I bought this rake for heavy duty trail work at a local park, namely forcefully raking heavy leaf litter, sticks, small branches, some stones from the trail surface. It is advertised by some as a thatching rake. It has a heavy handle with larger shaft diameter for stiffness/durability, and heavy metal rake tines. I put a lot of force and leverage when working and break a lot of handles and plastic rake tines, but with this rake, "so far so good" in terms of durability. I had read reviews by some saying this rake was too heavy and overbuilt, so if you mainly do lightweight "sweeping" as opposed to "clawing at the ground" that I use it for, then then you might want to look at something lighter with a thinner handle.