I was unhappy with the rakes offered at the local brick and mortar home improvement stores -- either cheap plastic or equally cheap and spindly metal -- so I searched Amazon for a good spring brace rake like I remember working with, a long time ago, when I landscaped as a summer college job. These rakes have a stout metal 'spring' (more like a mousetrap-style spring made of thick steel than the usual sort) on the back of them that attaches on one end to the handle and on the other to a brace running across the tines. The end result is that the rake end is sturdier.