Why is this so difficult

@onenerdykid

End cutting pliers.

And a dremel or similar with a small abrasive disk to get it started.

DIY is always harder than you expect. Props for taking a stab at it.

You can pay a shop tech to do it in 30 seconds and that way you don’t have to take a downwards angry anxiety ridden spiral into the nether realm.

twinkle_toesSeriously what's stopping Atomic from using normal fuckin torx screws to hold boot straps on.
Why do they have to rivet these fuckin things on and make it incredibly aggravating to take them out.

Honest answer? Two things: Cost and screws rattling loose. The assembly line costs of using screwed hardware is incredibly expensive (every other brand faces the same issue and will tell you the same thing). It may seem like an insignificant cost or step, but I can assure you it is quite the opposite. We could be like Nordica and use rivets that have a fake hex head in them and really piss you off ;) If it were possible, I would make everything screwed, but this brings me to point #2- for every 1 person voicing their frustration with rivets, there are 1000 complaining that their screws came loose and they fell out. This is a way bigger complaint we face and I struggle against quality managers who want to make ALL boots riveted just to stop the complaints. It never matters how much Loctite is used on our end- things just come loose eventually. And even though people should regularly check their bolts, they don't and then they blame us. It's really hard to win here.

I do appreciate that you want everything to be Torx. That would be my wish too (I hate hex and phillips/pozi), but people would throw their hands in the air about that too...

But, whenever you need to drill out a rivet, you need to make sure you are using a specific drill bit for metal and a sharp one. Nothing worse than using an old bit. We purposefully use softer material in our rivets so that they can be drilled out easier than other kinds.

Op you need to grip the one side to stop it from spinning. Have you tried using pliers that are long enough to stretch over the boot and grip both sides of the rivet? That would hold it still while you drill. Or could use a drop of superglue on the strap and rivet connection to prevent it from spinning.

Or use tape on one side to hold the rivet still. Use a thick ass amount. Thick enough so you can push the boot against the ground and provide even more force from spinning.

Once you have it pretty drilled, try pulling the strap to pop it off the rest of the way.

As others have said a dremel would also work lovely.

Also https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php/286482-Booster-Strap-Installation-Tutorial

Gotta love those rivets, ugh.

Take the liner out, take a small piece of wood(2x4) and put it in where the liner goes. Use a drill bit like stated above and put all your weight onto the rivet as you are drilling against that block of wood. Make sure you are on a strong work bench or table while doing this. Backside of the spinning rivet should be pressed hard into the wood allowing it to snag/catch and allow the drill bit to drill the head of the rivet off. If it catches and drills through the rivet/boot it will go into the block of wood and not your hand or other parts of the boot. Good luck

When you get them drilled out replace them with these with a dab of loctite on each screw. Had to do this with my old dabellos. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-8-x-3-16-in-Silver-Plain-Flat-Interior-Binding-Post-Screws/3012646

onenerdykidWe could be like Nordica and use rivets that have a fake hex head in them and really piss you off ;)

Lmao that's just cruel

Thanks for taking the time to explain... those are valid points. I appreciate it

I'll give it a go with a fresh drill bit today I guess... Wish me luck lol

i’ve had the same problem and it’s caused me to almost commit a murder-suicide. The problem is that the receiving part of the rivet is set deeply into a plastic ring which prevents you from holding it in place with pliers or a wood block or anything else. The second part of the problem is that the teeth that hold that rivet in place strip extremely easily. The third issue with these riveted pieces is that the teeth that hold them in place are sharp and longer than the boot plastic is thick so mine actually punched through the plastic of the boot Out of the box from the factory. It’s really insane on a $600 boot.

Skiblade420You can pay a shop tech to do it in 30 seconds and that way you don’t have to take a downwards angry anxiety ridden spiral into the nether realm.

Well last year I got my local shop to install them.

The boot tech told me that 2 of their guys struggled for hours trying to get the damn things off lol

sarcEnd cutting pliers.

And a dremel or similar with a small abrasive disk to get it started.

DIY is always harder than you expect. Props for taking a stab at it.

End cutting pliers worked wonders! Each rivet took me about 10 seconds. Walk in the park... thanks dude :-)

twinkle_toesEnd cutting pliers worked wonders! Each rivet took me about 10 seconds. Walk in the park... thanks dude :-)

Thanks for letting me know! I sometimes wonder if there's anyone out there....

twinkle_toesEnd cutting pliers worked wonders! Each rivet took me about 10 seconds. Walk in the park... thanks dude :-)

Nice work! Props on the successful DIY

So I just put booster straps on my new boots and found a super easy way to drill out the rivets. If you angle the 1/8" bit back and forth a couple times rather than going straight in, it will knock the rivets right off in about 5 seconds. Since you gotta widen the hole to 3/16" for the binding post, it doesn't matter if you don't make a perfect hole.