True Temper 2942600 Grass Whip with Double-Edged Serrated Steel Blade and 22 in. Hardwood Handle

This is an excellent tool for clearing weeds and light brush growing in shady areas of your property. You will be very happy with the speed and ease with which you can clear knee-high annual weeds, small vines, young thorny briars, and first-year saplings with this tool. It is easier than breaking out a gas-powered brushcutter for small tasks. This is not a scythe, however, and thus it is not ideal for mowing or cutting tall, thick grass growing in full sun.How to use:You should wear gloves and eye protection when using this sort of tool. Keep spectators back as, obviously, you are swinging a blade around and could inadvertently sling objects.Prepare your work area by clearing fallen limbs and cuting up thick diameter woody vines (over a few millimeters) growing in the area. Make sure that there are no hidden rocks, stumps, metal, or similar non-cuttable items present that could damage your tool and cause you to strain or injure yourself.Hold the tool like a golf club with the blade parallel to the ground and make smooth (not aggressive) pendulum-like swinging motions, as if you were practicing a golf stroke with a sand wedge. Do not reel up as if you were driving a golf ball; keep it below the hips. Slowly advance forward (small steps) and you will clear a two to three foot swath. Overlap tracks slightly for an even cut. The tool's momentum will do the cutting, and if you are forcing it you are encountering too-thick brush or you should raise your cutting height.The tool will sling the brush to the left and right of the user, as it cuts on both the forward and reverse stroke.As you work, pause and keep an eye out for fallen limbs and similar objects as you uncover them from the brush. If you hit them, you will strain your shoulders and wrists. It is best to work briefly and then rest and inspect the area; fatigue will cause operator strain or potential injury. Patience and well-planned operation will yield good results.Note:Check the bolts and nuts on the tool after purchase and the first use, then periodically thereafter. The nuts on the handle of my tool needed to be re-torqued after the first use. The nuts on the blade are lock nuts and they were fine. It is unlikely that the blade could separate from the unit and become a projectile even if one bolt failed (you would notice), but you don't want to lose parts or risk hurting somebody.I have a long-term shoulder injury and found that I was able to use this tool successfully provided I did not overexert myself and was cautious so as not to hit fallen branches or try to cut tall thick grass growing in full sun. A true scythe is what you should use for tall grass in full sun.Beware that Amazon.com may ship this tool in a very large box (see my photo).If you appreciate the information I have provided in the review, please click the helpful button so that Amazon will rank and display my content where everyone can see it. I was NOT provided a free tool for this review. Thank you!

The bad:If the grass is large enough it'll leave small grass stubs with pointy tips that can jab your legs.Is too fun to swing around and it's easy to get lost in the moment; potentially harming good plants.Not good for cutting lawns.The good:Out the box it's very sharp and easily cuts through grass clumps.Also cuts through small branches (About half an inch thick).Can cut tight areas that normal grass cutting tools can't.Can also be used to clear aside the grass it cuts with the inside area of the tool with a scooping motion.Doesn't require hot and heavy protective gear.Pretty cheap.Overall: It's a great tool for clearing large areas just as long as there isn't any rocks or trees or anything you can accidently hit it on. It's too large to be used by children or teenagers properly as the blade will hit the ground rather than the grass at the proper angle. It's serrated on both sides so you can swing both directions. I have used all sorts of grass cutting tools, but this is by far the most fun and useful.Side note: Its sharpness and long handle is very dangerous so make sure you leave room between the user and those around them.

I didn't know what a "grass whip" was -- I had actually been searching for "scythe." But I found this and decided to give it a shot. Turned out to be a good purchase.The blade is not sharp. At all. You could probably drag your tongue across it and be fine. This worried me at first. But it does have dozens of narrow gaps between those round bumps. So if you swing fairly hard, you get some cutting action, and then grass and weeds get stuck in those gaps, and get pulled out by the force of your swing. And it's 2-sided, so you can go back and forth and do some good damage pretty quickly.I've had good success with all soft plants, including 6-foot tall pokeweed that has a 1-inch trunk at the base. It won't work with anything even slightly hard, like tiny maple saplings, etc. But I only need to clear soft stuff. You have to swing pretty hard at times, so you'll get an arm workout, but I need the exercise anyway. So this purchase was a good fit for me, and it seems very durable. Thanks to everyone involved in getting it to me!

Arrived today as promised. Looks exactly like photo. Has good heft and feels sturdy, without being heavy. Construction is solid. Blade length 8.5 inches, serrated length 7.5 inches. I immediately test drove it in my side yard, to and fro it easily cut overgrown grass and weeds. In the backyard it easily sliced through stems of 4 foot tall bull thistle, various and sundry hollow stem weeds of multiple heights.It would definitely do in blackberry shoots up to 12" while they are still tender spring canes. Probably not much more than that. This is not a tool for woody stems, mature blackberry, not for for small saplings like maple, filbert (hazelnut), or lot clearing. It is not a Stihl weed whacker, or even a Black & Decker string trimmer, it is a "grass whip" that can do a bit more if you respect it's limits.I am a 5 foot 4 inch tall 60 year old woman, reasonably physically fit, and have no problem with this tool. I've used many renditions of a "grass whip" over decades, and this one is likely the best. I'm just trying to keep weeds and grasses at bay until my husband is recovered from his accident and I can get back to Ma stuff.This little buddy is so much better than the "grass whips" we used to get at the local hardware store. If you don't try to chop down little trees with it, you will be pleased with it's performance, I certainly am.