Customer Reviews

Stanley 55-099 FatMax Xtreme Fubar Functional Utility Bar

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this tool to help me with some tearout work I needed to do on a house I just bought. It is EXCELLENT at tearout work. My friend was working alongside me with a hammer and a prybar, and I was going at least twice as fast as him, just because this ridiculous tool was so great at destroying things.

The product description says that this tool has 4 different uses, but that's not really true. I can't imagine using it for anything but breaking stuff. If you wanted to use it as a hammer or a "board bender" or something, it seems like it might not be that great.

But if all you want to do is knock down some walls or kill some enemies, this is the way to go.

This weekend marked my first foray in eight years into home improvement. Needless to say, I'm a little rusty. The project: knock out, wire and rebuild a wall, tear up carpeting and install hardwood flooring.

Job 1: remove baseboards. DO NOT USE THE FUBAR FOR THIS! Stanley has another tool well suited to the job. Their SuperWonder pry bar is perfect for removing things that you do not want to kill.

Job 2: remove fireplace. The FUBAR (hereafter referred to as Bender because I cannot stop laughing my "evil Bender from Futurama" laugh when I use this thing) chewed through the 1990 particleboard blight in record time. My wife was convinced that the mantle piece was part of the structure of the house, it was on so solid. Bender ripped it off like a paper towel. It was into the studs with four 3" wood screws and the house wept when I tore it off. I felt like a Mohel. I also made short work of the hearth by using Bender like a crowbar.

Job 3: tear our wall. As other reviewers have mentioned, this thing is really good at tearing apart walls. The whole wall came down in about 10 minutes.

Job 4: Tear out carpet. Admittedly, Bender was not very good at ripping up carpet but he did a marvelous job at ripping up nail strips and yanking staples out of the plywood that had become too gummed up with underlay to nail down.

Conclusion:

This tool will be framed after the job is done. It is a work of art.

I've seen this on the Stanley new tools site since january of this year.. waiting to get my hands on one. OUTstanding tool that fits in your hand. I use mine for pallet ripping ! AND no matter the method of assembly, this crusher does the job well. No vibrations, goes where it needs to go, the pick end loosens and the pry bar .. well, you get the idea. I do agree with the writer about the hammer head. On recieving mine, I first sanded off all the shellac, then filed a better point on the chisel, then took the disk sander with coarse grain to the hammer head to fit my needs. Some cross files to the head with a file and its a sweet little item. It's got the same weight as my framing hammer for roofing. During the day, the tool hangs smartly in my cube over a sign at the helpdesk, "All repairs handled Swiftly".

I've had this tool since it came out and have used it on several jobs now. First, it does work well for most demolition, especially when using it as a sledge. The blade below the hammer head works wonders for ripping through drywall, plywood, etc. For demo alone, I'd recommend it.

It's usefulness, however, for general construction is more limited. I got it to use as a pry bar and tweaker for framing/deck building. Some might find it too heavy to have on a tool belt w/ another framing hammer, but the weight isn't what got me. My biggest complaint is the pry bar end. It really isn't long or flat enough to use as either a pry bar or a crow bar. It's too sharp to leave in your belt because it cuts into your leg. Stanley should either add another six inches to the length or move the pry bar to the end of the tweaker and just stick a curved handle on the end.

Overall, good if you're doing demo or not planning on carrying it in your belt all day while moving around.

This tool is really heavy. If you have to use it all day you will get quite a workout. The downside is that the hammer head is not milled so if you use it to pound out nails from the back of the board that you just ripped off something it is pretty tough to hit the nail squarely. I found that it was exasperating to constantly have to straighten the nail in order to hit it squarely. The hammer head is 1) Too small and 2) Too smooth.

I'm a DIYer and I'm constantly finding new uses for this thing. Whether it's breaking up furniture for trash pickup, demo work for a project, or even using it to remove some big bushes/smallish trees, the Fubar does whatever it is asked to very well.

I may just retire my crowbar now.

Go ahead, you know you want this, and you won't be disappointed.

THOR GOD OF THUNDER!Thats who I feel like with this tool in my hand.Best demo. tool around.Not for the faint of heart.

I have two of these and use them constantly. The Fubar performs a variety of tasks quite well.

I used to keep a "baby sledge" in one of my hammer loops when doing demolition-I disliked damaging the milled face of my framing hammer to strike pry bars and such.

The Fubar works great to pound on prybars or other surfaces that would damage milled grooves on a hammer. It is also a very functional pry bar. The "wood wrench" functionality provided by the two-tiered jaws works well, but can leave visible indentations on exposed work-best for demolition and use on concealed lumber.

I disagree with other reviewer's comments on the relatively small hammer face. The Fubar isn't designed to replace a hammer for nailing. It is an all-around tool and excels at the purposes for which it was designed.

I would like to see Stanly introduce a version that is 10-16" longer and slightly heavier.

As others have pointed out, the prybar portion of this tool is curved to the left, leaving any right-handed person injuring themselves whenever they pull the tool down toward their thigh. It will even take a chunk out of you if you're just not paying attention and lowering it to your side. This is unacceptable. DO NOT BUY THIS. Another problem is that the backside drywall blade is very dull, making it inefficient when seeking to split and rip wallboard. Although it's otherwise a well-made and balanced tool, those two design flaws prevent it from being useful for more than single-use jobs. A much better choice is to go with the Dead On 18-Inch Annihilator Bar. It comes with a brilliant spike that allows you to punch through a wall quickly and accurately to see where the wiring is. The Dead On bar looks weird, but after a day of use, you'll thank me for finding a better tool.

This is a demolition tool, and it does that job very very well. I ripped apart a dressing room in minutes, and then destroyed a sales counter just as fast. Clearly designed to break up two-by-fours, sheetrock, and anything nailed together, and it does it very well.

This is the first tool I've ever had that suggested eye protection not only for the user, but also for bystanders. I would not recommend it for fighting zombies, mainly due to blood spatter.