Felco Classic Manual Pruning Shears for Use with One or ...

• Normally held as single-handed pruning shears, the
• extended left handle also allows them to be used t
• when cutting thick branches.

Felcos made obsolete by the Fiskars PowerGear pruners:
This is a difficult review for me to write because Felco pruners have always been synonymous with quality, best of class, and exemplar of how hand pruners should be built. Simply put, Felco pruners are oozing with quality. You get the picture. Well, all those flowery superlatives certainly were true for a long time and that reputation was well earned and well deserved. But technology marched forward and, in my opinion, Felco did not keep pace. It still makes pruners using the same principles. There is nothing wrong with that philosophy. If it ain't broke, why fix it? Not so fast. I bought a pair of Fiskars PowerGear pruners a couple of days ago and I am now of the opinion that the Fiskars PowerGear pruners made all the current crop of Felco mechanical (i.e. non-electric) hand pruners obsolete. Read my review of the Fiskars PowerGear 7936 pruners to see why I am making these statements. To make a long story short, I just did a real-life comparison test of Felco #13 and Fiskars PowerGear 7936. The Fiskars won hands down in power, ease of cut, and comfort. The long handles of the Felco 13 are meant to allow a 2-hand grip when cutting thick branches, but it also makes the pruners better balanced, albeit at a slightly greater weight than their otherwise identical short handle models such as the #8. The test piece was a 5/8" thick peach tree trunk that had dried up and is very solid and hard. It's harder than even a birch dowel, but the Fiskars sliced through it with ease using just a one-hand grip. With the Felco 13, I had to use two hands on the long handles to achieve the same cut and even then, the cut using one hand with the Fiskars took noticeably less effort. Whenever the Felco made a heavy cut, the handles snap together very hard, whereas the Fiskars handles don't snap together anywhere as hard. Translation: rubber bumpers are a must on the Felco 13, but not on the Fiskars PowerGear. The Fiskars weighs 9.7 oz. and the Felco 13 weighs 10.6 oz. There will always be a certain cachet with owning Felco pruners. There had better be when these Felcos cost 2 to 3 times as much as the Fiskars PowerGear. It's like driving a Mercedes. It's a status symbol, but the overwhelming advantage of the Fiskars PowerGear makes that cachet too expensive to justify in both monetary and functionality terms. The Fiskars is better by design and function, but it's build quality is not anywhere as high as the Felco. (No, the Fiskars are clearly not oozing with quality.) In comparison with the superior functionality of the Fiskars, I can only fairly give the Felco 13 a middling three stars. That said, I think the Felco 13 is the best of the Felco hand pruners, so interpret my rating accordingly.

Best Felco hand pruner, but still not nearly as good as Fiskars PowerGear:
This is a difficult review for me to write because Felco pruners have always been synonymous with quality, best of class, and exemplar of how hand pruners should be built. Simply put, Felco pruners are oozing with quality. You get the picture. Well, all those flowery superlatives certainly were true for a long time and that reputation was well earned and well deserved. But technology marched forward and, in my opinion, Felco did not keep pace. It still makes pruners using the same principles. There is nothing wrong with that philosophy. If it ain't broke, why fix it? Not so fast. I bought a pair of Fiskars PowerGear pruners a couple of days ago and I am now of the opinion that the Fiskars PowerGear pruners made all the current crop of Felco mechanical (i.e. non-electric) hand pruners obsolete. Read my review of the Fiskars PowerGear 7936 pruners to see why I am making these statements. To make a long story short, I just did a real-life comparison test of Felco #13 and Fiskars PowerGear 7936. The Fiskars won hands down in power, ease of cut, and comfort. The long handles of the Felco 13 are meant to allow a 2-hand grip when cutting thick branches, but it also makes the pruners better balanced, albeit at a slightly greater weight than their otherwise identical short handle models such as the #8. The test piece was a 5/8" thick peach tree trunk that had dried up and is very solid and hard. It's harder than even a birch dowel, but the Fiskars sliced through it with ease using just a one-hand grip. With the Felco 13, I had to use two hands on the long handles to achieve the same cut and even then, the cut using one hand with the Fiskars took noticeably less effort. Whenever the Felco made a heavy cut, the handles snap together very hard, whereas the Fiskars handles don't snap together anywhere as hard. Translation: rubber bumpers are a must on the Felco 13, but not on the Fiskars PowerGear. The Fiskars weighs 9.7 oz. and the Felco 13 weighs 10.6 oz. There will always be a certain cachet with owning Felco pruners. There had better be when these Felcos cost 2 to 3 times as much as the Fiskars PowerGear. It's like driving a Mercedes. It's a status symbol, but the overwhelming advantage of the Fiskars PowerGear makes that cachet too expensive to justify in both monetary and functionality terms. The Fiskars is better by design and function, but it's build quality is not anywhere as high as the Felco. (No, the Fiskars are clearly not oozing with quality.) In comparison with the superior functionality of the Fiskars, I can only fairly give the Felco 13 a middling three stars. That said, I think the Felco 13 is the best of the Felco hand pruners, so interpret my rating accordingly.

Best Felco hand pruner, but still not nearly as good as Fiskars PowerGear:
This is a difficult review for me to write because Felco pruners have always been synonymous with quality, best of class, and exemplar of how hand pruners should be built. Simply put, Felco pruners are oozing with quality. You get the picture. Well, all those flowery superlatives certainly were true for a long time and that reputation was well earned and well deserved. But technology marched forward and, in my opinion, Felco did not keep pace. It still makes pruners using the same principles. There is nothing wrong with that philosophy. If it ain't broke, why fix it? I bought a pair of Fiskars PowerGear pruners a couple of days ago and I am now of the opinion that the Fiskars PowerGear pruners made all the current crop of Felco mechanical (i.e. non-electric) hand pruners obsolete. Read my review of the Fiskars PowerGear 7936 pruners to see why I am making these statements. To make a long story short, I just did a real-life comparison test of Felco #13 and Fiskars PowerGear 7936. The Fiskars won hands down in power, ease of cut, and comfort. The long handles of the Felco 13 are meant to allow a 2-hand grip when cutting thick branches, but it also makes the pruners better balanced, albeit at a slightly greater weight than their otherwise identical short handle models such as the #8. The test piece was a 5/8" thick peach tree trunk that had dried up and is very solid and hard. It's harder than even a birch dowel, but the Fiskars sliced through it with ease using just a one-hand grip. With the Felco 13, I had to use two hands on the long handles to achieve the same cut and even then, the cut using one hand with the Fiskars took noticeably less effort. Whenever the Felco made a heavy cut, the handles snap together very hard, whereas the Fiskars handles don't snap together anywhere as hard. Translation: rubber bumpers are a must on the Felco 13, but not on the Fiskars PowerGear. The Fiskars weighs 9.7 oz. and the Felco 13 weighs 10.6 oz. There will always be a certain cachet with owning Felco pruners. There had better be when these Felcos cost 2 to 3 times as much as the Fiskars PowerGear. It's like driving a Mercedes. It's a status symbol, but the overwhelming advantage of the Fiskars PowerGear makes that cachet too expensive to justify in both monetary and functionality terms. The Fiskars is better by design and function, but it's build quality is not anywhere as high as the Felco. (No, the Fiskars are clearly not oozing with quality.) In comparison with the superior functionality of the Fiskars, I can only fairly give the Felco 13 a middling three stars. That said, I think the Felco 13 is the best of the Felco hand pruners, so interpret my rating accordingly.