Fiskars Quantum Hedge Shears HS102, Non-stick Coating, High-Steel Blades, Length: 63 cm, Black/Orange, 1001449

Great and effective secateurs, but a word of caution. Never use the device without wearing strong sturdy gloves, the handles are poorly designed and have a tendency to trap your thumb with the locking device, which can be very painful. This is a shame, for an otherwise excellent product from Fiskars. How have they overlooked this?

Frankly the ratchet is probably overkill for a person of average strength, especially since it was the ratchet that gave way on my first pair, but this is a new design of gearing and looks far far tougher so should last.. The cork is comfy and the rest the usual Fiskars quality. They cut anything up to 7mm with no effort at all (knife through butter stuff) and thicker branches (I've managed 12mm so far and have loppers/secateurs above that) at the blade base with a bit of pressure. For me however the good news is at the other end of the scale. Formal hedge trimming doesn't need that strength, but the grip and balance of these is great, and they make a very good clean cut through the lightest of material. Really excellent. I'd add that, if you are not going to tackle anything over 10mm, I'd save money and get the same make's non ratched set. Equal quality, a bit lighter and probably just as good.

I was looking for a versatile pair of shears to cut hedges, prune small trees and trim the long grass around the edges of my garden. After much searching I realised that this is apparently pretty hard to find with many poor reviews online of most shears.I settled for these Fiskars HS102 geared shears (got them on Amazon at fifty pounds delivered) and am very happy with them. The extra cutting force is really noticeable and they appear to be very sharp and well made. The blade tension is not adjustable, however there is a nut which I think could be tightened up in future if they ever become loose. These shears are made in Finland. The gears are metal. Both these points are worth making as many others are made in China and use plastic gears.They are lightweight, the hollow aluminium handles feel good and the cork inlays are rather nice. I have cut branches of about 1 cm thick and it goes through these like butter. They cut grass easily with no folding or snagging at all. They make light work of everything I have thrown at them so far. I can trim the long grass around my garden in about ten minutes with no noise, mess, fumes etc. and no need to own an electric or petrol strimmer. A quick rinse, dry and spray with WD40 and they are good as new for next time.I will update the review in future with information on how these wear over time but so far they seem top quality.

My shears arrived today. My first impression as I unpacked them was, these are very light. I also thought the blades look short compared to my old (50 years old) shears. In this case however lightness is not a sign of poor quality but a sign of efficiency and ease of use. I discovered that when I tackled my overgrown front hedge. Some of the stems were as thick as my finger and these shears sliced through with minimum effort. The lightness of weight means they are easy to lift high and wide and the good thing about that is even at full arm extension they cut just as easily as when close up. One final word of praise, no lead to cut through or noisy roar of my electric shears. Peace returned to the garden. I wish they had a grass cutting device of similar efficiency and ease of use.Already I am very, very pleased with this purchase and hope they keep up the good work. I just wish gathering up the clippings was as easy as cutting the hedge. That took four times as long as cutting the hedge.

In the past I only bought cheap shears which neither lasted nor did an effective job. My new Fiskars HS 102 arrived promptly by Royal Mail Special Delivery the next day in perfect condition. The next day I went to work on some Pyracantha bushes which in the past have been a problem and quite overgrown. The blades on these Fiskars shears are sharp and made light work of all but the thickest branches. I was amazed how easy they made this previously awkward job. Time will tell how long they stay this good. They are expensive so worth taking care of so after each use I clean the blades wipe dry and lightly oil.

So powerfull and will chop up anything. Having to remove large conifers this has been very powerful in the removal of the branches back to the stump and clean up.The binmen must no longer like our green one, as I have been able to fully stack three large conifers within by chopping down and saving the need for a skip.Nice within you hands and the only limits are your strength in closing rather than the joints, the handles are cork so nice and soft on the hand so reducing pressure back.The cork is thin and is wearing, so not 5 stars

After discussion with Fiskars when having repeated problems with their "Fiskars Large PowerGear Anvil Lopper" breaking over and over, I decided to risk spending a fair bit more on these. They are MUCH better.Unlike the £35 version, the anvil is an integral part of the loppers with a replaceable bed which sits on top of it. This means that they are much more suited to heavy duty work while eliminating the issue of the anvil bed shearing off - the problem which happens repeatedly with the cheaper version.These are what the other design *should* have been like. It seems cheeky to charge so much more for something that simply does what anvil loppers should but they are still a damn sight better value than buying Felco.

I'm pleased I spent the extra money - these are very effective shears. The blades cut well from base to tip (no problem with cutting grass for instance), or with snipping tiny twigs for topiary work, and yet the gearing action of the hinge means that they cut thicker stuff easily, without it sliding out of the jaws or binding. They are light, which does make a difference after you've been using them for a while, and the cork grips provide a warm and pleasant texture to the handles. I've not had them long enough for the blades to lose their new edge, so I can't comment of how durable the blades are or how easy it is to resharpen them.