Welcome to Whetted Edge!
My name is Jeff Nelson, Editor of Whetted Edge. The purpose of this site is to share research, expert opinions, and our own testing on all the tools and related products used for gardening, cooking, home improvement, and just about anything else you might find in your garage.
I spent several years as a research assistant working in a lab where we studied weather and air pollution. I was never out chasing tornados, but the amount of rigorous testing and hands-on work that goes into maintaining our instruments forced me to pay attention to the details. So, now I’m testing much less complex tools, but with the same passion.
Writing was also a huge part of the job and being able to take data we collect and communicate our findings to a large, critical audience was crucial. So I hope to be able to present the most relevant information to help you make your purchasing decisions with confidence.
The Review Process
Research. Test. Review.
We’re tired of looking at vague, inaccurate, misleading, or even fake star ratings review sites and e-commerce sites use to boost sales and get you, the consumer, to click.
There are a few questions I try to answer and keep at the front of my mind when reviewing any product.
- Is this something I would recommend to a family member?
- For older products: Where is the product at in its life cycle? Will it soon be replaced by an updated model?
- For new releases: What’s new? Did the manufacturer improve over the previous model?
- Are other reviews online any good? What can I improve upon?
With any product review, whether it’s a paring knife or vacuum cleaner, one of the most honest questions I think that needs to be answered is, “would I recommend this to my own mother?”
Now, do I buy every single product that I review?
No. We simply can’t afford it at this point. However, we do heavily research all products we review and use the knowledge we have from other products in the category that we have purchased. Consulting experts and diving into published research are other ways we try to ensure we bring you accurate information.
Here are my steps to selecting products for review:
- Compile a list of the top competing products in a category.
- Purchase the product at retail price, or consult industry experts and customer stories.
- Do side-by-side comparisons and testing of products and compile results and specifications into a spreadsheet.
- Try to determine the best performing product, but if there’s no clear winner we recommend each product for the job it does best. Sometimes there’s more than one winner.
- Can we compromise some performance and recommend a **Budget Choice** that doesn’t break the bank?
- Write the review and sell the gently-used products on eBay, or similar online shops if we purchased a test unit.
People are always after the “Best ______” and that’s a popoular search term, but often the answer isn’t that simple. Often there are situations where the way a product does one particular task is better than another product, but the other product does another task better than the first.
The point is that when you read an article about the “Best” product there is usually more than one winner, and we’ll tell you why so that you can decide which is right for you.
How do we make money?
When we review products we also include links to the products being sold by retailers. If you decide to purchase a product after using one of our links, then we get a commission.
If you decide to return the product we don’t get paid, and theirs no additional cost to you when you purchase using our links.
It’s my goal to research and test products and provide honest, unbiased reviews. These reviews are the opinion of the author and other collaborators that help test products. Also, I may bring on experts in a particular field to provide commentary and share their experiences with a product.
Affiliate Disclosure
Whetted Edge is dedicated to finding the best tools for the job and presenting that information quickly and clearly. When readers click our links, we earn affiliate commissions that support our work.
Whetted Edge is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.