The exciting world of Thimbles

Yes I know you are all just waiting in thrall for my riveting review of thimbles. No? oh, ok.

I know they don't seem like a fun topic but thimbles really are a necessary evil in quilting. I can't make a machine binding look good on both sides so I rarely use it, which means hand sewing the back. And to do that, I need a thimble.

Traditional thimbles always bothered me and I could never really get a hang of it. And once I started wearing long nails they didn't work at all.

I can't remember where or why I picked up my first Clover open sided thimble but I love it. Totally and completly.  It doesn't feel like its on my finger because its only on the bottom, and not tight at all. The extended tip works great for forcing that stubborn needle through a seam, and whether you have long nail or not rests nicely on your finger. I've actually bought 3 of these. Because I lose them. A lot.

The last time, so the 2nd of the 3, was before the move to the house. It hasn't been seen since. My friend Niki from Stitchin Heaven sent me another type of thimble in a prize pack I won from her New Years Eve twitter party.
Since at that point I'd not been wearing the fake claws for awhile it was great. The rubber will occasionally let the needle poke you but not badly and it is looser and more comfortable then the traditional thimble. This one has a metal top so you can still use it to push through any bulky parts.
I managed to not lose this one for about 6 months, which really has to be a record for me.

The package even has a hole so you can make sure you get the right size! The one I have is orange, so probably a large?

For a reason I still don't understand I decided to get the nails put back on recently and while I could use the Protect and Grip thimble still it is somewhat akward with the nails so I had to go and get another of the open sided ones.

So that's my little opinion piece on thimbles. What do you use and why??