the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings . the tool is broadly indicated by 10 , with handle member 12 and engagement member 14 , as shown in fig1 . engagement member 14 is integral with handle 12 and comprises pin 16 mounted on off - center arm 18 and heel member 20 , said pin and heel being spaced apart to provide an opening 22 to receive the clamping member of the boot buckle assembly . pin 16 preferably has a round cross - section suitable for engaging the notches of the clamping member of the buckle ; however , the cross - section of the pin can be oval , square or other shape . preferably the surface of pin 16 and of the heel 20 is grooved or otherwise provided with a rough texture to enhance their gripping action . the surface of heel 20 is shown as being rounded but can be another shape . handle 12 can be straight or somewhat curved for a better grip ; fig1 and 2 show a slightly curved handle . the angle a between the handle member 12 and the engagement member 14 is shown in fig2 . angle a is defined by lines b and c . line b as shown in fig2 is a line through the ends of handle 12 ; in effect line b is a chord in the arc of the circle defined by the curvature of handle member 12 . line c is a line through the center of pin 16 and the center of heel 20 . i have found through testing that angle a ( exterior angle formed by lines b and c ) should be less than 90 ° and in particular i have found that best results are obtained with an angle of about 75 ° plus or minus 5 °. this angle permits a person opening or closing the buckle to do so with the tool held above the boot , and to operate the tool with good freedom without bumping the hand against the boot , the ground , the snow or other surface . the hand does not need to be removed from the tool and shifted to another position in order to complete the closing or opening of the buckle , as is often necessary with other boot buckle tools . these advantageous positions of operation when using my improved tool are illustrated in fig4 and 6 . fig3 shows the opening 22 provided between pin 16 and heel member 20 . this opening 22 must have a depth sufficient to permit the tool to be freely inserted on the clamping member 32 , fig4 from the side or over the top of member 32 . in other words , the depth of the opening 22 must be such as to provide a loose fit with the clamping member 32 so as to permit ease of insertion of the tool . however , the depth of the opening 22 also must be limited such as to permit the pin 16 and heel member 20 to grip the clamping member 32 immediately after the start of the movement of the handle 12 to effect either the closing or opening of the buckle assembly . the gripping of the clamping member 32 between pin 16 and heel 20 is shown in fig4 and 5 , and of clamping member 48 ( without notches ) is shown in fig6 . for conventional ski boots of the present , the depth of opening 22 typically is 7 / 16 inch . fig4 is a partial view of a cross - section of a boot opening illustrating how the tool of this invention is used with a buckle assembly . wire loop 30 is pivotably fastened to one of the flaps 36 of the boot opening and is placed over clamping member 32 in one of the notches 34 as desired . clamping member 34 is mounted on pivot 35 secured to flap 38 . as handle 12 begins to be moved in the buckle closing operation , heel 20 and pin 16 apply pressure on opposite sides of clamping member 32 thereby gripping it firmly . as the movement of the handle continues the flaps 36 and 38 of the boot opening are drawn together to tighten the boot about the foot . fig5 illustrates the use of tool 10 in opening a ski boot buckle assembly . fig6 illustrates another type of ski boot buckle assembly employing a clamping member 48 without notches . the adjustment in tension or spring force at the buckle is secured by means of the eye - bolt 42 and adjustment nut 44 ; the eye - bolt 42 is attached to flap 50 of the boot opening and is linked to clamping member 48 by means of hook 46 . clamping members 32 and 48 usually are slightly curved to conform to the contour of the boots . as illustrated in fig4 and 6 , when my tool is used to close or open a boot buckle , the handle is above the boot because of the specified angle between the handle and engagement member . this is a real advantage particularly when it is necessary to open or close a buckle assembly under adverse conditions , as on a ski slope . also , my tool is versatile and can be used with various types of buckle assemblies . while the use of my improved tool has been described in connection with ski boots , it is to be understood that the tool is suitable for use with other boots or the like employing similar types of buckle assemblies . in general such buckle assemblies consist of a clamping member and a second member which engages the clamping member in an adjustable manner . as is shown in fig4 the wire loop is selectively inserted in one of the notches 34 to obtain the desired spring tension across the boot when the buckle is closed . in the version shown in fig6 the spring tension across the boot is adjusted by means of adjustment nut 44 .