ARS HP-VS9Z Signature Heavy Duty Pruner

No worries for those who are concerned about purchasing cheap knock offs. These pruners are the real deal -- made in Japan, top quality, in Japanese packaging. For neophytes, unless you read Japanese, you'll have to get maintenance instructions elsewhere, but there are plenty of YouTube tutorials available. The VS-9Z is one of ARS' largest pruners, truly made for large hands. I wear a large size glove, but my hands are not huge and even so are a bit small for these pruners. I bought them for pruning large branches where I want a sharp, clean cut but don't want to abuse my cherished every day Okatsune pruners, which are one size smaller. The ARS VS-9 is of equal quality and will work well for their intended purpose. Unlike Felco's, which are of similar design, these will not constantly lock up while using, a pet peeve of mine with Felco pruners. The ARS top mounted locking tab locks easily with a push of your thumb and unlock by simply squeezing the handles. ARS pruners, including the VS-9Z are an absolute steal at their price point, and perform wonderfully.

I use these pruning shears mainly for trail clearing and maintenance in the woods on our farm, so they see heavy use. I’d imagine that they would work well for garden work, such as pruning rose bushes, as well. 😊 They open just by gripping and squeezing the handles, which is quite convenient. No need to manually unlock them. Locking is also simple: just move the lever forward while squeezing the handles. They cut through branches and small saplings easily. I’ve cut saplings up to an inch thick. While some woods are of course harder than others, I am impressed with the pruner’s ability to make short work of most anything I’ve cut with it. For the larger stuff I carry a Silky Professional Big Boy folding saw, which is another essential piece of trail clearing/maintaining equipment. I’ve posted a review for that also. One thing that I’ve noticed is that occasionally wood fibers will get stuck between the blades, and it takes a second hand to open them. It doesn’t happen often, and can be avoided by a quick wipe of side of the blades with a finger or against a sleeve, before closing the shears. I have another set of cheap bypass pruners that do the same thing, but more frequently, so it is evidently a function of the bypass design rather than with these shears in particular. The quality of the materials and construction appear to be top-notch, which is what I have come to expect from Japanese made steel products. Yes, they are expensive, but when it comes to tools, I find that the pleasure of using a finely made tool easily outweighs the increased cost. And these pruners are a pleasure to use. Highly recommended.

I used the 8" model for years and upgraded to this one for a little extra leverage. I have relatively large hands and this fits me a little better, but it's not hugely different from the 8". I can use these pruners for hours at a time on brambles and they remain comfortable. Pros: Very smooth action and sharp blade; comfortable; excellent top lock/release (different but IMO much better with gloves than the usual side facing catch). Cons: None.

Great product. I use it on a weekly basis and it is extremely useful.

I am excited to have this Japanese pruner. Even though the 9" is too big for my hand, it has a larger blade, which means I can cut bigger stems with this pruner. And, the handles are long enough that I can use 2 hands to make the cut, if necessary. I like the top locking mechanism; I can squeeze the handles and it unlocks.

Just simply a great product. Hard to find these days something that is well made, but this checks every single box as looks,durability, ease of use. Simply love it.

these clippers work really well, especially if you have large hands.

Wonderful wont be buying anything else other then ARS for pruning