The Staple Remover
There are lots of ways to remove the staples from a strip-built boat. I have used flat screw drivers, pliers, a "church-key" style can opener, tack pullers and the edge of paint scraper. They all work, they each have their place, but for efficiently removing a lot of staples with a minimum of fuss, I like a heavy duty staple remover. There are several makes, I use one by Bostich. It has a removable "tooth" which I take out and sharpen a bit to make it easier to slide under the staple. They have a lot of leverage for removing tough staples, and the large foot protects the strips. Sometimes I get a little horseshoe shaped dimple under staple if I need to dig in a bit for a deeply set staple, but these generally disappear with some sanding and a wet-down of the boat before final sanding.
