It had served me well for the last 2 years. I accidentally hit a rock on the backswing and it broke into 3 pieces. It was probably weakened by exposure to the elements, aggressive sharpening, and being low quality to begin with. The new one is much much better
Two exceptions only, if there is a significant safety threat on breakage, or if the market is saturated with ‘segmentation’ to the point there’s 10 or more choices, start with the second cheapest one.