so they wouldn’t fall out anymore—then my favorite guy on the next shift opened the same door and a strut fell on him. I booby-trapped him accidentally.

It’s a reserve unit so we won’t have to suffer much longer with it.

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26

u/skimaskschizo Box Boy 5d ago

Sounding rod

9

u/BlitzieKun Career, Tx 5d ago

If you are brave enough

9

u/NeonNoon 6d ago

Pry bar/pinch bar

12

u/Dicktation88 FF/PM 6d ago

Pry bar

13

u/CookieeJuice 6d ago

Tanker bar

5

u/Notcid1 5d ago

Heavy

4

u/Amateur_Menace13 5d ago

My dad called it a Johnson bar but I usually refer to it as a pry bar

2

u/ellamenopee 5d ago

Holy shit I can’t believe I had to scroll this far down to find this. Didn’t realize it was that niche to call it a Johnson bar.

5

u/GweepLathandas 5d ago

The Persuader

2

u/Apparatusis 5d ago

Nah that’s the mallet in the engineer compartment….

10

u/ellihunden 6d ago

Braker bar

3

u/AK611750 6d ago

Pince de carrier

3

u/Correct-Clothes-3895 5d ago

Pompier du Québec icitte

3

u/AK611750 5d ago

⚜️

2

u/Skullrawk Montreal ff 5d ago

Exactement

2

u/AK611750 5d ago

C’est drôle parceque si on se fie à ce post ils s’entendent pas sur le nom en anglais, mais en français ça a un nom vraiment précis 😅

3

u/joneptune FF/Medic 5d ago

J'ai appris aujourd'hui. Merci beaucoup pour votre point de vue, mes amis.

3

u/AK611750 5d ago

Toujours un plaisir, voisin du sud 🇺🇸

2

u/Skullrawk Montreal ff 5d ago

En anglais j’ai toujours entendu plus rock bar ou rack bar

3

u/Lord-Velveeta Local 125 6d ago

Looks like a good old pry bar to me.

3

u/SouthBendCitizen 6d ago

Pinch point pry bar

2

u/Wolfxskull 5d ago

This is the correct name for the tool. A lot of people call it a pry bar or breaker bar but if you were to search a product name this would be it.

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3

u/Saskatoon_Rune 5d ago

That's a rock bar. Leave that pig at the cache.

3

u/100HB 5d ago

on my old phone, this looks like a line drawn by a sharpie marker

3

u/Mister_Man 5d ago

In Germany, we call it a "Hebebaum".

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3

u/scaredwhiteboy1 Career Company Officer 5d ago

Bull dick

2

u/Level_Team4979 6d ago

That is a pinch point crow bar/digging bar.

2

u/James_YYC 6d ago

The long pointy thing? Really no idea

2

u/Nice_Assignment7158 5d ago

The bar thats mounted on the running boards for some inexplicable reason that hasn't been used since I've joined and probably won't get used

2

u/Imaginary-Anybody542 5d ago

Pry bar, keep two on the bumper of the aerials and in 17 years I’ve seen them used once

2

u/cmelt2003 5d ago

Breaker bar.

2

u/AustinsAirsoft Career Firefighter 5d ago

51" pry bar

2

u/donnie_rulez 5d ago

Can't believe I had to scroll this far. This is a 51" pry bar. Final answer

2

u/GiveElaRifleShields 5d ago

That's my mom's dilly

2

u/DanJR92 5d ago

When i worked trails crew in the Forest Service we called them Rock Bars, and will always be rock bar. Very useful. A couple of these and you can manipulate obscenely large rocks

2

u/GodsBanjo 5d ago

San Angelo Bar. 🤷🏻‍♂️

1

u/joneptune FF/Medic 5d ago

Interesting.

1

u/superspeck 5d ago

Texas Toothpick

2

u/Goddess_of_Carnage 5d ago

We specialize in taking simple things to the impossible level.

FFS

2

u/P3arsona Volunteer FF 5d ago

I called it a pry bar during my engine familiarization test and I failed because apparently it’s also called a braker bar

2

u/joneptune FF/Medic 5d ago

I learned it as the "pry bar" at my 1st FD and it's a "51 in pinch bar" at the new department.

2

u/Reebatnaw 5d ago

It’s the ISO bar. The only thing it’s good for is an ISO point or two

2

u/joneptune FF/Medic 5d ago

This is the real answer, I presume.

2

u/GooseWayneman 5d ago

We call those a Lippert

2

u/fyxxer32 5d ago

On the FD we called it a pry bar.On the railroad in one of my previous lives we called it a lining bar because with several guys you could move the rail when you were repairing it. Also it was used in a track jack.

https://www.aldonco.com/product/358-lining-bar-pinch-pt-26/

2

u/CarobLoud1851 5d ago

Pinch bar, pry bar, spud. I've heard different names. In industrial manufacturing it was called a pinch bar. We had 5' & 6' versions. There's a 4' bar on our Ladder Truck. Huge amount of leverage!

2

u/thtboii FF/Paramedic 5d ago

A thingamajigger

2

u/explodinglavalamps 5d ago

Landscaping lurker here, we call them rock bars or a heavy pry

2

u/Whatisthisnonsense22 5d ago

Truckie shit..

2

u/chuckfinley79 27 looooooooooooooong years 5d ago

Me personally: spud bar or that giant heavy ass pry bar

Engine check sheet just calls it a pry bar.

2

u/Futuresex7 4d ago

Pry bar?

1

u/Ok_Situation1469 6d ago

Chisel end, pinch point bar.

1

u/the_falconator Professional Firefighter 6d ago

Bar

1

u/my_name_is_nobody__ 6d ago

Rock bar, on a type 3 that’s used for getting rocks out of the dualies

1

u/Chicken_Hairs AIC/AEMT 6d ago

Tank bar

1

u/makinentry 5d ago

Pincher bar

1

u/Living_Union9169 Volunteer FF 5d ago

Paddle 😀

1

u/joneptune FF/Medic 5d ago

Cane?

1

u/Vierno 5d ago

Pry bar/breaker bar/spud bar… also called the same in construction

1

u/Professional-Win5670 5d ago

Tanker bar/Rock bar

1

u/melaskor 5d ago

In our region jts called a biter or just the big pry bar

1

u/Th3SkinMan 5d ago

Pry bar

1

u/9browngrass 5d ago

Slate bar

1

u/Gavin103982 5d ago

Pry bar

1

u/jtroub9 5d ago

A bar that prys

1

u/DisastrousFeature509 aspiring firefighter 5d ago

Heavy duty pry bar

1

u/[deleted] 5d ago

Pry bar

1

u/Tech397 5d ago

We call it a pry bar or a pinch bar interchangeably

1

u/GhostCatcherSky 5d ago

Possibly a weirdly shaped butter knife

1

u/LunarMoon2001 5d ago

Whackin stick.

1

u/JoelDBennett1987 5d ago

Id call it a scraper, but i work trades lol

1

u/Heretical_Infidel Edit to create your own flair 5d ago

Tanker bar

1

u/Pondering_Giraffe 5d ago

I say you people just have really heavy nose hair and this is a trimmer.

1

u/Granthaymaker5 5d ago

Cheater bar

1

u/ksinh19 5d ago

That's the tank stirrer

1

u/Dr_CleanBones 5d ago

It is half of a very large chop stick.

Either that or a very long rectal thermometer.

1

u/1o1opanda 5d ago

Spud bar

1

u/tksipe 5d ago

Chisel point pry bar

1

u/powerengineer 5d ago

Wrecking bar

1

u/Lechutehusky 5d ago

Large Pry Bar

1

u/DawgLuva- 5d ago

Pry bar

1

u/TheArcaneAuthor Truckie, Hazmat Nerd, AEMT 5d ago

That thing we use to roll 5 inch

1

u/peterbound 5d ago

Old man bar

1

u/GobliNSlay3r 5d ago

Breaker Bar.

1

u/MuscularShlong 5d ago

Thats a spud bar. Never seen it on a fire truck. Have used it to break up concrete and rocks while digging.

1

u/NotGayRyan FF/ PM 5d ago

Large pry bar or tanker bar

1

u/Resident-Ad-5107 5d ago

Johnson Bar.

1

u/Dabryceisright77 5d ago

Looks like them drawn on eye brows those ugly hoes be rocking

1

u/Orgasmic_interlude 5d ago

Lifting heavy things and stacking cribbing underneath bar

1

u/datpoopcutterdoe 5d ago

The poop knife

1

u/imperialguard_t 5d ago

Breaker bar

1

u/sparkey504 5d ago

Demolition bar

1

u/TheFrontButtons 5d ago

Pry Bar in the fire service but it's a Bradley bar for the small one and Tanker Bar for the real one.

1

u/Annual-Elevator7577 5d ago

Pinch point bar

1

u/tyophious 5d ago

Pry bar but I've heard it called other things

1

u/Ibanez314 5d ago

Pinch point pry bar.

1

u/srv524 5d ago

Breaker bar

1

u/Successful-Growth827 5d ago

Pinch pry bar. What to use it for? Don't know. Only ever used them to pry the grates up at the station to clean the drains. Never actually used them on a call.

1

u/GeorgiaGrind GA Career FF/AEMT 5d ago

Pinch bar

1

u/FloodedHoseBed career firefighter 5d ago

We call it a wrecker bar

1

u/SabotageFusion1 5d ago

A shale bar

1

u/Andyrob4511 5d ago

Admiral rock bar

1

u/jps2777 TX FF/Paramedic 5d ago

Pry bar

1

u/475213 5d ago

Pry bar.

1

u/GoodbyeRiver 5d ago

Oh, that’s Snapes wand 

1

u/kp56367 Paid on call FF/NRP 5d ago

A big ass pry bar

1

u/LocutusOfBeard 5d ago

Tool of persuasion

1

u/BigDuck-07 5d ago

Tanker Bar.

1

u/CauseBrave4388 5d ago

Called get a new job if you don’t know what that is.

I’m 100% joking, it’s called a pry bar here. Obviously many things you can use it for but the most utilization I’ve gotten out of that thing was during those long incidents where you are opening up walls. Great for pulling down lath and plaster walls.

1

u/Je_me_rends Staircase Enthusiast 5d ago

Metal

1

u/Beanmilk08 5d ago

Rockbar or Prybar

1

u/gueheadman 5d ago

Aka: tankers bar if you ever served

1

u/j-mf-r 5d ago

Pinch point bar

1

u/Hopefulone5 5d ago

Roach beating stick

1

u/Living-Fortune-6178 5d ago

Jimmy, but he prefers to go by James. More professional

1

u/MR_Butt-Licker 5d ago

The big ass pry bar

1

u/Ozma914 5d ago

Pry bar. When I first started in 1980, that and axes were about the only hand tools on our engines.

1

u/CoyoteRemote9156 5d ago

USARMY Tanker Bar

1

u/Alphab8a 5d ago

It's a pry bar lol... pinch bar...crow bar... spud bar .. I've heard it called multiple names.

1

u/BookofHearSay 5d ago

The suggestion stick (pry bar)

1

u/BriGuy550 5d ago

A pry bar

1

u/RobertTheSpruce UK Fire - CM 5d ago

Looks like a big pokey bar to me. Some would say the best kind of bar.

1

u/chrxlun 5d ago

In rural Austria we call this one a Goashaxn. :)

1

u/bbmedic3195 5d ago

It's good for prying up manholes and sewer grates

1

u/mmadej87 5d ago

Kinda glad this topic got brought up, I have a LT that calls it a toothpick and is convinced that’s a common name for it.

Anybody else heard it called that?

1

u/64truckLT 5d ago

Pinch bar

1

u/No-Claim-2465 4d ago

We called it a tankers bar

1

u/wolfey200 Ass Chief 4d ago

The big pry bar, usually it’s right next to the short pry bar.

1

u/william_uncle 4d ago

What’s it? I haven‘t seen it.

1

u/CaliSkinny420 4d ago

Rock bar

1

u/Expensive-Barber-283 4d ago

Chuck Norris’s dental pick

1

u/PsychologicalRow9473 4d ago

Mesquite thorn

1

u/Poopswimmer333 4d ago

Thingy majiggy

1

u/JustCa11M3R3d 4d ago

I thought that was just a really cool stick

1

u/TheCamoTrooper Fire & First Response 🇨🇦 4d ago

Digging bar

1

u/RapidSequenceRegret 4d ago

Track bar. From military days

1

u/Apprehensive-Gap1251 4d ago

Rock bar. Still don’t know what we would use them on the trucks for.

1

u/ssgemt 2d ago

Pinch bar.

Army calls it a tanker's bar.

1

u/frickingalex 2d ago

Pry bar or wrecking bar