What is Your Best Value for Money​ Tool?

There are nine large trees and a number of smaller ones in and around my garden at home. In the summer they provide a degree of seclusion and welcome, dappled shade and in the autumn they provide a mass of leaves. As we are not allowed bonfires and I have no room to compost them these leaves need to be gathered and processed through the local authorities green waste processes.

In the past, I have tried suction devices - too small aperture for the broad leaves we have and too little storage capacity, no good on wet leaves - and blowers - better, but heavy, noisy and a little temperamental.

Then a few years ago I found these in our local Aldi store.

They were very inexpensive (circa £5 or $7) each and have extending handles.

I am not sure what makes them so good to use when collecting leaves. They are certainly lightweight but strong, The have enough hook on the prongs and width at the head to collect the leaves well. By shortening the handles they can be used like big hands to pick up piles of leaves.

I do know that while they are not used during the rest of the year, they are a godsend in autumn, such that should they break I might have to move house instead of using other rakes to collect the leaves.

I just wondered what tools others have that they might share here. Maybe something to trim a beard, mix pizza dough, brew perfect coffee, etc etc.