FELCO 2

As I get older, having developed a penchant for increasingly expensive things, I like to periodically reevaluate the old adage of “buy nice or buy twice.” The experience of purchasing things online (or as I like to call it “slop shopping”) often leaves me unsure about what is nice versus what is merely expensive.

Fortunately there is no such uncertainty when it comes to things I frequently use and take pride of ownership in. In this category it’s all about durability durability durability.

For snips, shears, and all things garden tools, this means Felco. After many years of buying twice and throwing the rusty results in the trash, the romance of “you will own this for life” finally got to me and I bought a full kit of Felco tools and equipment:

Felco 2 shears (size large)

Felco 201-50 loppers

Felco 250-47 hedge shears

Felco 981 resin remover

Felco 980 lubricant

Felco sharpener (don’t know the #)

The irony is that these products aren’t even much more expensive than their cheapo counterparts, but because they’re designed to be taken care of, that’s exactly what I do. I clean them after every use and store them properly. When I occasionally leave them out to rust because old habits really never die, I soak them in vinegar for a day or two and start fresh. At some point soon I’ll need to replace a blade or spring or thumb catch which is done easy and at a fair price.

That’s nice.