Depends on what the raking surface is.
I gave up on everything else a few years ago, except for the springy metal leaf rakes with fiberglass handles.
Mine last about 2 years.
Raking-wise, the tines reach smaller particles in the lawn better, and on decorative rock, they leave the gravel behind much better.
So when total life is combined with overall quality of cleanup for multiple surfaces, I find no better rake.
We tend to try and dislodge more debris in nooks and crannies than just the mess we generate, and the metal tines are better at loosening that kind of debris.
Of course, we are detail oriented, not just time oriented. Almost every project we work on, is cleaner than than when we arrived.
If we work in just the front yard, I'll even take the blower around the side and back entry to clean all the surfaces - it just takes mere minutes. By taking longer, we actually get referral work to make up the difference.
But as far as just pure speed for the big stuff on lawn surface, or bulldozing shrub beds, the plastic covered more ground in a hurry.
