From left to right. A M Leonard, Barnel 808, Felco 6, ARS VS8. The Felco fits my small hands the best. The Barnel is a bit less secure feeling when gripping. The ARS latch is too tight to easily slip in place. Needs to have the tip of the movable part of latch filed down. Also the wire cutting feature on the Barnel is useless to me as I will not be using pruners to cut wire.
All are very sharp out of the box. The double blade pruner is for cutting flower stems so it should stay sharp a very long time.
It really isn’t about how sharp they are out of the box, of course. ARS has harder steel than Felco and probably the other two here, I have the one on the left but, as I said, I only use if for grafting and I really don’t know how hard the steel is, but they seem to require much more frequent sharpening than the ARS. I don’t know why all other pruners fail to use as hard a steel as is functional (that is, not too hard to sharpen easily).
The ARS also feels much better in my hands (I prune ambidextrously and it works fine in my left hand, but I mostly prune with my right although I’m left-handed. I keep my pruning saw on my left side and I generally prefer sawing with my left and pruning with my right arms and hands.
I prune hour after hour day after day for about 7 months of the year so I get a pretty good idea about how a tool affects me physically. I don’t hurt myself with the ARS no matter how much I prune. I can’t say the same for any other hand pruner I’ve used.
We used Manaresi shears for breaking Prunus pits to obtain the seed. Best device I’ve found to do that job. With practice, one can get near perfect yields of undamaged seed,- something I never found possible with a hammer. Agreed, they need to be kept sharp and even.
I am giving the ARS to my brother as he has bigger hands than me. Wide open the ARS grip extends past the first joints of my fingers. The Felco fits just right into my smaller than average hands.
I have the VS-7 and tiny hands. They are my favorite of the pruners I’ve tried. I have no idea if they’re knock offs. I did get them on Amazon but they look just like the ones in @no07 's picture except they say VS-7 - they have also been amazing, so I’m suspecting they’re not knock offs.
Luckily, I have not had this problem. I love the easy open of the latch on them. Closing is not too hard on mine, but requires a bit of thumb strength. I can still latch with my non-dominant thumb. If I had arthritis in my thumb I don’t think I could close them one handed. If the metal latch was smaller or got worn down they could open accidentally (as they do for @alan who uses his rather a lot more than I probably ever will).
Since the VS-7 are still a bit too big for me, maybe I will try the Felco 6! They are supposed to be slightly larger than the VS-7, but the handles look narrower which would help me. Do they also open and lock one handed?
If you don’t make sure to press down firmly on the handles when you close it it will become too loose from the friction and become dangerous to keep in your pocket due to unintended opening. If you put them in your pocket handles first and this happens, your hand may not appreciate the unique sharpness of the blade if you carelessly and energetically reach into that pocket. I once got a nasty gash in a finger this way.
If the latch is too tight for easy closing, I’m sure it will loosen up after a few weeks of use.
You guys are all spoiled. I’m definitely getting a new pair of pruners. I have a couple of Fiskars bypass too. That little green handled one is smooth but that Weston bit me a few times worse pain than jumping on a Lego barefoot.
To the sizing questions on the ARS VS-7/8/9, here is a graphic I found helpful when buying a pair last week. That said, my hand measured 7-1/2" and they definitely feel smaller than my Felco 2 and 8.
Also, note that on the ARS VS line, there is a version VS-#XZ which is the pro version with tension adjustment and there is the VS-#Z version that only has a nut, but costs about $10 less.
I just got my ARS VS9 this morning per my post above (and see even further up for the ordering process - it’s linked off the growtech site so you can also find it yourself). They shipped it to me in 3 days flat. Amazing.
I used them today and they are a wonder and a delight. I’ve never had (or used) pruners like this. Smooth like butter. Highly recommend them based on my 1 day of use and the entire thread above
Edit: and I have big hands. I felt the Felco was smallish for me. I have that too and it’s really good but these are literally a cut above like they advertise.
I saw the pair I wanted on eBay yesterday but I chickened out buying them for that reason. Growtech link for pruners hasn’t worked for me the last few times I tried.
