Barracuda 500BZ – Portable Industrial Sewing Power

 

Winnipeg River 2026 (photo by V.A. McMillan)

Blog Title: Barracuda 500BZ – Portable Industrial Sewing Power

31 January 2026

Hoping to get this uploaded before January 2026 is behind us...cutting close!

This is a gear review of sorts. After breaking my old Elna sewing machine, again...I have decided to upgrade. I had an old Singer industrial many years ago and I enjoyed the capability of an industrial sewing machine. I reached out to the folks at International Sewing Machine Group (ISMG) more than a year ago to explore industrial sewing machine options. I thought my only options were full-sized Juki, Singers, Consew, and the like. At the end of 2025, I happened upon an advertisement from Tandy Leather that showed a portage industrial Consew. This started a rapid education and research project to know more. Which led me to contacting Jonathan at ISMG to re-kindle available machines. Long story short, the Barracuda 500BZ from Reliable seems to have met my needs better than the Consew machine I was first looking at.

The Barracuda is a portable industrial sewing machine with all metal construction – internally and shell. Sewing at 800 stitches per minute and employs a walking foot. The 500BZ can accept 135 – 17 needles from size 16 thru 23. This is a huge step up from my overtaxed Elna which maxed out at size 18 denim needles.

To solve lighting issues, the 500BZ comes with a pair of rechargeable CudaLights. These LED lights are magnetic and have a reliable single touch switch on the front. The included USB C charging cable allows for quick recharges of the units. I do not have a runtime on each unit but they are quite bright and since they are magnetic, they can be re-positioned to provide the best illumination needed for your project.

I will do a follow-up post, showing the Cuda Case, which allows the Barracuda 500BZ to pack away when work areas are needed for other types of projects or you are transporting your 500BZ to a new location to work on a project. The versatility of a portable industrial sewing machine.

Thanks Jonathan and team at International Sewing Machine Group!

Until next time...if your tools are being worked beyond their design capacity...level up.

Mountainman.