Straw Bale Needles

Green living center, earthship, strawbale workshop, llama trek

Blue Rock Station,
1190 Virginia Ridge Rd.
Philo Ohio 43771 USA
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Straw Bale Needle

Now, where else are you going to find a field-tested needle for building your dream house from bales of straw?

This design won our informal contest amongst our students - unscientific, granted, but still...

The metal needle is hand-forged by a local blacksmith, the handle is made of Osage Orange (as a university website describes it - “this beautiful wood is very strong and so dense that it will neither rot nor succumb to the attacks of insects for decades”) lovingly cut from the hills of Appalachia and polished by hand.

The needle is about 32 inches long, the handle about 4 inches in length.

So what exactly is a straw bale needle and why do I need one? Well, if you have ever thought of building a home (or an outhouse or pretty much anything) out of straw, you need a tool to thread the twine through the bale so that it can be lashed tightly to supports (usually saplings or bamboo or wood of some form or fashion).

This needle does a terrific job. It is rounded and smooth, allowing it to slide easily through the bale. It has a hole large enough to accommodate various sized twine, and a crescent tip to push twine if you prefer that method.

The shape and position of the handle allows for a secure, comfortable grip - both pushing the needle though the bale as well as pulling it back out.

What can we say. You can pay a lot more for a straw bale needle, but this is a quality product that works well for what it is designed to do.

Check out our book on Building a Vaulted Straw Bale Wall

* Shipping prices listed or added to your order are for US shipments only. We try to only charge you what the postal service charges us. So for international orders, please contact via e-mail or telephone and we will get you a shipping estimate.