A nail puller like the ones reviewed in Cool Tools earlier (here and here) is not the best. It will gouge a quite horrible crater in your material unless the nail is at the surface, or just the right ...

Vise-Grips to Pull Nails Vise-Grip pliers make great nail pullers. The tool locks onto the nail, creating a secure hold, and the curve of the head provides excellent leverage.

Excerpt (We first reviewed these leveraged nail pullers back in 2006, and there are several different companies that manufacture them including HIT Tools which is the model featured above that is, ...