A few years ago I bought the original SNIP from stationary. One of the best fishing tackle purchases I've ever made! This easily cuts Spectra braids up to 300# and often cuts cleanly with no line tension. Not every time, but probably more than 90% of the time, it cut cleanly through the Spectra's limp braid. Definitely a five star product in my book. Fast forward a few years and my trusty SNIP "disappeared" on a fishing boat. So I bought three new SNIPs - another original, Big Salt and Long Fly. I've made a lot of lines and used new tools for both home line making and fishing. Well, this new trio performed adequately but never reached the level of the original SNIP. The new ones cut through heavily stretched Spectras with ease, but only occasionally through sluggish Spectras. I think that's all you can expect from these tools. Most cutting tools cannot cleanly cut the Spectra's sluggish line. But my first pair of SNIPS were so impressive that I was disappointed that the new ones didn't offer the same capabilities. They get five stars for performance. They do what they have to do, cut the line. You get three stars for the price. There are many cutting tools for braided line, such as B. cheap children's scissors that cut braided line just as well as SNIPS and cost a lot less. So four stars for me for my SNIPS purchased from Revain.