While traveling Alaska’s Dalton Highway with friends, I stopped to take in the beautiful scenery and do some fly fishing. Alas, the river contained no fish, but fortunately, I was still able to employ my favorite fly to snag a real keeper: a single, Kevlar-lined, gauntlet-sporting chainsaw glove. Catch-and-release is not my style, and thus, after having tried unsuccessfully for the better part of an afternoon to catch its mate, I set about removing the glove’s stitching, drying the leather on a large rock, and dreaming about how I could repurpose it into something more useful. As I fumbled with the awl on my Swiss Army knife, a dear friend rummaged through his toolbox and presented me with a life-changing piece of gear: the Speedy Stitcher sewing awl.
Patented in 1909 by Francis Stewart of Central Massachusetts, the Speedy Stitcher awl has been sold on five continents and is currently marketed online and at several prominent outdoor and hardware retailers. It comes with a roll of high-tensile, waxed polyester thread and an assortment of diamond-point needles. It can be used to repair leather, canvas, ballistic nylon, book bindings, and even shoes or belts. The Speedy Stitcher is assembled and packed by hand in Southern Indiana with American-sourced materials: a wood handle from Maine, metal bobbins and caps from Massachusetts, and thread from the Carolinas.
On the banks of that fishless Alaskan river, I read the included instruction booklet in less than two minutes and soon was making beautiful, tight-lock stitches of the same variety employed by heavy-duty sewing machines. Pushing the needle through the thick leather was easy thanks to the smooth and bulbous wooden handle, which distributes the force evenly into the palm of the hand. The included polyester thread is thick, strong, and easy to see. Within an hour, I had turned one of the glove’s fingers into a beautiful knife sheath and received multiple requests from travel companions for digital copies. I’ve since purchased my own Speedy Stitcher and have been using it to repurpose and repair all sorts of gear.
I’ve used my Speedy Stitcher to sew a torn shoulder strap on a backpack, repair a barbeque grill cover, re-attach the hood to my 10-year-old’s ski jacket, oversew a blown-out fingertip on my favorite pair of insulated leather work gloves, and attach multiple patches to jackets, bags, and ball caps. Adding one small drop of superglue to the final knot helps prevent unraveling. I’v even made a few repairs in the field; the extra Speedy Stitcher in my glove box saved the day on more than one occasion. However, the most satisfying repairs were made at home, after dark, during a blizzard, sitting in my favorite chair by the fireplace while I waited for an ice cube to melt into two fingers of bourbon. I wonder if the Speedy Stitcher could repair a tire’s sidewall.
$26 | speedystitcher.com
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal’s Winter 2024 Issue.
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