A valuable tool on a boat

Mike and Rebecca on s/v Zero To Cruising (aka ZTC) have a recommendation for a tool you should have onboard.  This is a significant improvement over the little plastic slip-ons that go over the jaws of a pair of Vice Grips:

I mentioned yesterday that, along with the autopilot belts, we had several other packages shipped to California for us to pick up when we visited there. Among those other items was a Pres-N-Snap tool from Sailrite. While not inexpensive, this is a valuable tool on a boat as almost all vessels have at least some canvas work or cushions which are kept secure by snap fittings. These snaps do not last forever and this tool is the best way that we have found to replace them.

Up until this point we were able to borrow our friends’ Pres-N-Snap tool to fix snaps which had broken off. Now that they’re no longer traveling with us, we figured that we’d better get our own. We were fortunate in that, when we ordered ours just before Christmas, the tool was on sale. It still wasn’t cheap but it was a lot better than paying full price.

The black case under the tool, which fits it perfectly,
is actually an old CD case that we happened to have on board.
No one uses CDs anymore, do they?

 

Editor's note: See also this new set of dies from Sailrite that allows you to set snaps using a standard rivet gun. One advantage is that there is no limitation as to how far from the edge a snap can be installed...