Bought vs Homemade

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arf_herper
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Bought vs Homemade

Post by arf_herper »

Is it better to have a homemade snake hook or one that was bought. I personally have a two homemade hooks, but thats because I have never found a place that sells hooks, and I cant get one off the internet. I just want your input.

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gbin
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by gbin »

You probably already know my vote from recent posts, arf. I can't possibly manufacture a field hook as good as those one can buy and I don't like tools to fail me while I'm using them, so I say bought.

Why can't you get one over the internet?

Gerry
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arf_herper
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by arf_herper »

@ gerry: its the whole credit card thing i dont like, a long with shipping and handling, i am planing on getting one in the future, but for now homemade are just fine for me

btw where is a good place to get real good hooks that wont break the bank
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Daryl Eby
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by Daryl Eby »

It depends. Gerry framed it fairly well. If you can't make one good enough to suit your needs, then buying one is the better value.

Some on this board have made some truly excellent hooks. Others lack the technical ability, tools, and materials to make a reliable hook. Some can drop big bucks on custom made professional equipment. Others need to save their money for gas to get to their favorite herping spot. Do whatever works for you.

If you want a highly reliable hook, but lack the cash or the ability to make one, try using a hoe (just break off the blade, leaving the hook), or try a potato rake. Some of the best field herpers on this forum swear by the utility of potato rakes.
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justinm
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by justinm »

Psyon makes some really awesome hooks. I wouldn't use them to haul me up hillsides like I do with the Midwest O'shea hook though. For moving a hot out of the way or to keep it from getting away they are awesome! Maybe you can talk to him.
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kyle loucks
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by kyle loucks »

I have been using my midwest hook for the last 10+ years maybe? I still use it to pull me up hills...
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Mike VanValen
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by Mike VanValen »

I use my midwest hook as a back-scratcher.
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gbin
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by gbin »

True enough, a (series of) potato rake(s) was my tool of choice before I bought a Stump Ripper.

But on the expense of a really good hook like my Stump Ripper, I think of it this way: Sure it cost a lot, but in return it lasts a long, long time. I've put mine to all kinds of field uses, both appropriate and inappropriate, and it still looks virtually like new after (geez, I hate to think of it...) more than 30 years. On any kind of cost per use basis one cares to calculate, that's pretty darn cheap!

Gerry
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arf_herper
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by arf_herper »

What would be good for flipping over big rotten logs

Mark OShea Signature Series 29 inch Hook- Price: $49.95
OR
Standard Hook- Price: $29.95

Would the standard hook work fairly well?
joecop
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by joecop »

As mentioned and if money is tight----yard sale hoe for a couple of bucks and break off the blade. I use mine on every east coast herping adventure and they come in very handy for flipping objects in any area where you might run into a hot snake.
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Jason Thullbery
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by Jason Thullbery »

I had a friend recommend this guy who makes hooks and sells them on Ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 365wt_1137

He will double or triple shaft them for a bit extra and any length up to 42". I got mine double shafted and the max 42". It seems really sturdy and I like it so far (only had it a short time though). Not sure how it will compare to the Mark O'shea hook but it feels sturdy enough for any use I'd have for it.

Jason T

Edit: Not trying to hijack the thread but I'm curious if it was decided to do away with the signatures.
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justinm
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by justinm »

There's often a lot of talk of Stump Rippers vs. other hooks. I've had several Stump Rippers in my hand and I have to say they are probably better suited for lifting AC, than my O'shea hook is. Having said that, I think the quality and sturdiness is as good in either case. And Midwest.com is easier to order through.
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chris_mcmartin
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by chris_mcmartin »

justinm wrote:There's often a lot of talk of Stump Rippers vs. other hooks. I've had several Stump Rippers in my hand and I have to say they are probably better suited for lifting AC, than my O'shea hook is. Having said that, I think the quality and sturdiness is as good in either case. And Midwest.com is easier to order through.
It might be a question of what people actually use their hooks FOR...I can count on one hand the number of times I've used a hook to lift cover; I usually use my equipment solely for handling hots, so I guess brute strength, ability to pull myself up bluffs, lean on the hook, or cook hot dogs is not something that figures into my purchases. That's not to say they wouldn't be up to the task.
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justinm
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by justinm »

Chris,

The size difference between you and I is huge. My O'shea hook pulls me up hills and has for years. So it would certainly be up to the task your hill climbing needs.
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gbin
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by gbin »

I've never used a field hook other than my Stump Ripper, so I can't compare them. In my foolishly unthinking youth I did use it just as its name suggests, though, and I've used it to lift plenty of cover (that I can replace) since, too. I've also used it more than occasionally to help myself up steep slopes, and I've always been a pretty big guy. It's never given even the slightest suggestion of failure.

Gerry
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M Wolverton
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by M Wolverton »

With time and materials you can obviously make a more sturdy and better hook than what is commonly offered for sale. Golf clubs simply aren't all that sturdy and aren't made to put up with the sort of abuse hooks can go through.

They vary, I bought a standard golf club one about 10 years ago (I used simple bent steel rods before that) and still use it, I lift heavy cover with it, drag myself up hills, lean on it, the works (I don't cook hot dogs with it). About five years ago I bought another that was a bit longer and broke it within a few weeks, I went back to using the old one. I plan on eventually making a nice one.

If you want a free hook, look around in places where Jeremiah Easter has herped. He "donates" them regularly. :lol:
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-EJ
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by -EJ »

The Stump Ripper has been around for well over 30 years. It has been copied for as long. Why would you settle for a copy when you can still get an original?

For me... a $2 used golf club... a 12 inch piece of suitable aluminum or steel rod... about $5... and some glue stick... works great. A tube bender would help with the radium... which I'm sure any plumber would help you with if you explained what it was for.
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Daryl Eby
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by Daryl Eby »

I'd love to see a "multi-use" herping tool. After all, we're not just herping. We're also hiking, climbing, and photographing. I need a field hook, hiking stick, climbing aid, and mono-pod.

Jason's friend makes a sturdy tool that serves as a very nice field hook and climbing aid. Perhaps he (or some other industrious entrepreneur) could make a couple of revisions.

* Make it a hiking stick: Add a little nub at the bottom of the shaft (continuing about an inch past where the hook makes the "L" bend).
* Make it a mono-pod: Add a threaded head at the top of the shaft that could connect to a swiveling tripod head.

I would definitely pay for such a tool and would even be able to carry it with me in BBNP (just wouldn't use it for herping there).
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M Wolverton
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by M Wolverton »

Needs a DVD player too.
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Daryl Eby
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by Daryl Eby »

M Wolverton wrote:Needs a DVD player too.
And a cup holder!
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-EJ
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by -EJ »

A friend here in the east did just that... added a piece of 1/4 x 1 x 5 inch flat stock to his monopod for the very reason you suggest... going into parks without being hassled. It was added to the bottom... 'for better stability'.
Daryl Eby wrote:I'd love to see a "multi-use" herping tool. After all, we're not just herping. We're also hiking, climbing, and photographing. I need a field hook, hiking stick, climbing aid, and mono-pod.

Jason's friend makes a sturdy tool that serves as a very nice field hook and climbing aid. Perhaps he (or some other industrious entrepreneur) could make a couple of revisions.

* Make it a hiking stick: Add a little nub at the bottom of the shaft (continuing about an inch past where the hook makes the "L" bend).
* Make it a mono-pod: Add a threaded head at the top of the shaft that could connect to a swiveling tripod head.

I would definitely pay for such a tool and would even be able to carry it with me in BBNP (just wouldn't use it for herping there).
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AndyO'Connor
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by AndyO'Connor »

I spent about 105 on my furman stump ripper. It took a few weeks to get, and it was more expensive than any other hook I've seen. I had already broken 2 midwest std hooks. I custom order my stump ripper to be a bit longer since I am taller, and it's double gripped, and personalized. I didn't get the blue double shafted and I think it's fine, definitely lifted some very large things with it (refrigerators come to mind). Plus, since it's personalized, I find more snakes with it. It's like when you get flame decals on your car, automatic 15 horsepower right there.
Upscale
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by Upscale »

Made from a 3/8 inch steel rod from Home Depot, total cost including a golf club grip was less than ten dollars.

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Had to use some tubing as a shim between the shaft and the grip, but you can hardly tell unless you look here.

Image

I hammer the steel into this profile with a small sledge hammer and finish it off with a file to make it fairly smooth- no hammer marks.

Image

I bend the steel into the hook shape using a vise and a couple of pipe fittings to bend around. I slip a pipe up the straight part of the shaft so the bend happens right where I want.


This hook is very heavy and indestructible unless you whack a power line or something. Just have to be careful in the snake room you don’t hit a glass cage front by mistake. Dude, ten bucks and some elbow grease- have a hook tomorrow.
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BillMcGighan
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by BillMcGighan »

Ok, I admit it. I'm a cretin, a Neanderthal, my knuckles scrape the ground....
.
Maybe it's cause I grew up dirt poor....
Maybe it's that I don't stand around other herpers and have "hook envy". :lol: ;)
.
I don't know, but in 50+ years of herping, I've never felt the need for a hook beyond this modified hoe: (not to be confused with a girl I met in Nuevo Laredo once. :lol: ) :?
.
.
This has a fiberglass handle for durability, cut easily to your personal length, can be reversed to use as a hiking stick, becomes a personal defense weapon, is designed to pull back heavy loads like stacks of AC, and can be replaced for less than $15 in any Walmart or Home Depot, even on the road or in a foreign country.
.
I admit I have no need to handle hots except to get them off a roadway, or slow them down to snap a pic....
.
This is not to say you should't carry all the wonderful hooks that are out there, but, unless you work in a lab or zoo, I can’t see the value in the field.
.
Now, feel free to scratch your angry spot of indignity, and tell me where I’m wrong.
Regards, Bill

PS I have, however, found tongs to be handy in places where hooks are useless. :thumb:
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Daryl Eby
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by Daryl Eby »

Hey Bill,

I use that same hoe. Does the job for just a few bucks. Always ready, willing, and able. Not the best looking, but last and last.

Viva Nueva Laredo!
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Jason Thullbery
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by Jason Thullbery »

Daryl Eby wrote:I'd love to see a "multi-use" herping tool. After all, we're not just herping. We're also hiking, climbing, and photographing. I need a field hook, hiking stick, climbing aid, and mono-pod.

Jason's friend makes a sturdy tool that serves as a very nice field hook and climbing aid. Perhaps he (or some other industrious entrepreneur) could make a couple of revisions.

* Make it a hiking stick: Add a little nub at the bottom of the shaft (continuing about an inch past where the hook makes the "L" bend).
* Make it a mono-pod: Add a threaded head at the top of the shaft that could connect to a swiveling tripod head.

I would definitely pay for such a tool and would even be able to carry it with me in BBNP (just wouldn't use it for herping there).
Just to clarify I don't know this guy at all. He was just recommended to me by a friend. But I think it could be really good for the idea you have since it feels very sturdy.

Jason T

PS. Did we do away with the signatures?
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b-Sol
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by b-Sol »

In all the years I've been catching snakes, I've never used a hook. There have been a few times where I could have used one. There are a lot of folks I respect on the forum that use them so I might try my hand at making one. I have some experience working with metal and having a tubing bended, drill press, welder, etc. should help. Maybe I'll make a build thread on one!
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arf_herper
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by arf_herper »

How sturdy are the OShea hooks? and upscale, i really like your idea and might put it into action today, but i hope it will be really sturdy and can roll over rotten logs.
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Joe Farah
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by Joe Farah »

The heavier hooks make better weapons... if that's a consideration at all.
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by Paul White »

yeah, no it's not :crazyeyes:

For me, I can't build worth a crap so I'll buy. I don't need my homemade hook or tongs breaking.
Upscale
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by Upscale »

You will not bend or break a 3/8 inch solid steel rod. If you do, in my opinion you are too heavy handed to collect snakes, switch to grizzly bears or elephants. :) Actually you could whittle a wooden stick to suit too, it isn’t that complicated, a very simple tool.
Paul White
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by Paul White »

The question is what I do that steel rod while making the hook....I can see myself bending it too far, messing it up...I just don't trust myself.

OTOH, collecting bears sounds like fun! Do you think I can take one home and name it george and cuddle it?
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-EJ
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by -EJ »

buy a stump ripper. It's that simple.
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Damon Salceies
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by Damon Salceies »

Making hooks is a fun off-season activity... local golf shops will give you old shafts and a metal supply shop will sell 304 stainless rod
for making the hook portion. I thread the shaft of the hook an secure it in place with JB Weld. I bend the rod with an inexpensive rod bender and shape it with a grinder. An afternoon in the shop and you've got some rugged tools for the field season.

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Josh Holbrook
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by Josh Holbrook »

Damon Salceies wrote:Making hooks is a fun off-season activity...

So I guess making hooks is only for people with an actual off season, hmm?
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arf_herper
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by arf_herper »

im just worried about bending it wrong and it seems like it would be really hard to bend
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by stlouisdude »

I always kind of cringe when I see people lifting things with a hook. Some stuff is OK, like standard sheets of roofing tin. But I use old, heavy wooden signs sometimes. These are harder to control, especially if there's only one guy involved. Rocks are especially bad about slipping off hooks. I tried it a few times, quickly realized I was going to smash herps, and luckily (for the herps sake) went back to using my hands. I think the idea that a venomous snake will come flying out from under a rock, striking in every direction, and biting all the bystanders to death is a little paranoid, anyway, but I'm still fairly new to herping, so maybe it's just something I haven't been unfortunate enough to see yet!
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by Paul White »

the few times I've flipped herps weren't an issue but spiders and scorps were. I've flipped more black widows and recluses than serpents.
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M Wolverton
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by M Wolverton »

Well, the most rattlesnakes I have seen under one rock was only 13.

Out west it is best to look large rocks over pretty good before you stick your fingers under them.
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Daryl Eby
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by Daryl Eby »

stlouisdude wrote:Rocks are especially bad about slipping off hooks.
That's one reason why some folks prefer tater rakes. Having four tines provides much better control. Also, some use claw hammers. The two "claws" and shorter handle provide much better control off the rock, especially if you use your free hand (placed in a safe area) to help lift and stabilize. Even when I carry a hook, I typically flip rocks by hand and just use the hook for balance, moving vegetation, and handling the occasional hot snake.
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Mark Brown
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Re: Bought vs Homemade

Post by Mark Brown »

Damon Salceies wrote:Making hooks is a fun off-season activity... local golf shops will give you old shafts and a metal supply shop will sell 304 stainless rod
for making the hook portion. I thread the shaft of the hook an secure it in place with JB Weld. I bend the rod with an inexpensive rod bender and shape it with a grinder. An afternoon in the shop and you've got some rugged tools for the field season.
That's exactly how I've been making field hooks for years. They're practically indestructible and almost free to make. I've never had one fail me - I've had one stolen and one bent around a tree by a fellow herper who was having a bad day. This one (in the center of the photo) has been with me for about 18 years and still gets the job done after a ton of hard use. Also in the photo are a commercial hook (top) that I use in west Texas where there's not a lot to turn, and the smaller one (bottom) is my home hook that I made like the field hook but with smaller diameter steel rod.

Image
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