I guess other people love this shovel, but I can't stand it. It's really heavy. It's very unbalanced, with all the weight in the shovel head, making it very heavy to lift. I cannot get ANY leverage with it. I live in Maine where you're often having to lift the snow to pile it up on a snow bank (sometimes banks that are 3 to 5 feet tall), or dump it over the railing off my porch. I find the bent handle means I'm having to lift much higher and it takes a lot more twisting to get the snow off. Also, it's very difficult to lift the snow off my steps with it, and the bent handle makes it hard to shovel them from above, so I have to trudge through the snow down to the base of the steps and shovel from below. This is a lot more effort!When I use traditional shovel,I never experience any of the back pain that folks are talking about. Like all things, you need to make certain you're lifting with your legs and your shoulders, not with your back!