M.V. Enterprises Tube Snake

I'm a sucker for a cool little tool, and they don't come much littler and more interesting than the Tube Snake from M.V. Enterprises, better known as www.mylittletool.com.

Honestly, I don't even need the Tube Snake. Changing a tire is pretty easy for me, but I still use this little item.

The concept is simple enough. The end of the Snake is threaded like a valve core. Above the threads is a swivel with a length of tough-but-tiny chain attached. At the end of the chain is a ring like a key chain.

When you start to change a tube, remove the valve core and thread the Tube Snake in. Unscrew the lock nut and pull it up onto the Tube Snake chain. Break down the tire, and pull out the flat tube. Remove the core from the new tube, thread the Snake into the valve stem of the new tube (which is threaded through the rim from the old tube removal). It still helps to get the stem inside the wheel, but tugging on the ring will generally pull the valve stem right through.

The Tube Snake makes one of the more unpleasant tasks (aligning the valve stem through the hole in the rim) pretty easy. It's available online from the mylittletool.com website for $19 plus $4 shipping.

If you set any value at all on avoiding frustration while changing tires, the Tube Snake will easily pay for itself, so the pain and misery avoided is just gravy. If you are already fast and comfortable changing tires, you don't need the tool but, like me, you may still want one. If you still have trouble with tires, you will like having the Tube Snake.
--Karel Kramer