In this Cools Tools video we’re going to compare 3 different styles of kitchen shears good for cooking prep, but also for general household stuff. Here are today’s contenders: I’ve got a classic $30 pair of kitchen shears made by Wiss, then an $11 pair of take-apart shears made by Fiskars, and as a wildcard, an $8 pair of medical shears.

To put them to the test, we’re going to cut up some food, cut some tape, and break down some boxes.

First up, the classic Wiss shears. These are an all-metal design with a notch that’s great for locking in stems and twine. They also have a removable screw so you can completely clean out the hinge.

These worked great for chopping up carrots, and the notch was helpful holding things in place.

The long blade made it easy to cut tape of any size, even lengthwise.

For breaking down boxes, the pointy end made it easy to just force your way into cardboard and cut wherever you want.

In general, these definitely feel like $30 scissors that will last a long time, They have a good heft to them, and there’s also a bottle opener and a lid twister on here for extra utility.

Next up the Fiskars. These also have a notch in the blade, though it’s actually more of a bump. The plastic handle is a little more ergonomic. And the take-apart design really makes it easy to clean if you’re using these with food.

These also tackled produce well. I even used them to cut a pizza, which was a revelation.

Cutting tape was a surprise. It handles lightweight packing tape fine, but it actually couldn’t cut thicker tapes like duct tape and gaffer tape. It just gets gummed up between the blades. So, kind of a fail on tape.

Breaking down boxes was no problem, though I preferred the heft and length of the Wiss.

Generally, at a third the price of the Wiss shears, I actually preferred these for food prep. The lightweight design made me less worried about dropping them, and the easy clean hinge made it feel natural to pop these in the dishwasher.

Finally, we have the medical shears. These particular ones have a non-stick fluoride coating. They’re autoclavable and can be boiled or run through the dishwasher. They’re short, with a blunt tip, but they have great leverage and known for their cutting power.

I was worried that without the notch these wouldn’t work as well on produce, but the serrated blade did a great job gripping things as it cut into them. I didn’t have a chance to use these on meat and bone, but that’s kinda what they’re made for, so I suspect they’d do well.

One thing I noticed is that because these are tensioned so tight by design, they’re not great for making lots of quick cuts. You’re trading speed for power.

For cutting tape, the good news is that the non-stick coating resists tape. I think it would be hard to get these gummed up. The bad news is that the relatively short blade length makes long, precise cuts more difficult.

Breaking down boxes was also a mixed bag. On one hand, the little blunt lip on the end made it easy wedge under tape for taking boxes apart carefully and not accidentally stabbing yourself or whatever’s in the box. On the other hand, the inability to just jab these into cardboard and get the job done forced me to approach the task a little differently.

Overall, for $8, I’m definitely keeping these around. The blunt tip makes them more kid-friendly. You don’t have to be precious with them. And they’re incredibly powerful. As cooking scissors, though, it bugs me a little that I can’t completely open up this joint. There’s a channel here that a dishwasher or a good boil can probably take care of, but the pull apart design of the other two seems a better fit for food prep.

So there you go, three different takes on kitchen scissors. I think the Fiskars are probably the best value, the Wiss will probably last the longest and stand up to repeated sharpening, and the medical shears are the lovable misfit that will probably live in my workshop instead.

-- Donald Bell 03/24/18