Bought this for my daughter - who has managed to destroy 2 other potato mashers - didn't even ask how.  Know OXO makes a good tool so  I thought she could try this one.  It does its' job fairly well and she says she is happy with it, but she is waiting for the day she can inherit the potato masher that my mother used, I currently use - and was bought in 1955.  The two side bars does make it a bit harder to use in certain pots - and it is short for some taller pots - but nothing you can't work around.