Plowshares reforged

Last week I was on an emotional roller coaster. I had just procured an absolutely delightful set of panniers made of re-purposed canvas Swiss ammunition cases when on their maiden voyage one of the retainer clips broke and the right pannier became unmoored. I became so depressed about the whole thing, I was driven to drink. Fortunately, it will be at least a year before I can have that drink, so while I waited I thought I might just as well repair the pannier; and that is what I did. I'm happy to report that all went well, and the result was even better than I could have imagined.

Copper tube rivet left; aluminum blind rivet with brass washer right

To modify the cases for use as panniers Out Your Backdoor (aka Jeff Potter) uses 3/16 inch copper tube rivets set with a splash anvil. Basically it's just a tube with a head on it that you mash into an anvil that spreads the open end of the tube into kind of a mushroom shape (the second type shown in this video). They work pretty well, and look really nice against the aged leather of the ammo cases. And while they're fine for riveting the leather logo and blinky light tabs to the bag, they're clearly not the best solution for bearing any appreciable amount of weight. No offense to Jeff - it's just the fact. He clearly puts a lot of thought into the placement of the rivets, carefully measuring and finishing them. But for the connections to the hooks that fit over the rack, I just think the copper rivets he uses are a bit too short and possibly a bit too soft. One of these rivets pulled through the leather within the first eight miles of riding with a relatively light load.  

Initially I thought I would just buy a 3/16 inch brass screw, nut and washers (I like brass for its relative corrosion resistance) just bolt the retainer back on and go about my business. But then it occurred to me that a few years ago I had purchased a rivet tool for a project I can't now recall. I had some 3/16 inch rivets but none long enough to add a washer to the inside of the rivet, which I wanted to assure it would be able to hold the weight, should I decide that I DO want to carry a few hundred rounds of 5.6mm ammo (the current standard for the Swiss military's standard issue SIG SG 550 rifle). So oft I went to my local hardware store where the nice man helped me find the Medium length "pop" rivets and suitable washers. Upon return to the Bartlecave, I had the whole thing complete in about five minutes. Voilà! The rivet's secondary head and washer stick out a bit more than the tubular rivet did, but I am convinced this will produce a much stronger attachment. 

The basic process is demonstrated by some guy with an English accent here: