Best pruning shears? Or am I in the wrong Forum?

Hello knights,

I am trying to figure out which professional high level pruning shear is the "best".
I have narrowed it down to 3 brands: Felco, Bahco, and ARS.
Felco is the most used here in Germany, the typical you still receive when you study is the Felco 2 (I do not know why, considering that now it is supposedly replaced by the 11).
Considering that I have an almost chronic carpal tunnel syndrome or something similar, I have looked at the models with rotating grip.
So, Felco 7, Felco 12, Bahco pxr-m3, Bahco pxr-s2, and ARS VS8R.

I do not like the Bahco, this I can tell it for sure.
The most expensive, and less pleasant to use.
They have a closing mechanism which needs two hands to be operated, and it is hard to open.
They have a strange form which does not feel right in my hands. Also the shape of the rolling grip is not ideal, and my index finger would move forward a bit at each cut till I have to readjust the hand.
They are all rubbish, which is good if you do not use gloves, and they have a nice cushioning thing on the spring, better than Felco and ARS.
But for the rest, I do not like them at all.
Also, when I cut with them I notice that the tip draws a 1/4 circle in the air, moving 4cm on the right/bottom (4!!!).
To make the blades open clean, vertically on a stable axis, I must use some force and change the angle of my hand so that finally they lose their ergonomic effect.
Not well thought.
But at least they cut well. On a test with a paper sheet they were the 2nd winner.

The Felco are overall very good. I like the shape a lot. The upper grip is perfect for my hand, the bottom one has such a clever shape that it is the only one of the three where my grip stays fix and I do not have to readjust the hand from time to time.
On the Felco 12 the rolling grip is rubbish, on the 7 is hard. I have done some tests and contrarily to what I had supposed, the hard one gives a better stability of grip.
I have changed grip between the two to be sure of this.
The cut of the 7 on the paper test is not so good. It cuts well, no paper bending, but the border of the cut is rough.
Third place. (yes, the ARS are the winner in this test, BUT, wait till you read more).
12 and 7 are the same in this.
The closing mechanism is better than on the Bahco and can be easily operated with one hand, but not as amazing as the ARS's.

Now the ARS...
At first I fell in love for the unlocking mechanism. Squeeze to open! Everybody should do that!!!
They also feel very good in the hands. For some things better than the Felco. For others (the shape) I kind of prefer the Felco, but, I have ordered the VS9R and I suspect they could be better for my hand, so, let's wait.
What I really HATE is the screw to fix the blades. On Felco and Bahco it is clever, fast to fix.
On the ARS is a real nightmare!!! I have spend ONE HOUR to find the right point.
Anyway. I hope I will not have to do that often. In that case they are still winner thanks to the general better feel on the hand, genious lock mechanism, and I must say the best cut. Really they cuts paper like real scissors.
Incredible.
BUT, I had to tighten the blades first, because they came a tiny bit lose, and the paper test was horrible, they were bending the paper.
Another bad thing: the tip of the lower blade protrudes 3-4mm over the upper one when they are closed/locked.
This means, you can not save them in your trousers, or they will destroy them.
They need a leather holder.
But a guy in Amazon, who was describing the same problem, told me he bought the VS9R and they are not like this.
So, I will update when I receive them.
I also ordered a replacement for the VS8R to see if it was just a defective unit/batch.

This is all for now.
Happy to read about your experience.
Also about how do you sharpen them, lubricate them, maintain them...

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