It just occurred to me upon review of this that introducing my friend to needle drivers would do him a disservice rather than a favor, because the needle driver you suggested as an improvement has exactly the same problem as the hemostat I modifed for him: the finger holes are clearly too small for his big, gnarly fingers. He's a big old farmer, not a surgeon.

If a tool is to be useful it must fit both the job and the user. It's no kind of gift to the recipient if it doesn't work for him.

My friend is an old farmer and fisherman, not a surgeon doing sutures. My objective was to enable him to tie knots attaching fishing lures to 8 lb test (0.25mm) monofilament line (not sutures) with fingers that flat don't fit thru small loops and can barely feel the monofilament line. We were both pleased to see that the modified hemostats work nicely for him. He uses them. Even if needle drivers with big finger holes could be found, they wouldn't work better for him.