Exchange Supplies is the UK's leading specialist supplier of needles and syringes and other injecting equipment. We have a wide range of needles & syringes in stock, and dispatch orders received by 3pm the same day.

To help you decide which products to buy there is a full description on each product page, and below we have written an explaination of the terms that are used to describe needles and syringes.

Needle gauge
During the industrial revolution, when the manufacture of wire for fencing and other uses was perfected, a system was developed for describing the thickness of the wire.This was called the gauge (prounounced so it rhymes with cage).

Confusingly, the bigger the number the narrower the gauge. On the labelling and boxes for needles, where the gauge number is given, the word gauge is always shortened to just the letter 'G' - so that's what we've done in the rest of this website.

The gauge system is used for things as thin as needles for injecting. The gauges used for injecting range from 30G (the finest and most flexible) to 21G (the thickest and least flexible commonly used gauge). The different gauges are allocated a colour so that people can tell the difference more easily.

The needle gauge colour code works as follows:

Needle bore
The gauge ONLY describes the outer diameter, not the hole down the middle - the bore - which can vary.

In general the bigger the needle, the larger the bore but some of the finer needles - such as the nevershare � have a finer bore so that the wall thickness, and strength, can be maintained.

Needle length
The length of the needles given in the details (by all manufacturers) refers to the total length of the needle - including the portion that is inside the hub, so the visible portion - and the maximum depth that the needle can penetrate the skin - will always be slightly less than the stated length. The visible amount of needle will also vary slightly between manufacturers.

Luer Slip fitting for joining separate needles and syringes 'detachables'
There are different methods for fixing needles to syringes, but we only supply fixed 1ml syringes, and syringes with 'Luer slip' needle fitting. Although called Luer Slip, in fact once the needle is applied to the taper on the syringe (usually with a twist to ensure a tight fit) the needle is securely held on the syringe.

The taper on a Luer slip syringe is subject to an international standard and all needle and syringe manufacturers adhere to this standard so that all Luer slip needles fit all Luer slip syringes - regardless of who made them. Because it's such a good fit, they're sometimes called 'Luer lock' syringes, but they're not: Luer lock is a type of syringe with a thread on the taper that the needle screws onto. These are only really used in hospitals, and we currently don't supply them.

3 Part syringes
The syringes we sell are known as '3 part syringes' the 3 parts being:

There are also 2 part syringes (barrel and 1 peice plastic plunger), such as the low dead-space 1ml bbraun injekt syringe - to see it, click HERE.