HEAVY DUTY BYPASS SECATEUR SK-5 JAPANESE STEEL

Bought these on a recommendation from a gardening blog, to replace my much loved Felco which has disappeared in the garden somewhere. I still hope to find the Felco so I just wanted a reasonable replacement in the meantime. Glad I bought these, they are excellent. Good Japanese steel; came nice and sharp, they keep their edge but are also fine to sharpen. Cuts very well and easy to clean. Robustly made; I havent had them long, but I have already done lot of work with them (mostly branch pruning) and they are good as new. The end safety clip is not quite as convenient as the thumb operated Felco one, but it is positive and I am getting used to it.I'll be sad if I never find the Felcos because I have had them so long; but I can honestly say that if i dont find them then I am quite happy to stick with these. I have no hesitation in reccommending them.UPDATE 2020. Thought I would update this, because these have proven to be such a good buy!! Never did find the Felcos, but now I dont mind. I have since retired and am using these secateurs on a daily basis (well, when its not raining!), from deadheading to pruning (I definitely cut through branches and roots that are thicker than I am supposed to!) to chopping stuff up for the compost. They are certainly scuffed, but operate as good as new. They keep a good edge but are also easy to sharpen; I can do it with the secateurs complete, but sometimes I disasssemble. This is much easier and faster than the 'cog' arrangement of many other designs; I was a little concerned the nylock nut would slacken off, but it stays firmly in place. The safety catch has a feature I didnt appreciate previously; if you squeeze the secateurs firmly, the curved part of the handle opens the catch. A small point, but simpler than operating a thumb catch. The soft black material on the handles has remained in good condition; I have kitchen knives and other tools where similar looking handle materials have deteriorated to be sticky and unpleasant. I keep them in a leather holster (yes, Felco, other brands may be available!) which I would also thoroughly recommend to anyone using secateurs regularly.Update July 21 - So, I managed to lose these as well. Very sad, they had been tremendous. After giving up the search, I ordered a new pair. Never a doubt that I wouldnt buy the same again. The design is ever so slightly different, eg. the safety catch doesnt release when the handles are squeezed, but they are just as sharp and easy to use as my old ones. Still sad that the old ones are languishing away somewhere in the undergrowth, but very happy to have a new pair in my holster.

For the price these are very nice and solid. Sharp and in due course easy to sharpen.

Got a large garden and they are ideal for roses, shrubs etc and make a nice clean cut. They are substantial and well made and do not catch your hand like some cheap ones. Well worth the money.

By all means, spend upwards of £40 on a pair of secateurs if you can justify it, but you don't have to. As professional gardeners we've used quite a selection of these, including the ones beginning with "F" and ending with "O", but these are superb and in my opinion they're better than any of them. Ergonomically, they're perfect for me, they balance beautifully in the hand, with just the right amount of leverage. The handy clip to keep them closed is about as simple as it gets, but it works perfectly. The spring is nicely tensioned. They're robust and durable. Are they sharp? Good grief they are...they sliced through even soggy handfuls of stuff today, with no effort. Only time will tell if they stay sharp, but I expect they will, and I can sharpen them when they need it anyway. So, if you're looking for strong, functional, well-made secateurs at an unbelievable price these are for you.

Over 60 years of gardening these secateurs are without doubt the best I've ever had - just a nice size to slip into a pocket, not too heavy, no pointless added extras - just beautifully simple, sharp secateurs. They feel good in the hand and are easy to clean. You can't get better for the price. I now have several pairs of what were ludicrously expensive brand name secateurs which have been relegated to oblivion in the garage and are unlikely to see the light of day again unless someone steals my new pair.

Excellent quality and brilliant piece of kit much better than the many flimsier ones I have bought in the past. The blade cuts through thinner items incredibly easily so they are great for everyday pruning and really easy to use and the little clip at the bottom makes it really easy to close and store them. However, the packet says the maximum cutting thickness is 19mm which isnt very thick and I had problems with some of the thicker stems on my lilac which is quite hard wood but they were only about 16mm so they were not suitable for that instead I had to buy an anvil pruner which was better..

Bought some Black & Decker ones a year or two ago, but it went blunt very quickly and wouldn't cut anything thicker than about a quarter of an inch. I went through all the listings for secateurs, picked about six between £10 to £50 and these were the only ones that not only had excellent reviews but also did not have any (at the time) 1 or 2 star reviews.These will cut up to half an inch with ease, has not gone blunt yet (after 10 yards of thick laurel) and is very easy to clean. There is a catch on the end of one of the handles which keeps them closed so you don't cut yourself. The spring is coiled steel, though I will need to report back if it ever goes rusty which it hasn't so far.Well worth the money over the likes of the big name £10 ones. Buy cheap, pay twice as they say.

These work very well and sharpen up alright. I wish they had a thumb clip at the side but they don't , it is at the bottom which takes a bit of getting used to. Excellent value for the price