Hookless Zipper Hell

[photo2u]

One of the talons did not show. Here it is. There are 5 different types of sliders shown on the four images.

 

[photo2u]

Knipex makes wonderful tools. I use those pliers at work on a daily basis.

Love those Knipex. My knipex electrician tools and Harley have been on my pouches for almost 30 years. Sadly, In Tijuana, a parking lot attendant did not secure my Harley tool pouch and my beloved old timer tools were lost in the freeway. Lesson learned. Do not allow detailers remove items from your bike because they sometimes not careful when putting things back. 200 dollars worth of items lost...

 

[Marc mndt]

Please view which one will work for you. My zips are #5 Conmar,scovill (which exactly the same as conmar), and talon. I think they will work. View attachment 415702 View attachment 415703 View attachment 415704

Is this a #5 too? If so I think it'd look perfect on the Kit karson

 

[Dumpster Diver]

I found a couple nice vintage zippers in my stash that might work for you... looks like these guys have you covered.

 

[photo2u]

Does uncle photo2u have a nickel #5 Conmar slider to match the Conmar zipper on my kit karson?

View attachment 415537 View attachment 415536

Is this a #5 too? If so I think it'd look perfect on the Kit karson

View attachment 415716

That is a number #5. PM so we can get straightened out.

 

[Aloysius]

I did that earlier this winter going through some old clothes. It was a Lightning zipper from an old Army duffel bag, It had a key ring for a pull, and I've reefed on that thing for 30 years and it finally gave...It was sad for a moment, but I've moved on...it's cheaper to buy a whole new duffel bag than deal with finding and installing a replacement zipper in this case...there's a pile of them at the surplus.

Your jacket might take some time to track down the right zipper to replace it, but it's worth taking a long time and doing it right, don't give up!!

be patient...

you might be able to keep the original 'pull' and swap the busted part out for something new and kinda would still be sort of original that way if that can even be done??

I have found those lightning Zippers from time to time in the thrift store, that's the first place to start looking, it took me a few years but I got a pretty good collection of vintage zippers. I swore I had that same lightning zipper in a box somewhere actually...I'll have a look and see what I got and report back if I find something ok?

If it's a Lightning you're after, the ones Five Star made seem to be pretty tough. Maybe worth emailing them to see if they'd send you one?

 

[Dumpster Diver]

I'm just going to get another Duffel bag next time I'm at the surplus for $40, and keep the old bag because it's got good memories, my friend gave it to me when we were kids...we used to trade back and fourth. I loved trading stuff with friends growing up!!

 

[Xopher]

Hey all - So - a tale of woe, and a plea for any advice. I sold the Freewheelers Mulholland I had for sale today, and decided to get it ready for shipping - made sure the pockets were empty and clean, made sure the lining was lint free and looking nice, and gave it a final once over to ensure all was as described - fine, no problems.

I went to zip it up and fold it neatly to place in its cardboard box. The always fiddly and annoying hookless/vintage style zipper quite predictably didnt catch properly, and, horror of horrors, as I tried to pull it back down (not with a huge amount of force tbh) the bloody thing broke - as in actually broken in half. See pic for full details.

Besides the annoyance and embarrassment of having to say sorry and refund the guy who thinks he's got a cool jacket heading in his direction , I'm now also the proud owner of a quite expensive leather jacket with a profoundly broken zip runner.

Does anyone have anyclues as to how I go about getting this thing replaced? Is this something I could do myself, if not would anyone be able to recommend somewhere in the UK? God I'm pissed off. Any help really greatfully received. View attachment 414832 View attachment 414833

You can find repro sliders just like this on eBay. And if it is a standard No. 5 zipper I have had luck buying original sliders off of eBay and putting them on reproduction zip chains. I did that with a hookless on my Bill Kelso duke.
I used some real fine nosed pliars and an ice pick to remove the horseshoe stopper at the top of the chain and swap the sliders. Then I crimped the horseshoe stopper back on, good as new. Better actually because I used an original slider.

 

[photo2u]

Big. Replacement itself isn't too complicated but getting it to not look like absolute garbage is crazy difficult because the machinist would have to make sure the needle goes through the same hole. And they won't. Good tailor won't even go through the original stitch row as the additional set of perforations might weaken the leather enough so that it rips open (think postage stamp sheet) but that's no good either since the jacket will have a row of empty needle holes.

I didn't see this thread until now but luckily, what happened here doesn't require services of leather repair person. The zipper machine broke off clean which is the best kind of failure that could've happened to the zipper as it is replaceable.
Advise the buyer to order the Hookless zipper in the same size. All he needs is to do is slightly pry it open with jewelers pliers, stick the teeth in and close it. Pulling it up and down will set the teeth in place and voila. It's fussy but doable. I've repaired five or six zippers this way.

Truly, I do not think is that difficult for a beginner. The perforations there make it so much easier for installing a new zip by HAND. NO MACHINE IS NEEDED. Done it many times with excellent results.
Anyone can contact me. I can send links for YouTube videos. Easy to follow. When I do another zip, I will post and video the process.