Waiting on Pins and Needles: Review of Sail Makers Needles

Last week we looked at all other possible uses of a canvas needle other than for sewing purposes. This week we will be reviewing the iconic green and white package that is W. Smith and Sons Sail Makers Needles. Before we open into these there are a few things on the outside of the package that I feel are worth pointing out. The first thing I notice is that it says "Manufactured by W. Smith and Sons, Redditch, England." If you recall on the package of Dritz needles we purchased they are labelled as "European quality." This could mean that this brand claims to be of or similar quality to the W. Smith and Sons needles, or it could just be a particular way that the needles are manufactured. Either way, I thought it was worth bringing up. The next thing worth noting is the "forged and hand-made." This to me says that they were manufactured with some sort of human involvement, meaning that there are going to be less imperfections. For the price of these needles, less imperfections are certainly a better deal. Their saying "Made by hand, not to cut the twine," is printed on the package. It is also labelled "Reduced Edge" meaning that the point of the needle is made into a wedge shape so not to fray the thread when going in between the fabric.

The last thing I would like to point out on the package is the qty. 5 and the sizes 13-19. I'm now going to open into the pack to show you what these mean. There are 5 needles with varying lengths and thicknesses, however if I had to estimate the height difference between the smallest and largest needle is roughly 1/4-1/2". Based on diameter I can infer that the smallest needle is the size 13, and the largest is the size 19. I believe the second largest needle to be a size 14 because it appears to be the most versatile. It is about the same length-wise as the 13, but  slightly heftier. This leads me to believe that the other two needles are a size 15 and a size 17. I have arrived at this conclusion because I have seen the needles referred to in odd numbered increments. I also know that David Canterbury and the Self Reliance Outfitters sells a size 14 needle on its own so the sizes 13, 14, 15, 17, and 19, seem to make the most sense.


I have with me some leather, the same leather in fact from last week. My goal is to see how well these needles can awl through leather. Last week I could only get one needle to perform this task and that was a challenge in and of itself. I am going to start with the size 19 needle since it is the biggest and I will believe it will go through the leather easier than any other needle in this set. I am correct in saying that as the needle does go through and it goes through like butter. I tried to awl the leather with both the 13 and the 14 as well and I was just as successful in that endeavor. I am thoroughly impressed by that. If I had thread I would be able to sew the leather or if I need an awl tool on hand I have one.

Since I have my leather out I am going to try to make what is called a leather palm for sewing. The cool thing about this is that I am making it for my needles, but I am going to use my needles to make it. The first thing I am going to do is cut my leather into a strip that takes up most of my palm and is just a bit wider than my palm (I want a bit of excess on both sides of my hand. Now I am going to take the largest needle I have (in this case the 19) and I am going to thread it with frayed bank line. Of course you can use anything you have like paracord or what have you.

Now I am only going to knot my bank line at the tail end, not near the needle, and there is a reason for this. So first I am going to make a hole in the leather with my needle and I am going to pull it through until it stops at the knot I made.






Now I am going to pull the end of the thread that is not knotted through the hole I just made and bring it to the opposite side of the leather. The knot in the other side will keep the bank line from coming loose.






Now I am going to come straight across from the hole I just came through and make another hole keeping the needle in the eye.








Once the bank line is through I am going to make a knot in the end so that it cannot slip back through the hole.








Now I am going to repeat this process two more times on the middle and bottom corners of the leather so that I have three straps of bank line. All I have to do is cinch them down on my hand and I have a leather palm that keeps the needles from digging into my hands when I am using them to awl leather.




Now I am going to test the needles to see how well they can actually sew. I have some canvas and I am going to start with the size 14 needle, the inner strand of some paracord, and I am going to do a simple running stitch. I am pretty satisfied with the results. The grouping is even and looks nice. Next I am going to use the upholstery thread with the size 19 needle. Now this time the gauge of the needle was a little to big for the thread so I am sure that if I had used the size 14 or maybe 15 I would have had better results. I was able to use the needles with the bank line when we made the leather palm, so the only material that leaves is...the jute. As you can see from the photo to your right, I was able to sew with the jute which tells me that if I can make natural cordage in the bush, I can sew with it using these needles.

This needle has awled leather, sewn with every type of material I have given it, and now we need to see if it will perform as a redundant compass. Now you can magnetize your needle using magnets, but I prefer to use a battery. If you are using the battery method, use Duracell batteries. The reason being that I tried the Energizer batteries and the positive end actually repels the compass needle and the negative in pulls in, but the pull is not as strong as the pull from the positive end of the Duracell battery. After 50 swipes of the needle on the Duracell battery I suspended my size 14 needle from a thread and watched as it found north, and now I am going to repeat the test with a bowl of water and a flotation device. Instead of using a tea candle this time I am going to use my new invention which is a bottle cap with a groove cut into it to fit my needle. Once again, it successfully finds north.

As before with the other needles you can use these to clean you nails, teeth, and pull grit out of your equipment. For hunting, fishing, and trapping you could use these as a gig or some type of windless trap for small animals. You could hold down the fish while you could descale it, heck you could descale it with a different needle, and you could also do things like testing your bread dough. For my final thoughts, this set of needles will set you back about $12.99. The other needles will set you back roughly $2. Out of the Dritz pack you will get two half way decent needles, with W. Smith and Sons you are getting 5 high quality needles. If you are just getting into bushcraft I recommend going with the cheaper option to get comfortable using them. Once you get comfortable you can definitely upgrade to the better option. Now the W. Smith and Sons needles are all different sizes, but it is my opinion that you could pretty well divide them up  between your different packs that you may have and  have pretty similar results. Now it is time for The Packening. The first thing I am going to pack is my W. Smith and Sons needles because I have been using canvas needles for a while and I need to upgrade. I will be taking along with that: the bottle cap floating device, the upholstery thread, a thimble, and my sewing palm.

And with that we have reached the end of our canvas needle series. I had a blast doing this, although I think I say that every time. Next week we will begin our cargo tape series. I have a lot to show you and you won't want to miss it! As always feel free to comment by clicking the comment link at the end of the blog, hit the follow button in the top right corner, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one on Sunday 10pm (est). If you want to keep up with me and what I’m doing, Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Lastly if video is more your style check out my YouTube Channel backpack bushcraft where there is a video version of this with the same title. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.