I put those covers on all my safety pins. Can't have naked pins laying around! The pins will not jumble up in a tangled wad when put away open. That is worth having them. I use the tool to close and open the pins when using them for basting. It really is fast and saves your fingers. DGD covered a sweat shirt front with 100 of the covered pins for 100 day of school. She made the no. 100 using 100 of the pins. One tip: Use a pair of needlenose pliers to snap the cover on the pins. It makes it much easier then trying to pop the covers on with your fingers and some of them are hard to get on. The covers work with curved pins too. I found a great deal at Quilt in a Day site for the covers and tool when I bought them. Check there first.