A crowbar, also called a pry bar or prybar, is a tool consisting of a metal bar with one curved end and flattened points, often with a small fissure on the curved end for removing nails. It is used as a lever to either force apart two objects or to remove nails. Crowbars are commonly used to open nailed wooden boxes. Another common use for larger crowbars is general demolition: for removing nails, prying apart boards, and generally smashing things.

Crowbars can be used as any of the three lever classes but are generally used as a 1st or 2nd class lever.

Materials and construction

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Normally made of medium carbon steel, they can be made from titanium also, which has the advantage of being lighter, nonmagnetic, and spark resistant.

The least expensive, most common crowbars are forged from hexagonal stock. More advanced, expensive designs often are forged with an I shaped cross sectional shaft similar to an I-beam. This shape makes them more resistant to bending. The titanium crowbars mentioned above have a round shaft.

Popular culture

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In some computer games a crowbar is the basic mêlée weapon wielded by the player's character, most famously Gordon Freeman from Half-Life and its sequels. Other notable examples include:

• Manhunt
• Deus Ex
• The City of Lost Heaven

The video game Chaos Theory parodies this with the line "crowbars are for geeky video game characters" (most likely referencing Gordon Freeman).

Many pieces of zombie-related fiction, such as Max Brooks' The Zombie Survival Guide, make special note of the crowbar as perhaps the best all-around mêlée weapon—not only does it make a useful tool, but it is light enough to be carried and wielded quickly, but heavy and durable enough to deal an effective blow, with a pointed end capable of penetrating a skull.

Tools | Woodworking hand tools

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