Ethel Gloves Garden 4x Work Gloves – Product Review

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Lovingly crafted from bamboo and synthetic leather (no suede here), this beauty is the little black dress of the Ethel collection.

The sleek, black front provides an elegant contrast to the caramel-colored palm and reinforced fingertips.

• Material4x™ palm guaranteed to last

• Moisture-wicking bamboo top of hand

• Extended cuff

• Reinforced fingertips

• Machine washable

These Garden 4x gloves by Ethel are made from bamboo fiber materials, synthetic leather for the palm which looks like suede but is not. They are vegan, anti-microbial, wick away moisture and offer more stretch than ordinary fabric. They also look good.

Ethel work gloves are designed for the female rather than the male but the Garden 4x gloves would also not look wrong worn by a man and neither, though not reviewed, would the Ethel Leather or the Bamboo Colors.

The material is said to have been tested to show that it lasts 4 times longer than other gloves, and I cannot, so far confirm as to yay or nay, the palm, said to be extremely puncture resistant, gave access to bramble and other thorns quite freely.

However, when tackling brambles with awareness it is possible, without any injury or hurt, to actually strip the thorns off the stalk and then use full grip to pull the runners out.

The Ethel Garden 4x gloves are also a very smart piece of kit for the equestrian person and will make working with horses and livestock a lot more safer and kinder to the hands.

If I would still be handling horses and other livestock I certainly would make those gloves my choice but as I no longer do but am an avid cyclist, as being a non-driver, they will do a great service in that field and be a lot longer lasting and thus cheaper than those that are sold for cycling in the specialist stores.

Ethel, based in the USA, makes a range of different kinds of work gloves, primarily for the garden, and the female, and the entire range is now available via Bulldog Tools in the UK.

© 2012

Bulldog Tools Forged Edging Knife – Product Review

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Bulldog Tools Forged Edging Knife
Ref No. 5680083210
Price: just under £40 incl. VAT
Ash Handle with "T" Grip
Unique Forged Blade
Forged In Britain

This forged edging knife from Bulldog's Clarington Forge in Wigan, England is by far the strongest lawn edging iron I have so far seen and used. It is one that, even in professional use in Parks and Gardens should last for a generation or two rather than just for a couple of seasons.

Yes, the tool not cheap with just under 40 Pounds Sterling but then again the blade is forged exactly in the same way as a quality spade and from the same strength of steel. There is no weld point that can give way under the strain of use and abuse.

The handle is solid Ash with a “T” grip and is, once again, the same kind that would be found at a good strong spade and also, unless really misused, stand up to the rigors of whatever the job throws at it.

This Bulldog Edging Knife of the Premier Range – although the website seems to putting it into the Evergreen Range – is a true professional tool and is most definite the dog's proverbials of all edging irons. I do not think that, unless on purpose and with malice, or by being driven over, this tool can be broken even in the most arduous and most prolonged use.

Talking of use: When using this particular edging tool on curbs and such the back of the blade, the straight part, must be the one meeting the stone of the curb or the concrete slab. That way the turf is cut clean and no excessive amount of soil if pulled up.

Another great tool from Bulldog that I am most happy to endorse as a professional gardener and forester.

© 2010

Full Disclosure Statement: The GREEN (LIVING) REVIEW received no compensation for any component of this article other than being allowed to retain the tool.

Bulldog Ratchet Pruning Shears BD31303 – Product Review

20mm cutting diameter ratchet pruning shears

Review by Michael Smith

I have to say that this is the first of those kinds of pruning shears that I ever really have had an opportunity to use and review.

Other manufacturers and vendors for some reason have been more than reluctant, to say the least, to part with one of those for a proper and thorough product review and I leave the reader to draw his or her own conclusions as to the why and wherefore of this.

Bulldog's representatives on IOG Saltex 2008 were more than happy to supply me with one of those and so far I must say that I am quite impressed with this tool.

It took a little while for me to get the proper hang of it as to the best way of using it but once that had been mastered it is just a great piece of kit.

The maximum cutting size, in my opinion, should not be exceeded when cutting hardwoods, whether green or not, such as apply, plum, oak, etc. While it may work alright with slightly larger branch diameters, I must say that I would not recommend doing it.

Once the “trick” of properly using the ratchet is mastered this pair of pruners cuts through quite thick branches without any real effort. Small pruning is best done with the topmost tip of the pruners as it is then just the single snip. This is very good for dead heading of roses and also general small pruning rather than using the cutting jaws further down that then still employs the ratchet, making the cutting process a little slower.

On larger material the ratchet makes cutting virtually effortless and I recently used it to cut back a Willow (Salix) and in this instance cutting material with diameters of 35mm and such without any problems. It must be considered thought that green willow is a rather soft wood.

I also used it to prune some apple trees and in that case I restricted myself to about the maximum given diameter for this pair of pruners and there as well very little effort and strength was needed for the cutting.

From what I have seen so far as to the performance and reliability I can, I think, very much recommend this model of Bulldog's pruners without any hesitation.

Once again another piece of kit that is of fine quality at a very reasonable price.

© M Smith (Veshengro), October 2008
<>

Bulldog Mini Bypass Pruning Shears BD3150 – Product Review

Review by Michael Smith

The Bulldog BD3150 mini bypass pruning shears are a very nice and handy little pair of pruners for the cutting back of live or 'green' foliage and also capable of basically all small pruning tasks. In my opinion those pruners are also great for children who wish to help in the garden. Yes, I do know that they are cutting tools and sharp but they will never learn how to do things if they are not permitted to learn when young.

The cutting capacity is 6mm which is just under 1/2 inch in old money. However, it is probably possible to cut a little thicker pieces like that. It all depends on what material they are. While I would not suggest to cut a 3/4 inch apple twig or one of other hard wood with this pair of pruning shears it it, however, possible to cut bramble runners of that size and even bigger, especially if they are “green”.

While an ideal little pair of pruning shears for the home and also the allotment gardener they are also suitable for the professional when about generally in case there is something to be that needs dead heading, whether roses or flowering plants in general. In addition it is also an ideal small pair of secateurs for the Park and Countryside Ranger on patrol should the need arise to cut some bramble runners or such clear from a path to protect the public from injury. It is the small size here that comes in at the forefront, allowing it to just be slipped into a pocket or a notebook belt pouch or such.

Those mini bypass pruners are also brilliant for harvesting produce in your veggie garden or plot, whether those be beans or other vegetables, and do a much better job than garden scissors, for instance.

The grip is a soft elastomer kind of material than makes using them a pleasure.

Priced at an RRP of £8.44 they hardly break the bank and as with all Bulldog tools we are talking quality at an affordable price. I know that you can get secateurs for less than £3 or even for as low as 99pence but what are you getting there?

The only one thing that I am not too sure about, I must say, as to reliability and durability, is the yellow – in the case of the green handles version of the BD3150 mini bypass pruning shears that I was given for review – plastic sliding lock. I would have rather seen something like the lock on the BD3152 bypass pruning shears. In use I find that at times that lock slides forward and, in fact, locks the shears. This is, though, not the only kind of lock on secateurs that I have a problem with. The old style, as on the afore mentioned BD3152 – the clasp on the bottom of the handles – still takes a lot of beating. The spring too, maybe, just maybe, could do with, in my opinion, being just a little bit stronger.

However, this small pair of mini pruners is something that many people will have been waiting for, and also those gardeners that want to be able to allow their youngsters a go in the garden with dead heading and such but the secateurs on the market in general are too large to really be able to do that. These mini pruning shears will, certainly, bridge that gap.

© M Smith (Veshengro), September 2008
<>