DIY: Eyelets ---> Speed Hooks

[The Zieg]

I want to put speed hooks on the top six pairs of eyelets on my 12" Bean boots. Question for anyone who has done boot/shoe repair: If I do this myself, is it necessary to remove the eyelets, exposing the leather holes, or can speed hooks be installed inside the metal eyelets?

P.S. I have seen one article on Gear Patrol say it can be done without removing the metal eyelets, so I am amending the question to read, "Should it be done?"

 

[Hickory n steel]

Absolutely yes it should be done, and putting them through the eyelets is a great common thing.

Look for machined speed hooks as the stamped / folded type are not as good because they like to bend, some are better than others but none as good as the solid machined type.

 

[thebrain]

Finding quality speed hooks will be the hardest part of your project. The kind that have a single rivet holding them should be able to go through the eyelet that is already there but it may be a snug fit. Good luck , I would love to see how it comes out.

 

[The Zieg]

Finding quality speed hooks will be the hardest part of your project. The kind that have a single rivet holding them should be able to go through the eyelet that is already there but it may be a snug fit. Good luck , I would love to see how it comes out.

Absolutely yes it should be done, and putting them through the eyelets is a great common thing.

Look for machined speed hooks as the stamped / folded type are not as good because they like to bend, some are better than others but none as good as the solid machined type.

I have seen a lot of bad reviews of the hooks themselves, some folks saying that they pull right out of the holes, that the posts are too short to peen properly, and some saying that they even break right off.

Then I found a good review of hooks from Weaver leather supply. I've bought a lot of Weaver stuff for bridle repair and I've never been disappointed. Yes a lot of Weaver's materials come from China, but we know China can produce some high quality knives, too, so I'm not going to dump on Weaver for that.

There is an age old and very reputable shoe repair place here in Colorado, Dardano's. They will do the job, but they charge ten dollars per hook. Obviously that's not for parts but for labor and I don't begrudge them paying their employees well. If you have a pair of hiking boots where a hook ripped off during an adventure, $10 is not a hardship, but I'm interested in doing twelve hooks per boot. I'm not going to put $240 into these boots!

So thanks for the replies and wish me luck! I'll report back, maybe with some WIP pics but certainly with final results.

 

[thebrain]

I understand wanting to try it yourself in the face of that cost, completely understandable them needing to charge that but like you said for one or two it makes sense. It reminds of guys stopping at our jobsite and asking if we wanted any circular saw blades sharpened, they said it's only $1 a tooth, that sounds ok until you think about it for a second and realize our $16 dollar 30 tooth saw blades will cost us $30 to sharpen, and worse yet the 24 tooth will cost $24 when they are under $10 new. I hope to see the finished product, I actually need to add two eyes to a pair of boots I have, they just don't snug up around the ankles like they should and there is a pretty wide gap between eyes. I salvaged some brass two rivet loop style eyes from some old military boots that will have to work because I'm not buying a bunch to try out and I know these are very sturdy. Good luck!!!