Speaking from experience a sharp knife will get the job done. Or a sharp punch and a hammer if you don't have the arm strength to get a knife through the sidewall.

Also, just a side note it was funny you mentioned a bent piece of metal with a hook on one side. I was on a road trip with my family as a teenager when we hit something that took out 2 of our tires, one on my aunt's car who was following us and about a dozen other cars. We were stuck so I ended up changing probably 5-6 tires for other people while we waited for a tow. While I was at it a dude pulled up and was like "Want to see what you hit?" and had almost exactly what you described in the back of his pickup. So... yea very effective lol.

[–] TropicalDingdong 2 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

Speaking from experience a sharp knife will get the job done.

How loud? The loudness to me is the biggest concern.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 hours ago

Depends on a number of things like how much air pressure, how big the hole is, shape of the hole etc. I would say generally quieter than pulling the valve core.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 hours ago

Depending on the tire pressure? If it's above 30, it's going to be loud enough to be heard if someone is within a hundred feet. If they're inside a building, you'd probably be mistaken for something else going on in the building. A knife into a 40 PSI tire is enough to make your ears ring for a second or two.

I think the SUVs they'd be using are going to be somewhere in the realm of 35-50. Tahoes were around 38-40 when I drove one.