Mockins Professional Garden Bypass Pruning Shears

1. What To Look For In Garden Shears

Garden shears or hand pruners are best used for trimming flowers, bushes, and delicate plants. As opposed to loppers which are usually meant for pruning thick tree branches, hand pruners are typically used for stems that could be 2mm to an inch wide. If you’re clearing up an overgrowth of thick tree branches, you’ll find long-handled, two-handed loppers more useful instead. If you’ve got little, soft-stemmed plants or bushes, then look for hand pruners which fit your hand well and are built to last a lifetime. Among other qualities, check out the following when looking for the best garden shears.

Ergonomic Design

You would like your pruners to sit comfortably in your hand. Otherwise, you may run the risk of getting injuries. You may feel some pain in your wrist or forearm if your pruning shears are too big, too small, or simply does not have well-shaped and rubber-coated handles.

Lock and Unlock Feature

For safety purposes, choose pruning shears that have a strategically-placed blade lock. If you have children around, you don’t want them to trip over the open blades of your garden shears accidentally.

Blade Type

Two types of secateurs (another name for one-hand pruners) exist based on blade type: anvil and bypass. Anvil pruners cut like a knife over a chopping board, while bypass pruners act like scissors. Most people prefer using bypass pruning shears. Unlike anvil pruners, the cutting mechanism of bypass garden shears makes them easy on live plants, whereas the former tends to crush stems. You can surely have both types. But, if you’re looking for your first garden pruners, bypass pruning shears can do the better job of being gentle on your plants.

2. Mockins’ Product: A Bypass Pruning Shears Review

Mockins Bypass Pruning Shears is a hand pruner that claims to be of a professional grade and presents itself at an affordable price. It can be a little more expensive than its brother, Mockins Anvil Pruning Shears, but it offers safer cuts for your delicate plants. The product comes with a limited lifetime warranty—an extra layer of appeal in case you’re wondering whether its cheap cost brings with it some compromises on quality. If you’re new into gardening and would like to save on tools, you may like Mockins’ budget offer. On the other hand, bigger names on garden tools carry with them bigger price tags, too. As we cut deeper (pun intended) into what Mockins’ bypass shears have to offer, you alone can tell whether it’s the name or the price that would matter more to you.

3. Features & Benefits of Mockins Garden Bypass Pruning Shears

As clearly indicated in its name, Mockins bypass pruning shears have bypass blades. This means that its primary use is for live plants that had to be trimmed or pruned—but only those that are soft or thin enough to fit the shears’ cutting capacity. It’s also meant for one-hand use.

Safety Lock

The safety lock feature in Mockins Garden Bypass Pruning Shears helps ensure you don’t suffer from accidental cuts when you trip over it. The lock is strategically placed so you won’t unintentionally switch it on or off. Imagine yourself holding Mockins bypass shears with one hand (it works for both the left and the right). You have to intentionally reach the safety lock with your thumb and push on it. This, to me, is extremely helpful since I always have the tendency to switch the locks in my other hand pruners. Once done pruning, you might find yourself just feeling comfortable about turning on the lock switch in Mockins hand pruners. It can somehow give you a sense of added safety especially when you have kids playing around or near your garden.

Ergonomic Rubber Handle

Mockins Professional Garden Bypass Pruning Shears has an ergonomic rubber handle fitted for your four fingers. This makes the shears easy to handle for those who experience joint or arthritic pain. One time, I had some of our elderly neighbors come by our garden. They appeared to appreciate how comfortable it was to hold Mockins pruning shears. Even if I don’t experience joint pain yet, I can say that this bypass shears would help me avoid unnecessary pain in my joints while pruning. Besides the ergonomic design, the rubber coating in the handles offers additional protection to your skin. If you had to exert some effort on cutting a number of stems, the rubber coating could prevent bruises and blisters.

Stainless Steel Blades

When you’re used to hearing “stainless steel blades,” the feature becomes synonymous with rust resistance, which is quite true for Mockins shears. You could also expect the blades to be durable and low-maintenance. Technically, though, stainless steel blades can still rust, so just be sure to clean them after use. One advantage of stainless steel blades is that they prevent sap from sticking to them. I like stainless steel blades because of the clean cuts they make. If you consider trying Mockins bypass pruner, just sharpen its blades from time to time to counter the dullness after repeated use.

Embedded Spring

The embedded spring in the Mockins bypass pruner helps absorb the impact of each cut. This means that you can avoid putting pressure on both your hand and wrist while using the shears. Seniors with weaker hands or those suffering from arthritis could possibly prefer the use of this tool.

Cutting Capacity

Mockins Professional Garden Pruning Shears has a cutting capacity of 8mm or just about a third of an inch. Although some pruners boast of cutting capacities of up to an inch, Mockins bypass pruners can already handle light to moderate trimming work. The company itself recommends the pruner’s use for flowers, thin plant stems, and bushes. For example, you can use Mockins shears for bamboo branches that are just ¼” thick. The 8-mm cutting capacity is quite enough for most lightweight pruning work, so you don’t really have to bother about the seemingly conservative upper limit for what you can cut with it.

Limited Lifetime Warranty

Customers may avail of the lifetime support offered by Mockins concerning its bypass pruning shears. You may simply contact them in case you encounter any issue on the product. The company promises to help resolve your issues with its shears. I actually appreciate Mockins’ warranty offer as it assures me that while their bypass shears fall under the cheaper end of the budget, I’ll still get satisfactory service for the price. That gives me some assurance that if in case the product got broken not out of my misuse, then they will have to replace the damaged parts (as long as they’re mentioned in the warranty).

4. How Users Liked Mockins Bypass Pruning Shears

I took some extensive reading on how users of Mockins bypass pruning shears assessed the product. Although this may not be the best shears you can find on the market, it somehow offers value for money.

Works Fine With Thickened Dead Rose Bush Wood

So, even if this pruner may only suffice for light to moderate pruning, you may want to give it a shot for its low price. If with a little bit of experimentation, you’d find that it can get through even some of the thicker dead wood, then it’s probably worth a try.

Comfortable and Gives Clean, Sharp Cuts

This user also commented about the wrist strap as did the first user featured earlier. I find the wrist strap beneficial, too, as it reminds me that I got to keep my pruners after use (or after cleaning, I should say).

Nicely Done Locking Mechanism

The last paragraph of this user’s comment may turn you off, as it did turn me off initially, too. But I realized many more users have experienced the value of Mockins pruners and gave their honest reviews. Here’s another positive review with a rather bold disclaimer. Aside from expressing satisfaction over the product, this user above implies how Mockins bypass pruning shears may be able to handle trimming work beyond its maximum cutting capacity. Generally though, for cheap gardening tools, I do not recommend using them in tasks that are beyond their specs.

5. Other Bypass Pruning Shears You Might Like

If you prefer heavy-duty pruners that can handle thicker branches for double the price of Mockins’ pruners, you may rather want to invest in them. I’ve listed three alternatives to Mockins bypass pruning shears, all of which are pricier.

• Fiskars All-Steel Bypass Pruning Shears
• Gonicc Professional Sharp Bypass Pruning Shears (GPPS-1002)
• Tabor Tools S821 Bypass Pruning Shears

Fiskars All-Steel Bypass Pruning Shears

At only two dollars more expensive than Mockins’, Fiskars’ all-steel bypass pruning shears may be worth your consideration. Its specified maximum cutting capacity is ⅝ of an inch, which is approximately twice greater than Mockins bypass pruners. But unlike Mockins’, Fiskars’ bypass pruning shears doesn’t feature a shock-absorbing spring. Here’s a summary of the differences and similarities between Fiskars’ and Mockins’ bypass shears.

For their price range, Fiskars’ and Mockins’ pruners could both vie for being the best pruning shears. Mockins’ may try to win in terms of price and comfort, but Fiskars’ could probably handle tougher jobs with its cutting capacity. Check out Fiskars All-Steel Bypass Pruning Shears here.

Gonicc Professional Sharp Bypass Pruning Shears (GPPS-1002)

Gonicc’s bypass pruning shears are approximately twice as expensive and more than twice as powerful (in terms of maximum cutting capacity) as Mockins’. Besides this difference, Gonicc’s pruner also boasts of a carbon steel blade, whereas Mockins’ blades are made of stainless steel. While high carbon steel and stainless steel blades have their share of pros and cons, it’s up to you to pick which feature matters to you most. To summarize how Gonicc’s and Mockins’ bypass pruning shears fare side-by-side, here’s the chart:

Interested? Check out the Gonicc Professional Bypass Pruning Shears here. Or, see our full review of the product.

Tabor Tools S821 Bypass Pruning Shears

The S821 Bypass Pruning Shears by Tabor Tools can be at the higher end of the budget. But, compared to Mockins’, it offers double the cutting capacity. Another difference between the two shears is the blade material. The chrome plating on the carbon stainless steel blades of Tabor Tools S821 probably contributes to the overall price. Here’s the comparison table for the S821 and Mockins’ hand pruner:

Interested? Check out Tabor Tools S821 Bypass Pruning Shears here. Or, see our full review of the product.

Conclusion: Mockins Bypass Pruning Shears May Be Good Enough

Trimming and pruning are both essential maintenance tasks for your plants’ health. Both practices encourage healthy growth and help eliminate pests. Mockins Bypass Pruning Shears presents itself as an affordable entry to hand pruners that can help you do the job. It can handle several lightweight-to-moderate pruning tasks, has an easy-to-switch safety lock, and offers a limited lifetime warranty. If you’re looking for budget hand pruners, check this professional garden pruning shears by Mockins.