I searched amazon for hours and could not find pruners of this style better than these, for any price. We have two of these where I work at a nursery, and I love how simple they are so I bought my own. The design is easy to disassemble to clean and sharpen, which is huge for me. The locking mechanism is solid so I don't worry about it breaking or rusting, and the spring is an actual spring, not some weird fancy new age looking spring that rusts and gets warped easily (like in those fiskars ones - you know the ones). The tip is rounded so I won't stab myself when I keep them in my pocket. I accidentally nicked the blade already, but it sharpens easily and yet somehow doesn't dull quickly. Overall, I consider these the perfect general use pruners. Side note - I've cut branches thicker than the 0.5" capacity listed, you just have to work it around a little and it'll still come clean off.